Testimony to NYC Charter Review Commission: Put Open Primaries On the Ballot!

Last night, Unite NY’s Statewide Organizing Director, David Green, testified before the New York City Charter Review Commission (CRC) to advocate for open primaries, which would put New York City citizens first and strengthen democracy. Twenty Unite NY volunteers also attended the meeting to show their support.

David’s testimony shared his experience working on ranked choice voting (RCV) in Massachusetts, across the country, and in New York. He will also highlight how adding open primaries to the existing ranked choice voting system will make elections more democratic and representative of New York City’s citizens.

Last week, the CRC released a proposal that would add open primaries for New York City to the ballot in November, an endorsement of one of Unite NY five pillars.

Currently, New York state is one of only 10 states with fully closed primaries, which means that citizens who are not registered with a political party cannot vote in primary elections. This system excludes over 3.5 million New Yorkers– 1 million of them in New York City. 

Reforms like open primaries are not just common sense. They are popular– polling shows up to 77% of New Yorkers support open primaries.

At Unite NY we are proud to be a leader in the statewide movement for a more open and representative democracy. We believe that voting rights shouldn’t depend on party affiliation and elections should reflect the will of all citizens— not just the loudest and most partisan voices.

Unite NY thanks the CRC for the opportunity to testify and urges it to put open primaries on the ballot.