Good news: the bill introduced by Republican lawmakers to close the primaries and force partisan voter registration has died!
Independent Voting activists in the state lobbied against the bill, including writing letters to the
editor.
Kim Wright, Eyes on 2020 cabinet member, lent her voice to a robocall sponsored by Open Primaries that reached out to voters in Wright’s hometown of Joplin. Said Wright: “Thankfully, HB922 did not make it out of committee this year. It will be important to continue our efforts to educate all Missouri voters about this introduced legislation for future reference. Registering to vote without party affiliation in Missouri is a tradition that allows all voters to participate — we must preserve that process.” Wright’s letter to the editor, “Open Primary Process is Working,” was published in the Joplin Globe.
In his letter to the editor, independent Mark O’Bryan of St. Louis wrote: “Since primary elections are taxpayer funded, the change made by HB 26 is an infringement on voters’ rights. If parties want to hold primaries which exclude voters then they should pay for these primary elections out of their campaign funds OR NOT be allowed on the ballot at all.”