Voter suppression is defined as a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. The Florida Division of Elections reports that as of June 30, 2020, 27.3% of registered voters in the state of Florida are either registered with a minor party (defined as any party other than Republican/Democrat), or have no party affiliation at all. As Florida is a closed-primary state, 27.3% of registered voters are not allowed to decide who they vote for in the general elections.

The closed primary system in Florida also allows for other forms of legal voter suppression, which can be seen in this year's election for Sheriff in Saint Johns County. However, Florida Constitution, Article VI, section 5(b) states: If all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the general election, all qualified electors, regardless of party affiliation, may vote in the primary elections for that office." The sheriff race was supposed to only be between Christ Strickland and Robert Hardwick. The two are both registered Republicans, so per the State Constitution, the election should be open to all eligible voters. However, Scott Boutwell, a Republican registered as an independent write-in candidate only hours before the qualifying deadline on Friday, causing many to speculate that it was an intentional move to shut about 93,000 Democratic and other voters out of the county’s biggest election this year. Write-in candidates do not appear on the ballot, so the winner of this primary will run virtually unopposed in the General Election in November. This means that only registered Republicans will be able to determine St Johns County's sheriff, leaving 47.1% of registered voters in St Johns County unable to exercise their right to vote for sheriff.

This problem may be solved using an Open Primary System, which allows voters, regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof) to choose which party's ballot they would like to receive in the primary election. Voter fraud need not be a grave concern here, as voters in open primary states cannot vote in more than one party's primary.

Currently, in the State of Florida, proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution may be made by a joint resolution of the Florida Legislature, a citizens’ initiative, a proposal from the Constitution Revision Commission, or a proposal from the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. A petition is currently being registered by the State of Florida for a citizens' initiative, but this Change.org petition calls on the Florida Legislature to issue a joint resolution to place an amendment to the Florida Constitution on the ballot to make Florida an open primary state.