By Dan Murphy
Last month, few voters in Westchester and across New York State went out to vote in a federal primary for members of Congress. Here in Westchester, less than 10 percent of Democrats went to the polls to vote for Eliot Engel, with a total of 17,519 voters.
Westchester voters are used to voting in a Democratic or Republican primary in September, and they still do – but only for state elections. Federal primary elections, previously held also in September, were changed to June in 26.
That decision has been a disaster on several fronts; turnout has dropped and the cost to New York State has been $50 million per year to conduct another statewide election.
Many Westchester elected officials have called for all primaries to return to a September date, but it never gets done. In a recent op-ed, Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner brings up another relevant point: The June federal primary actually suppresses voter turnout.
“Tomorrow is primary day in Greenburgh for federal offices,” he wrote. “Congressman Eliot Engel, who represents parts of Greenburgh, is being challenged by Joyce Briscoe, Jonathan Lewis and Derickson Lawrence. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the polling place you usually vote at. There are primaries for other congressional seats being held around NYS.
“On Sept. 13 – a few months from now – there is another primary contest for governor, lieutenant governor, state legislators, attorney general of NYS… Every election is very expensive – taxpayers have to pay significant dollars for election inspectors and all the costs of running an election. The county now oversees elections but bills the cost of elections to the local governments. Greenburgh has budgeted over $205,000 for primary and Election Day expenses in 2018.
“The question I have is this: Why do we need two separate primary elections dates for federal and state offices?” continued Feiner. “In some years past, all primaries were held on the same day. I believe that all primaries – for both state and federal offices – should be held on the same day. New York State taxpayers would probably save millions of dollars if the election dates for federal and state offices were consolidated by members of the NYS Legislature and the governor. There is absolutely no public policy benefit to the taxpayers to have separate primary elections. Having two separate elections probably results in reduced voter participation – not more participation… a form of voter suppression.
“Westchester has the highest property taxes in the country. Greenburgh taxpayers could probably have saved close to $100,000 if the primary dates were consolidated into one. And, Westchester taxpayers would probably have saved over $1 million. NYS taxpayers are throwing out millions of dollars that could have been used to keep taxes down or for important services.”
The federal primaries were changed as a result of a federal lawsuit and court case that determined that in order for overseas veterans to vote for Congress by absentee ballot, the federal primary date needs to be changed. So the date was changed to late June in New York, with the state primaries staying in September.
State Senate Democrats have proposed a package of voting reforms, including moving the
state primary to June. State Senate Republicans have been opposed to many of the reforms, including early voting and same-day registration. One elected official told us that moving the
federal primary back to September would not comply with the court’s decision, but we just recently read a story about a federal primary for Congress in Massachusetts taking place in September. So the confusion continues.
