When Independent Arizona candidate Angel Garcia was asked if he supported the top two initiative (an issue important to independent voters), here is how he answered and this is why we support him.

Question: Do you support implementing a top two primary system?

Answer: Angel does not support a taxpayer funded primary system at all. Parties pick and choose their darlings and engage in endorsements before a primary anyway. If parties want a primary they should save the taxpayers the money and fund it themselves. That being said, the question is in regards to a top two primary system. Angel feels if there is going to be a primary system top two is a great way to go as long as party labels are stripped from the ballot and the voting is conducted in a nonpartisan manner. My top choice would be an "instant runoff" voting system, but most voters have never even heard of that.

 

• Scott Peters who identifies as a Democrat was named the fourth most independent Democrat by the National Journal. He voted against the party majority 17 times. He has also had to work harder to reach out to independent voters that can swing the pendulum either way. This is a great example of what can happen if we had a top two primary system in place.

 

Having a nonpartisan top two primary will push candidates to better represent their constituents by making them realize the bases traditionally pandered to on the far right and far left do not represent a majority of Americans. This will hopefully cause politicians to approach politics in a more moderate manner and end some of the gridlock we have seen in government. By implementing top two we will see a broader range of ideas injected into the political marketplace due to increased competition from not only members of the same political party, but other political parties as well.

 

Nonpartisan top two primaries will give independent voter a larger voice in the political arena. With the current system politicians know they will make it past the party based primary, so they spend all of their time catering messages and pandering to their base. They don't even try to introduce ideology that would be seen as middle of the road or moderate. Often times independents are ignored because parties feel that independent don't vote. Angel usually responds to that by saying, "If a party gave a worthwhile candidate that represented the constituents maybe independents would actually vote for that parties candidate and there would be an increased voter turn out."

 

Nonpartisan top two primaries will also give third parties a fighting chance to get their people elected into office. People might find they actually have more in common with the third party candidates than they do the "big two" parties when researching what the people who are running stand for. Removing party labels would push the average voter to have to do more homework on the candidate and hopefully leave them feeling more educated on where that particular candidate stands on the issue.