Jay Reardon

It’s no secret that our political system is broken. Leaders elected under our current system seem more interested in scoring easy political points than rolling up their sleeves and solving the real problems facing Montana families. At best, they focus on one or two fringe issues that cater to a small group of voters that supported them in the primary.

That’s why the Montana Alliance for Retired Americans has endorsed CI-126. Open primaries give Montanans better choices and the freedom to elect politicians who will focus on the real problems facing seniors and their families, like addressing the rising cost of prescription drugs and protecting our social security and retirement benefits.

Retired Montanans want our state to remain a place their children and grandchildren can live, work, and raise their families. We need to elect leaders willing to put their partisan differences aside to find solutions to the challenges we face.

Unfortunately, our primary system – which restricts us from voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices – favors more extreme candidates. It prevents the thousands of Montanans who identify as Independent from picking candidates of either party. Our primary system takes away their voice, and the consequences are often a decision to not participate in elections at all.

That disenfranchisement is a key reason why our legislature is so extreme. Without accountability, politicians cater to the political right and left, and alienate the 40 percent of voters who occupy the middle.

CI-126 addresses this problem by opening Montana’s primary and giving voters the ability to vote for the person, not the party.

CI-126 is not about benefiting one political party or the other. Instead, it accomplishes something we don’t see often in politics today: it puts voters first. CI-126 will help us elect leaders who will protect what is special about Montana and our way of life for future generations