Should Oregon open up its primaries?

Let’s invent a political system that leaves out the largest group of voters in Deschutes County, the people unaffiliated with a party.

That needs no invention, however. That’s the political system we have today.

The 48,654 registered Democrats get to vote in the primaries. The 44,659 Republicans get to vote in the primaries. The 57,129 people registered as unaffiliated are often disenfranchised with no vote in the primaries.

Not very fair. A similar story plays out across the state.

In November 2026, voters may get to vote on a ballot measure to change that. Oregon would have open primaries. The proposed ballot measure make it so all candidates for an office would be listed on a single ballot for the offices of U.S. Senator, Congressional representative, governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state senator and state representative and possibly other offices. The two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election. Under the proposal, a political party could choose to hold its own separate primary, at its own expense.

There have been proposals like this in the past. An attempt in 2024 didn’t make the ballot.

This time, that might be different. Former Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski is one of the chief petitioners for the measure as well as Redmond resident Andrew Kaza, co-chair of the state’s Independent Party, and former state Rep. Cheri Helt, who represented Bend as a Republican. That those three are joining together to back the measure is a statement in itself.

It’s not hard for voters in Oregon to switch their party affiliation quickly before an election and then switch back. So you could argue that the change is not necessary. But is it fair to force people to go through that? Should the two major parties continue their control of primaries in a state where the number of unaffiliated voters have grown? What do you think?