Written by John F. Robbins, Kenton County resident
Independent-registered Kentucky voters like me are barred by the 2 majority parties (Democratic and Republican) from voting in primary elections just because we’re not party members. Kentucky has what we call “closed primaries” where independents and 3rd party members cannot vote in the majority party primaries even though primary elections often decide future officeholders. Sixty-one of the 119 General Assembly candidates (over 50%) on Kentucky’s 2026 ballots seem poised to face uncontested general elections in the fall, which means half the winners could be decided in the May 2026 primaries. In the 2024 primaries, only 443,437 of Kentucky’s 3,490,967 registered Democratic and Republican voters actually voted. Only 12.7% of registered voters! In other words, a relatively few voters right now can select many of the winning candidates!
As of February 2026, 88.8% of Kentucky registered voters were Democrats or Republicans. 5.1% were independents and 6.1% were 3rd party members. This means 11.2% of Kentucky voters who are neither Democrats nor Republicans are barred from voting in the primaries.
The 2 majority political parties say they want their primaries kept closed because they want only their own members to vote for their candidates. Some worry that voters may vote in other party primaries just to influence who will face their own party’s candidates in the fall. But this concern does not take into consideration that independent and 3rd party voters often vote for majority party candidates. As a lifelong independent since the 1970s, I have voted for countless Democrats and Republicans! Yes, I’ve also voted for many independents and 3rd party candidates, but the overwhelming majority of ballot contests have no independent or 3rd party choices.
More voters nowdays are registering independent. The Scripts News affiliate in Lexington recently reported that “independent voter registrations are surging in Fayette County and across Kentucky,” citing statistics showing that more new voters in Fayette County registered independent in February 2026 than the combined total for the Democratic and Republican Parties.
In Kentucky the 2 majority parties still dominate, but both parties have lost membership share nationally. Gallup reported in January 2026 that “a record-high 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents in 2025, surpassing the 43% measured in 2014, 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, equal shares of U.S. adults – 27% each – identified as Democrats or Republicans.”
Kentucky is one of only 17 states which runs closed primaries, allowing the majority parties to hold private elections financed by public tax dollars and run by employees paid with public tax dollars. But most states have opened their primaries to allow independents and 3rd party members to vote. There are different versions of open primaries. One has all primary candidates on 1 ballot available to all voters. The top 2-4 vote-getters proceed to the final election regardless of party affiliation. Another version allows any voter to ask for any party’s ballot. A 3rd version allows only independent and 3rd party voters to ask for any party’s ballot. I like the 1st version, but any of the versions would be better than what we have now!
If you’re a registered independent voter in Kentucky like me, aren’t you also sick and tired of being barred from participating in taxpayer-funded elections by the 2 major political parties? Political parties should not have a right to bar voters from publicly financed and run elections based on party affiliation! Publicly financed and run elections ought to be open to all voters. If political parties want their own private primary elections, they should finance and run their own elections or hold caucuses.