States with top-two primaries have the advantage of increased voter participation, draw a wider band of voters and are generally more representative of the electorate.
The change does come with potential concerns, though. The possibility that the top-two candidates advancing to the general election could be from the same party has the potential to reduce, not increase, choice and competition; where there is a large number of candidates from the two major parties eroding one another’s support, the election results may more likely reflect chance than the will of the voters; and ballot access for independent and third-party candidates (and therefore voters’ choices) could be limited as well.
However, passage of Amendment 3 would increase voter turnout, as roughly 3.7 million voters who are not registered with either major party would then be permitted to vote in primary elections.
Increasing access and availability to exercise the fundamental right to vote is positive, even if the mechanism seeking to do so may be imperfect. Amendment 3 would increase this access, and has the potential to bring millions of voters into the process of self governing.