Make Florida an open-primary state.

In Wednesday’s Sentinel, Scott Maxwell wrote about the Florida Constitution Revision Commission’s public hearings. They’re taking place around the state in preparation for selecting potential constitutional changes for voters to choose in November. This rare opportunity happens every 20 years. The public hearing in Orlando will be March 29.

Commissioner Bill Schifino proposed open primaries (proposal 62) and the Ethics and Elections Committee approved it. Sadly, it was tabled by the General Provisions Committee, but maybe with additional public input at the upcoming hearings, the CRC will reconsider it.

The commission has the power to make changes that would enable all qualified electors to vote in primary elections, regardless of party affiliation.

In Florida, 27 percent of registered voters are prohibited from primary elections because they didn’t register as Democrat or Republican. Although the nominee for the general election is determined by the primary, only about one out of every four Florida voters participated in 2016.

Reasons people say they’re not voting include: “Government is too partisan.” “The system is corrupt and rigged.” “My vote doesn’t matter.” “I don’t like either candidate.”

Or perhaps voters moved from an open-primary state to Florida and didn’t know they would be disallowed when they registered as Independent.

It’s important to engage as many potential voters as possible in order to dilute the influence of special interests and foreign operatives. Our democracy needs all the help it can get. Sue Jantz Mount Dora