The Unified Primary Act is HB 3166 with the -2 Amendment in the Oregon Legislature
ENDS PARTISAN RESTRICTIONS ON WHO PARTICIPATES: Allows all registered voters to vote and all qualified candidates to compete in public primaries.
PROMOTES HEALTHY COMPETITION: Candidates compete on the same primary ballot. Removes barriers to competition. Top 2 advance to general election.
BROADENS VOTER CHOICE: Increases the number of candidate choices. Allows voters to choose any candidate on their primary ballots.
PROTECTS THE VALUE OF POLITICAL PARTY LABELS: Unlike the "Top 2" systems in California and Washington, our Unified Primary Act allows any candidate to show political party labels next to the candidate's name on the ballot, only if the party has actually endorsed that candidate. No party label hijacking.
Why open our primaries?
Our primary system is old and dysfunctional.
We’re one of the few remaining states with a fully closed primary.
FAIRNESS: Over 1.3 million voters in Oregon are barred from voting in closed partisan primaries. That’s 43% of the electorate that’s shut out — and their numbers are growing.
PUBLIC FUNDING: Primary elections are publicly funded and administered. No Oregonian should be required to join a political party in order to vote for candidates in a public election.
VOTER CHOICE: Voters want to be able to choose from among all the candidates. Our closed partisan primaries don't allow that.
BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY: Elected officials perform better when competition is increased and they are incentivized to listen to their entire constituencies, not just partisan primary voters.
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