TAMPA, Fla — Currently, Florida has a closed primary — where Republicans can only vote for Republicans and Democrats can only vote for Democrats.
Amendment 3 on the 2020 ballot looks to change that.
Amendment 3 would open up the process to the nearly four million voters in Florida who are not registered with either party. No Party Affiliation, or NPA, voters represent about one-fourth of all registered voters in the state.
All registered voters would be able to vote for any candidate in a statewide legislative, gubernatorial or cabinet race. The top two vote-getters in those races would advance to the general election, regardless of political affiliation.
That means two candidates from the same party could face off in the general election.
Research conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found moderate candidates, in some cases, were slightly more likely to be successful after a "top-two" system was enacted somewhere, but it varied by party.
So, what is an open primary?
Open primaries don’t require voters to be registered with a political party to vote for partisan or nonpartisan candidates.
Voters can pick a party’s ballot and vote for that party’s nomination.
Voters cannot vote in more than one party’s primary election.
Then, the candidates from each party who get the most votes advance to the general election.
States with closed primary elections require voters to register with a political party or declare no party affiliation.
Voters who aren’t registered as Democrats or Republicans might get the impression that there’s nothing on the primary ballots for them. But there is.
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