By Preston Salameh
6 February 2025
Oklahoma is at a crossroads when it comes to our state’s primary election system.
Oklahoma United has filed State Question 836, which if approved, would replace our current exclusionary, partisan primary system with an open one. Under the proposal, all candidates vying for the same post would appear on the same ballot regardless of party. Voters of all parties would then select their favorites, sending the Top 2 vote-getters onto the general election.
American voters on both sides of the aisle are tired of extremist politicians dominating our government and politics. These “my way or no way” politicians create unproductive gridlock within our government and stifle any chance of real change or compromise.
Time and time again, concrete progress is stalled because our leaders will not set their egos aside and compromise.
Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or independent, this is a problem.
So how did we get here?
The truth is, our primary system is built in a way that promotes extremist candidates.
Under our current closed, exclusionary system, Oklahoman primaries block voters of other parties from helping determine the outcome. State law allows the political parties to decide whether independent voters can participate in their partisan elections.
With 1 in 5 Oklahoma voters registering as independents – the fastest-growing voter bloc in the state – our system is disenfranchising over 487,000 voters who don’t affiliate with any political party.
Only Oklahoma’s Democratic Party opens its primaries to independent voters, however, even this move is a relatively modest step and hasn’t addressed the broader systemic issues that an open primary system could resolve.
In many cases, only one party may field candidates in an election, leaving voters from non-participating parties out of luck when choosing their representative.
When this happens, which is more often than you think, these elections are decided in the primaries, typically by a small group of voters belonging to a single party. This means that many of our elected officials don’t even have to run in a general November election, which typically sees higher turnout and thus a more representative electorate.
When so many of our elections are decided by low-turnout, deeply partisan races, we should not be surprised when we end up with candidates of similar uncompromising mindsets. Opening up our primaries would lead to higher turnout and more representative races.
It is no wonder why we end up with radical candidates. The reality is that our tax dollars are promoting a system that rewards extremism and punishes moderation.
In today’s political climate, it is hard to find something that both Republicans and Democrats agree on.
But if we can find common ground anywhere, it is that our current politicians are not a good representation of the people of this state.
We need common sense candidates who prioritize practical solutions and are willing to work across party lines to make them happen. Unfortunately, our current primary system prevents this from happening.
In order to fix our government, we have to start at the foundation and ensure that our legislators represent the majority of Oklahomans, not just those registered with the right party.
By creating an open, unified primary system, Oklahoma may finally be able to remedy this curse of extremism.
Independent voters will finally get the voice they deserve and the views of our elected officials will finally start to look like the views of the average Oklahoman.