New Mexico just held its first semi-open primary. More than 38,000 independents voted, but most still didn't know they could. Here's what we learned.
When New Mexico's polls closed on June 2, the state had just finished something it had never done before: a primary in which independent voters could take part without first joining a party. Under SB 16, unaffiliated voters can now request a major-party ballot without changing their registration. Before that, the state ran closed primaries, and independents were shut out.
The early results give the country a real-world test of what happens when the door opens. Here's what we take from them.
Lesson 1: When independents are let in, they show up
According to Secretary of State data, more than 38,000 independent voters cast a ballot in the primary. Overall, more than 340,000 residents voted, more than 100,000 above the 2024 primary. In her statement after the election, the Secretary of State noted that more than 37,600 independent voters were able to vote for the first time without changing the party on their registration. Independent voters boost turnout in New Mexico's first semi-open primary election +2
Those voters were previously locked out of the election that, in many districts, effectively decides the outcome. Advocates point out that primaries determine roughly 80 percent of elected seats because so many districts and races are uncompetitive. Bringing independents into that election puts them in front of the decisions that matter most. Common Cause
Lesson 2: Awareness is the bottleneck
The turnout numbers also show how much room there is to grow. The 38,000 independents who voted represented roughly 10 percent of the more than 380,000 registered independents in the state, a group that makes up about a quarter of all voters. The gap showed up before Election Day too: in early voting, unaffiliated voters were 27 percent of registered voters but only about 10 percent of early ballots. ABQ Journal / Santa Fe New Mexican
Part of the explanation is simple. This was the first time, and a midterm primary is a low-attention election. Advocates who backed the law said the low early numbers weren't surprising for a rollout year. But some candidates reported that many independent voters were unaware they could vote at all. Reporting from Independent Voter News also raised questions over how much state and county officials did to reach independent voters. ABQ Journal / Independent Voter News
The takeaway for reformers everywhere is that passing the law is half the work. A new right that voters don't know about is a right most voters won't use. Education campaigns, clear ballot instructions, and outreach to unaffiliated voters need to be funded and planned as part of the reform itself.
Lesson 3: Independents make real choices
It would be easy to read the results as independents picking one side. Of the independents who voted, about 73.8 percent chose a Democratic ballot, with the rest choosing a Republican ballot. But a few things are worth keeping in mind before drawing conclusions from that split. ABQ Journal
- Roughly a quarter of independent voters chose the other party's ballot. These voters weren't defaulting to one party. They were making choices between contests.
- Primary ballots are shaped by which races are competitive. Voters in Santa Fe County said the highly anticipated governor's race brought them to the polls, and one voter who chose the Republican ballot said she appreciated a candidate's local knowledge in the debates. Searchlightnm
- A single election is one data point. Independents have different priorities in different states and races, and the split in New Mexico shouldn't be read as a national pattern.
The more useful takeaway is that independents responded to competitive, interesting races, the same way any group of voters does.
Lesson 4: Semi-open is a step, and the debate continues
New Mexico's system is called semi-open because independents still have to choose one party's ballot. It expands access without removing party primaries. That middle path is part of why it passed, and it's also why the conversation isn't over. The state Republican Party opposed the bill, calling it a potential stepping stone to fully open primaries or ranked-choice voting. Supporters, for their part, see it as a practical way to include a growing group of voters. yahoo
Reasonable people disagree about how far primary reform should go. What New Mexico shows is that incremental changes can produce measurable participation gains, and that states watching from the sidelines now have evidence to look at.
Why the trend matters
New Mexico's unaffiliated share has grown quickly, from 15 percent of registrations in 2004 to 23 percent, and independents outnumber registered Democrats in some counties and registered Republicans in others. That growth mirrors a national pattern. In a state where roughly a quarter of voters are unaffiliated, an election system that ignores them gets less representative every year. yahoo
What to watch next
- General election turnout among newly engaged independents. Do the 38,000 voters who took part in June return in November?
- Outreach for the next cycle. Will the state and advocacy groups invest in education before the 2028 primaries?
- Other states. New Mexico is becoming a reference point for legislatures weighing similar reforms.
For independent voters, the lesson is simple. Check your state's rules, know what your registration allows, and use the access you have. When the door opens, the voters who walk through it are what make the reform matter.
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