Mission Statement
We, Florida Independent Voting.Org of Florida, call for the enactment of Nonpartisan Open Primaries, commonly called Top Two. It’s time to put the power in the hands of the voters, not the Political Parties.
Under Top Two Open Primaries, all candidates for an office appear on one Primary Ballot, and voters can choose the best candidate for each office, regardless of Party Affiliation. The TOP TWO vote getters go on to the General Election.
Florida voters will no longer be labeled as Party members simply because they voted in a Primary Election, nor be forced to sign a loyalty oath if they want to change the Party Primary in which they vote.
Our political environment has been over determined by Partisanship. It’s time to address the Second-Class status of the millions of Americans identifying as Independents. It’s time to break out of the Partisan gridlock that has rendered our elected officials unable to govern effectively.
We support Top TwoOpen Primaries as an important step towards transforming our political process and moving forward as a State and as a Nation.
Florida Independent Voting.Org
FloridaIndependentVoting.Org@tampabay.rr.com
Please sign this important Petition in support of Opening up our Primaries in Florida
•In Florida and 18 States, Independents cannot vote in the Primaries.
•Close to 2.1 million Floridians are registered as Independent/No-Party Affiliation Voters (NPA).
•Polls show Independents making up 40% of the Electorate nationwide.
•Floridians are being shut out of local and national Primary Elections; Closed Primaries disenfranchise Floridians.
Description
The Florida Independent Voting.Org (in affiliation with the national IndependentVoting.Org in NY) are participating in a national campaign among independents calling on Congress to hold hearings to examine ways in which partisanship is so hardwired into the political system, as to have created structural discrimination against independents.
The purpose of our campaign is two-fold:
1) To educate Congress and shine a light on the effect of partisan control of the election process, namely that 40% of Americans have a second class status.
2) To urge Congress to investigate these biases by holding hearings.
Recent polls show the number of Americans identifying as independents has surpassed that of Democrat or Republican. This disconnect-between the growing independence of the citizenry and the highly partisan nature of our governing process-is creating an unhealthy situation for our democracy.
Indeed, many have noted that the past budget/debt negotiations and resulting congressional approval ratings of less than 10%, are so driven by partisan considerations as to put the country at risk. They urge that structural reforms are urgently needed in order that we may find genuine solutions to the problems we face.
