A full 40% of registered voters in the United States have no party affiliation and I am one of them. It is absurd that we can't vote in primaries in every state! This means that independents are the largest block of voters bigger than either the Democratic or Republican Parties. Since taxpayers foot the bill for primary day elections it also means those with no party affiliation are subsidizing political parties that refuse to have open primaries in many states including mine, New York. It's time for open primaries but both the Democratic and Republican Parties are terrified of the consequences.
The latest victim of open primaries is Eric Cantor. There is a lot of denial but the truth is not lost on the leadership of both parties. In Virginia one can vote in any party primary regardless of which party they checked off on the voter registration card. Cantor's pollsters, lousy as they are, failed to poll independents and democrats which would account for the extremely erroneous figures of their poll. I know many will disagree but only because it doesn't fit their agenda. What happened in Virginia can happen to any politician when there are open primaries.
In my opinion Massachusetts has the best open primary system. Voters in that state must vote as registered in a primary but independents (meaning no official party) can vote for any party. This prevents Democratic or Republican voters from causing havoc in the opposing party's primary and gives independents a voice. It should be adopted on a national level.
Yeah it's time for every voter to have a voice in choosing those who represent them!