Our Story

We started Students for Open Primaries on a Zoom call in June of 2020. We had recently become interns for Open Primaries and were working to ratify Amendment 3 in our home state of Florida, which would create a top-two open primary system in state elections. We decided to create a campaign targeted toward students since around half of Gen Z identifies as politically independent.

For 5 months, we fought alongside campaigns like Florida Fair and Open Primaries and were endorsed by people like Katie Fahey and Magic Johnson. We wrote an Op-Ed that made it to the Sunday edition of the Miami Herald and were featured in a documentary called “The Young Vote.”

However, on November 3rd, the amendment fell 3% short of reaching the supermajority of 60% it needed to pass, despite the majority of the voters approving the amendment.

Disappointed but not disheartened, we began National Students for Open Primaries to help spread the message of nonpartisan primaries to students around the country. In our current partisan political climate, there is a growing call for nonpartisan, fair, and open primaries across the nation, especially with younger generations. Students for Open Primaries is ready to fight for the rights of every voter, regardless of political party, by educating students about our primary system and organizing them in support of open primary movements.

What is Open Primaries?

Open Primaries is a national organization that shares one sole mission: Let ALL voters vote. They advocate for open and nonpartisan primary systems, fight efforts to close primaries, educate voters and policy makers on primary reform, and support efforts nationwide for election reform. 

Students for Open Primaries is a project of the Open Primaries Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization that conducts research, advances litigation, and educates the public and policymakers on the benefits of electoral reform.

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