The Florida Supreme Court has given the go-ahead for state voters to decide this fall whether they want an open primary election system that would allow voters of all affiliations to take part.
Currently, the state has a closed-party system, meaning that only members of registered political parties can vote in their respective partisan primaries. The names of the winners of the primary elections are then placed on ballots for the general election, when all registered voters choose from among the primary victors.
Under the constitutional amendment put forth by the group All Voters Vote, all the candidates running for offices, including those in partisan races, would appear on the same primary election ballot. The two highest vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, would then advance to the general election, according to the text of Amendment 3.
So it’s possible that two Republican candidates, or two Democratic candidates, running for the same office could advance to the general election.
Glenn Burhans Jr., who chairs the All Voters Vote project and is an attorney at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson P.A. in Tallahassee, said the key benefit of the measure is that it opens up primary voting to those Floridians who choose not to state a party choice.
“We will enable 3.7 million Florida voters not affiliated with any party to vote,” Burhans told the Florida Record.
Under the current system, 28 percent of all registered voters can’t vote in partisan primary elections, which often dictate the outcome of a race, he said. Moreover, many new voters now register without such party affiliations, according to media reports.
All Voters Vote got started about five years ago through discussion among his colleagues, Burhans said.
“Along with some of our law partners, our clients and friends, we were sort of bemoaning the divisiveness that has been encroaching upon and overtaking our social and political discourse,” he said.
Eventually, they examined primary systems in all 50 states and then began a movement to advance a ballot measure designed to encourage candidates to reach out to potential supporters beyond their partisan base, according to Burhans.
“In order for candidates to win in an open primary like this, they will have to speak to the greatest number of voters,” he said, adding that this would encourage better behavior and make for a healthier public debate.
Burhans doesn’t see the open primary changing the current dynamic in which Republicans control both the state legislature and the Governor’s Office, but it will help to empower those who currently can’t vote in primaries, he said.
“Candidates will have to broaden their appeal and broaden their messaging,” Burhans said.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a brief with the Supreme Court in opposition to the measure, arguing that “the ballot title and summary hide the fact that it would explicitly allow political parties to select candidates through a closed process.”
Both the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida filed briefs opposing the All Voters Vote initiative. The high court affirmed the initiative for the November ballot on March 19.