Ep 4: Decoding how voters are leaving the Democratic and Republican parties for independence

On this episode of AI: Decodes the System, John Opdycke, President of Open Primaries, and AI decode how John became an activist with 30 years of experience in third-party, independent, and reform politics. They also discussed why he co-authored the new report The Next Great Migration: The Rise of Independent Voters. One goal of the report is to help energize the debate on restructuring our political process due to the growing numbers of voters who reject party affiliation.
They also discuss how primaries are run by the political parties but funded by taxpayer dollars. John highlighted how the Democratic and Republican parties often play as adversaries but came together in Florida to halt open primaries. John believes that the political system needs reform. Ideally, the growing number of independents can help influence a complete reformation of the political system, where parties are no longer both rule-maker and referee.
Some findings from the The Next Great Migration: The Rise of Independent Voters report include:

Thirty states combine voter registration with political party registration. We demonstrate that the rise of independent voters is significant. Registered independent voters are subjected to legal, political and administrative bias and exclusion.

The report suggests three interrelated structural electoral reforms to account for the rise of independent voters.

Eliminate party registration as a component of voter registration.Adopt nonpartisan primary elections.Restructure the Federal Election Commission.

Read the entire report here: http://openprimarieseducationfund.org/2020-independents-report/

More about John
John Opdycke is the President of Open Primaries. He is an activist and strategist with 30 years of experience working in independent, alternative and reform politics. He is one of the country’s most visible and vocal advocates for primary reform. In 1992, he joined Dr. Lenora Fulani's independent campaign for president as a regional fundraising director, and in 1994 assisted Dr. Fulani in her campaign against Mario Cuomo in the New York Democratic Party gubernatorial primary.
He has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Cheddar TV, PBS, and NBC and his written commentary on the subject of independent politics and electoral reform has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, and dozens of local publications. Read more about John here.

Social Media
John Opdycke:  Twitter, Open Primaries website
AI: Decodes the System: Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok
Find us on Clubhouse at @AiDecodes.


Help me become the #1 (number one) podcast and podcaster for technology, public policy, data, law, and culture. Subscribe, download, and sha

Support the show

Help me become the #1 (number one) podcast and podcaster for technology, public policy, data, law, and culture. Subscribe, download, and share.

If you like the content, feel free to support the show by donating to my Patreon account at the link below: https://www.patreon.com/Aidecodes