Time to open Nebraska’s closed primary election system

In less than two weeks, Nebraskans will vote in a primary election for local, state and federal offices. Even though every Nebraska taxpayer pays for the administration of these public elections, not every Nebraska voter will be able to fully participate in them.

Our state’s current system of closed political party primaries tells more than 270,000 registered independent voters, almost a quarter of all Nebraska voters: “Thanks for your help printing and processing all these ballots, too bad you can’t vote on one that matters.”

While we don’t limit primary election participation by party in municipal elections or in races for the Nebraska Legislature, we do in races for the state’s top posts – governor, other state constitutional offices, federal offices and certain local offices. Being a registered Republican or Democrat gives you automatic access to vote in these elections to decide who advances to November, while nonpartisan voters are able to obtain a Democratic primary ballot if they know to request one

Nebraskans for Better Governance – a coalition of Nebraskans seeking reforms to make democratic processes more open, politics and policy more innovative and elections more competitive – takes issue with this status quo. The closed primary system is wasteful of tax dollars (equating to taxation without participation) and has led to an uncompetitive political environment.

The Platte Institute recently published a white paper (https://platteinstitute.org/the-cost-of-voting-in-nebraska-a-platte-institute-study/) highlighting the waste issue. It examines the costs of administering elections to county governments, large and small, across the state.

What it found is that the duplicative, convoluted process of printing and processing multiple versions of partisan and nonpartisan ballots makes primary elections cost on average as much or more than general elections, even though far fewer people typically vote in primary elections. The greatest costs, proportionally, are borne by smaller, rural counties.

To us, this begs the question: Why are we subsidizing political party election processes with public tax dollars in the first place?

The exclusionary nature of closed primaries is also limiting the number of qualified candidates running for office and leading to terribly uncompetitive outcomes in general elections. For the last three decades, races for the top offices in our state have effectively been decided in the May primary. There’s not been a general election race for governor, for example, decided within 10 percentage points since Mike Johanns beat Bill Hoppner 53-45 in 1998.

Our primary elections are complicated and costly, inefficient affairs, resulting in general elections that have become lopsided coronations.

We think a practical solution to saving taxpayer dollars and reforming the status quo is opening primaries to all registered voters, just as we do already in legislative and municipal elections.  All candidates on one ballot, accessible to all registered voters. The top two vote earners, regardless of party, advance to the general election.  Fair. Simple. Efficient.

Open primaries tend to alter the risk-reward calculus for candidates, and consequently, the ways in which they run their campaigns. Today, candidates are incentivized to be most responsive to the most extreme factions of their respective party bases. In open primaries, candidates are well-served not to alienate any part of the electorate and appeal to the broadest base of voters.

States all over the country are recognizing the deficiencies of closed primaries, and efforts are underway in places as politically diverse as South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Oklahoma and Idaho to make the change to open primary systems.

In Nebraska, it’s time to let all voters vote in the elections they fund with their tax dollars.  It’s only fair, and open primaries will help make our democracy more accessible and our politics more practical and competitive.

Editor’s note: This commentary has been revised to clarify that independent voters can request a Democratic ballot in the primary election.