This year, as you may have heard, there will be a presidential election. This month, Florida will hold a closed primary to identify our preferred presidential candidates. However, if you are part of the rapidly growing group of Florida Voters who choose to be No Party Affiliated (NPA), your voice will not be heard. The fact that Florida holds exclusively closed primaries used to not be an issue. In 1995, only about 830,000 Florida voters (12%) were designated as NPA. However, identifying as an independent has become increasingly popular, and it is the fastest growing political designation in the state. As of 2015, approximately 3.2 million Florida voters are registered to vote as NPA (27%). Florida is drastically limiting the voice of its populace. The closed primary process not only keeps millions of people from casting a primary ballot, it also contributes to the apathy that has infected the electorate and the radicalization of both the Democratic and Republican parties. When you restrict the voice of nearly a third of your electorate who already have doubts about their ability to make an impact on the political process, they stop paying attention. We need to keep them involved if we want more civil discourse in our elections! To make matters worse, closed primaries cause candidates to pander to their base, ensuring that the nominated candidates are further from the middle by the time of the general election. Why does this matter? Because political viewpoints are on a spectrum, and as the growing number of registered NPA's illustrates, a lot of us fall somewhere in the middle. So, I would like to propose that the Florida legislature amend the Florida Statutes like F.S. 97.055 to allow for a semi-closed primary process by the time the next elections come around. For those of you who do not know what that means, it would allow independently registered voters to participate in either the Republican or Democratic Primaries. Voters registered as either Democrat or Republican would only be allowed to vote within their party's primary, reducing voter "cross-over." This change would allow voters with moderate views to have a voice in our elections process, while still maintaining some structure in our primary process.