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Independent Voters of Maryland

Affiliate of Independent Voting

Let your voice be heard by signing our petition!

Background

NOTE: The information you are providing for the petition will not be used for any purpose other than to verify your support for open primaries in Maryland. Information such as geographical, constituent, age, etc. will be used for general data to be presented to the general public -- it will not be shared with outside third-party groups.

Background Information for petition

In Maryland, the number of Independent (unaffiliated) voters has risen to 20% 830,000; and is continuing to rise; according to a study by Open Primaries, it is projected to become the state's second-largest group of voters in the next 15 years.
Maryland's current election system prohibits independent voters from participating in primary elections for State and Federal positions.
Prohibiting voters from participating in primary elections is a problem because Primary elections are the only elections of importance in many districts in Maryland. For example, in more than a third of Maryland's counties, all the district and county candidates who won in the primary for one political party went on to win at the general election, some of them running unopposed.
Taxation without representation: Maryland's primary elections are not paid for by the political parties. They are paid for by the taxes of all Maryland citizens, including those who are not allowed to vote in those elections unless they affiliate with the Democratic or Republican parties.
Many independents choose not to affiliate with any political party because they want to relate more with the candidates rather than with the political party.
Closed primaries deny independent voters their rights guaranteed by the U.S. and Maryland constitutions.

We believe that all voters should be able to participate in all elections, including primary elections. We ask for an open primary election system in Maryland in which independent voters can participate and choose candidates in a fair, accessible, and equal way, as they can in most states in this country.