The President of IndependentVoting.org is sending an open letter to Tom Perez, chair of the DNC, urging him to meet with independent leaders to explore opening the 2020 presidential primaries and caucuses to independent voters. 44% of Americans identify as Independent voters. Sign the open letter here. Forty-four percent of American voters now identify as "independent voters.

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Jackie Salit, the President of Independent Voting, is sending an open letter to Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee urging him to meet with independent leaders to explore opening the 2020 presidential primaries and caucuses to independent voters. Independent activists are invited to sign the google doc letter here.

Forty-four percent of American voters now identify as "independent voters."

Dear Chairman Perez,

I write on behalf of the 34 million independent voters who cast their ballots on Election Day. I am the President of Independent Voting, the country's largest organization of independent voters. I am joined in this outreach by leaders and activists from our network. We represent America's growing community of independents, now 44% of the electorate. We come from across the country and from all walks of life, from diverse backgrounds and communities.

Exit polling in the midterms shows that independent voters supported House Democratic candidates over Republicans at a rate of 54% to 42%. This support gave the Democratic Party control of the House for the first time in ten years. That means approximately 18 million independents voted for Democratic congressional candidates. Furthermore, more independents came out to vote in the midterms than did in 2014, resulting in a 38% increase in our participation in the November 6th election. It is also worth noting that the political reforms enacted through popular initiatives in Michigan, Colorado, Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Utah had huge levels of support from independent voters.

Our numbers are growing, and, increasingly, we are making the difference in the outcome of elections, while also charting a path for democratic reform. But we are a misunderstood and under-recognized force in the electorate. Contrary to media and pundit spin, we are not "leaners" and we have no interest in becoming either Democrats or Republicans. We wish to remain as independents and we wish to be recognized and respected as such.

In 2016, independent voters were locked out or otherwise restricted in the presidential primaries in 27 states. This meant that over 26 million Americans could not fully participate in the process of electing the President. As you no doubt recall, there was public outcry over this exclusion, particularly from young voters unfamiliar with the closed systems. They were stunned on primary day when they could not vote. In some states--like Arizona where 41% of Latinos are registered as independents, or Florida, where recent surveys indicate 39% of Latinos and 31% of African Americans identify as independents--this exclusion negatively impacts the voting rights of minorities.

We do not want to experience this kind of exclusion again in 2020, and we are reaching out to pursue ways to remedy this problem. Based on the estimated number of independents who voted for the Democrats in the midterms, and the number who were excluded in 2016, we surmise that your party could attract as many as 14 million additional independent voters in the 2020 primaries, if those elections were open to non-aligned voters. In 2016, your state party organizations in Oklahoma, Alaska, California, South Dakota and Nebraska changed their party rules to allow independents to vote. No judicial or legislative action was required. Every state party should do this in 2020.

While we, the undersigned, make no pledge or commitment with regard to supporting any particular 2020 presidential candidate--Democratic, Republican, minor party or independent--we believe the time has come for both governing parties, and for the Democratic Party in particular, to take the decisive step of opening the 2020 presidential primaries to independents. Your party has announced that its first order of business in the new Congress will be the introduction of HB1, a political reform bill. However, to be a truly inclusive democracy, non-aligned voters must have full access to the electoral process, which HB1 does not address.

We, the undersigned, represent thousands of activists across the country who are working towards achieving full voting rights for all Americans. We hope that you will be available to discuss these issues at the soonest possible moment.

Sincerely,

Sign the google doc letter here.

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.