Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State
Challenging Florida's Closed Primary Before the Supreme Court
Retired Florida attorney Michael Polelle challenged Florida's closed primaries on behalf of independent voters locked out of taxpayer-funded primary elections. IVP co-filed an amicus brief in September 2025 alongside Open Primaries, Forward Party, and Florida Forward Party. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on October 14, 2025. Florida's independent voter population has grown to approximately 4.5 million — at the time the original case was filed in 2024, that figure stood at approximately 3.4 million.
Florida's independent voters pay for elections they can't vote in.
Florida runs a closed primary system. More than 4.5 million voters registered with no party affiliation are now excluded from primary elections — the stage where most races are effectively decided, especially in gerrymandered districts. When the case was originally filed in 2024, that number was approximately 3.4 million.
Retired Florida attorney Michael Polelle filed suit challenging this exclusion. In September 2025, IVP co-filed an amicus brief alongside Open Primaries, Forward Party, and Florida Forward Party. Chad Peace serves as counsel of record. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in October 2025.
Building on a decade of legal precedent.
IVP's amicus brief draws on the constitutional arguments developed through Proposition 14, Boden, Rubin, and Boydston — a decade of legal work establishing that voter participation rights in publicly funded elections must be protected.
The brief argues that the state created the conflict between party rights and voter rights by funding and administering partisan primaries — and the state is obligated to resolve it. This is the same legal theory that drives all of IVP's courtroom work.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on October 14, 2025 (No. 25-147), leaving the Eleventh Circuit's ruling in place. The core constitutional question — whether a state can exclude taxpaying independent voters from taxpayer-funded primaries — remains unresolved at the federal level.
Key Milestones
Polelle Files Challenge
Retired Florida attorney Michael Polelle files suit challenging Florida's closed primaries on behalf of 3.4 million independent voters.
IVP Files Amicus Brief
IVP co-files an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court alongside Open Primaries, Forward Party, and Florida Forward Party. Chad Peace is counsel of record.
SCOTUS Denies Certiorari
The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case (No. 25-147). The Eleventh Circuit ruling stands, and whether closed primaries violate independent voters' constitutional rights remains an open federal question.
Why This Case Matters
The Supreme Court declined to take the case. IVP's brief is on the Court's docket, and the question it raised — whether voters can be locked out of the elections they pay for — is still open.
The Question Stays Open
The Court declined the case without ruling on the merits. Whether closed primaries violate independent voters' constitutional rights is still an open federal question.
4.5 Million Locked Out
Florida's independent voters pay taxes that fund primary elections they're barred from participating in. The number has grown from 3.4 million when the case was filed in 2024 to approximately 4.5 million today.
National Implications
A favorable ruling would affect every state with closed primaries — potentially opening elections to tens of millions of independent voters nationwide.
“The state created the conflict between party rights and voter rights. The state is obligated to resolve it.”
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Related Cases
Balsam v. Guadagno
A coalition of independent voters and organizations challenged New Jersey's closed primaries, arguing that excluding 47% of the electorate — 2.6 million independents — from taxpayer-funded primary elections violated constitutional rights.
Read the Full CaseThe 3rd Circuit ruled against the plaintiffs, and SCOTUS declined to hear the case. But the legal arguments and national attention laid groundwork for future challenges to closed primary systems.
Boydston v. Padilla
IVP challenged the state of California over the exclusion of independent voters from presidential primaries — arguing that taxpayer-funded elections must be open to all taxpayers.
Read the Full CaseThe court deferred to party autonomy for presidential primaries, and SCOTUS denied certiorari in October 2023 (144 S.Ct. 496). The case raised national awareness of the contradiction: voters fund elections they can't vote in.