The case was dismissed by a federal district court and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling that voters do not have a fundamental right to vote in primary elections in New Jersey until they join a party. On the legal side, IVP - leading a nonpartisan coalition of individual plaintiffs and organizations - challenged New Jersey’s closed primary process in federal court in 2014, making a pretty simple argument: you shouldn’t have to join a party to vote. It is also worth mentioning that San Diego has more voters than many states. Both the citywide ( Measures K, 2016) and countywide ( Measure D, 2018) passed with around 60% of the vote.

The organization also started a series of reforms in San Diego when it authored and submitted a reform that removed a simple loophole that allowed incumbent candidates to get elected in a primary and skip the general election altogether. This faced opposition from both major parties, but was defeated by record-setting turnout from independent voters. IVP wrote the nonpartisan top-two open primary in California, which was approved by voters under Proposition 14 (2010).

Congressional watchdog groups