Shawn Griffiths
KOAT 7 in New Mexico featured an investigative report on the impact of open primaries now that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed SB 16 into law, a bill that opens the state's primaries to more than 330,000 independent voters.
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"It will increase voter participation. That is the intent," said state Sen. Natalie Figueroa, one of the principal sponsors that introduced the bill. She said she supported it because 2024 primary turnout was only 17%.
The opportunity for increased participation comes from doors opened to a quarter of the voting population that were previously closed, especially when the most critical stage of the elections process are the taxpayer-funded primaries.
Research from Unite America found that 83% of elections in New Mexico were safe for a single major party in the 2024 cycle. Digging deeper, modern trends show that about half of legislative races go uncontested each election.
FLASHBACK: Is New Mexico Where Voter Choice Goes to Die?
The point of open primaries is to respect every voter's right to meaningful and equal access to elections. They may not always guarantee higher turnout, particularly under partisan systems, but they make it much more likely.
For example, the National Vote at Home Institute recorded primary turnout in the 2024 election cycle. Of the top 5 states, only one was a closed primary state (Oregon).
Two of them (Washington and California) use open nonpartisan systems, meaning all candidates and voters participate on a single ballot, regardless of party.
According to NVHI's chart, New Mexico ranked 32nd in 2024 primary turnout.
SB 16 implements a semi-open partisan primary system, meaning party members have to vote in their respective party's primary, but voters registered outside a political party can pick the party primary ballot of their choice.
In districts that are not competitive or contested, this gives many voters in the state the opportunity to cast a ballot in the primary that will give their vote the most meaning.