Open primaries group hoping to reach state voters
Joe Kirby, chairman of South Dakota Open Primaries is asking for voter support on Amendment H.
If approved. Amendment H would allow for open primary elections no matter party affiliation. It would allow the top two vote-getters from the primary election to be on the on the November ballot
The SDOP group polling indicates that when South Dakotans understand it, they support Amendment H.
Following is the proponents’ explanation written for the Voter Information Guide published pre-election by the the Secretary of State: “Vote YES on Amendment H to make sure every South Dakota voter has a voice in who leads our state, taking power from party bosses and returning it to the voters.”
Amendment H would create one South Dakota Primary. All candidates would be on a single primary ballot that all voters would receive and the top two vote-getters would advance to the general election.
Currently, 150,000 independent or unaffiliated voters in South Dakota are excluded from taxpayer-funded primary elections.
South Dakota’s closed primary system isn’t working anymore, the group believes. Only 17 percent of South Dakota’s voters participated in last June’s primary election,.
They also believe that Amendment H would boost turnout and competitive elections and that it would shift power from party bosses back to the voters, fix an unfair system that silences the voices of 150,000 South Dakota independent voters.
Kirby said, “I have not encountered any compelling arguments against our open primaries proposal, so I believe our big challenge is to make voters aware of it and how it works.”
