You'd think Democrats and MAGA Republicans agree on nothing - but they just quietly teamed up to do one specific thing: shut 7 million California independent voters out of the primary. We're naming names.

Chad, Cara, and Shawn break down the bipartisan effort to undo California's top-two nonpartisan primary - with Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio and former CA GOP director Ron Nehring leading the charge, joined improbably by Lorena Gonzalez on the left and Carl DeMaio on the right. Politico just covered the More Choice California Coalition fighting back, and the crew gets into why "voter confusion" is a manufactured talking point. Chad lays out the 115-year reform fight, Cara walks through which constitutional candidates actually responded to IVP's survey (and which Secretary of State conveniently didn't), and Shawn covers DC's city council quietly defunding Initiative 83 after 73% of voters passed it. 

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media. 

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us  and https://independentvoterproject.org 

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – Are California Parties Trying to Shut Out Independent Voters?

00:00:33 – The Growing Fight Over California’s Top Two Primary

00:01:45 – Why Democrats and Republicans Both Want Control Back

00:03:03 – Polling, Political Strategy, and the Battle Over Open Primaries

00:04:30 – Why California’s Primary System Confuses Independent Voters

00:06:56 – The Real Strategy Behind Closed Primaries

00:08:00 – Who Owns Elections: Political Parties or the Voters?

00:09:42 – Is California Really Becoming a One-Party State?

00:12:53 – New Data Shows Independents Surpassing Republicans in California

00:15:29 – Candidates Respond to Independent Voter Rights Survey