Hawaii Legislature Considers Top Two Nonpartisan Primaries
On Friday, February 13th, the Hawaii State Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on SB2480. The bipartisan bill was introduced by State Senator Mike Gabbard and 3 other sponsors and would move Hawaii to a Top Two nonpartisan primary system where all voters would receive the same ballot that included all candidates for that office. The top two voter getters would advance to the general election. This is the system used in CA and WA.
The consideration of a nonpartisan primary structure comes a decade after the Hawaii Democratic Party lost a court battle to close the primaries in the state.
The Judiciary Committee received written and in person testimony overwhelmingly in support of SB2480. In their testimony on Friday, HAPA (The Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action) said:
“Hawai’i has a large and growing number of nonpartisan voters who are currently limited in their ability to participate meaningfully in primary elections. SB 2480 helps address this imbalance by reducing barriers to participation and making elections more inclusive and representative. Encouraging border voter engagement and reducing partisan gatekeeping strengthens democratic legitimacy and public trust in the electoral process. SB2480 advances these good governance principles by prioritizing voter participation and fair competition.”
The Judiciary Committee voted the bill out of Committee. SB2480 goes back to the full Senate for a second reading. Stay tuned for what happens next in the Aloha State.
What happens when over 20 independents wait over four hours to be able to testify to the Maryland Assembly Government, Labor, and Elections Committee? They create a very different kind of bill hearing. That’s what the 19 Committee members discovered last Wednesday. These were students, veterans, teachers, retired Marylanders – regular independent voters who waited patiently to ask the Committee to advance HB 0496, a bipartisan bill introduced by Delegates Qi and Schmidt to open Maryland’s primaries to close to one million unaffiliated voters. These were not the typical people who show up to testify in Annapolis.
To a person, everyone had a compelling story to tell. Today, let’s hear from three of those independents.
Peter Taillie is a retired Social Studies teacher:
Taylor Jackson – a youth voter from Montgomery County:
Dennis Philapavage – Veteran and Airline Pilot:
At this week’s Power Hour, Dennis shared that this was his first time testifying and that it “was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Now the bill is in the hands of the Committee. Independent voters made our case!
The day before the hearing, Terry Lierman, a former Chair of the MD Democratic Party and the former staff director of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee penned a sharp editorial in the Baltimore Sun declaring that the parties-and the political establishment as a whole-needed to recognize the massive growth of independent voters and open primary elections to them. As Lierman noted:
That’s right — 20 million Americans are going to be locked out of voting in the midterm primaries!
Here’s what we know – the majority of Americans support opening the primaries. But the support is abstract, this is not an issue people care about. They don’t realize that 45% of Americans are independent and the huge impact these closed primaries have on our elections.
We want to move the needle in 2026 so that millions more Americans go from supporting open primaries to caring about the voting rights of their fellow independent Americans.
Here’s the plan–
- Across the country hundreds/thousands of independents are going to make some noise — stage informational pickets, or hold signs along busy roads urging folks to honk if they think primaries should be open..vigils…Creative actions to make the lock out visible. “I Can’t Vote Today! Ask Me Why!”
- Punchy videos that tell the story of independents being excluded, or forced into a narrow “pick a team” framework, and most importantly that we are not happy about this!
- Hundreds of letters to the editor from independents across the country, like this one Alice Rydel penned earlier this month, drawing attention to how closed primaries impact – they are unfair and unAmerican.
Are you in? Got an idea for your area? Want to create an action? Tell your story on TikTok? Reach Cathy Stewart at cstewart@openprimaries.org.
Let’s do this.
Hi, I’m Bree! Welcome to my corner of the newsletter, where we create digital storytelling as a force for the independent movement. Our mission is to make independent voters — now 45% of the country — more visible, tell our stories and fight for fair and open primaries! To do that, we meet people where they already are: on their phones.
Social media virality today is about more than “likes”; it’s about pressure and presence. I am currently reaching out to creators who feel the sting of the two-party system, pushing influencers to stand for fairness, and inviting everyday independent voters to film their own stories. TikTok’s algorithm is unique because it rewards the relevance of a story over a follower count
By using trending sounds and ‘wordless’ formats like dancing or simple text overlays, we increase our reach to people who might normally scroll past a traditional political post.
By creating a ‘spark’ that invites others to join in, we allow thousands of people to build a shared voice – carving out a space for independent voters that the algorithm and the establishment can no longer ignore.
Scenes from the Movement
I wanted to share two examples of non-traditional moments that capture the raw reality of being an independent in a system designed to ignore you:
The “Politically Homeless” Independent: Check out this Gen Z perspective. The creator used a trending audio clip (one already used in 60k other videos) to show her experience as an independent. It perfectly captures the “burned” feeling that resonates with the 10,000 people de-registering from major parties every single week
The “Wordless” Message: Then there’s this classic TikTok style video. Yes, he’s dancing! This is one way information moves today. It makes a heavy, serious issue catchy and digestible
Why do these work? In digital storytelling, less is more. We don’t need a lengthy explanation as to why being shut out of an election is wrong. We just need to show it.
Get Involved! Whether you want to help us reach out to influencers or learn how to film your own story, we need your voice. If you’re interested in more of this work, reach out to me at bdoldron@openprimaries.org
