Gothamist reported on Unite NY’s campaign to bring open primaries to New York City.
“A group called Unite NY submitted more than 45,000 petitions signed by registered voters to the city clerk’s office on Thursday in support of a ballot question that would allow voters to decide whether to open New York’s closed primary system for municipal elections. Currently, only voters registered in a party holding a primary are allowed to participate.
Under the new proposal, candidates for local office would run in a preliminary election in June. All registered voters would be able to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. The top three finishers would then advance to a general election in November. That election would also use ranked-choice voting.
For the petition to advance to the ballot, it either needs to be taken up by the City Council or the group may need to gather more signatures.
This change would allow more than 1.1 million city voters who are not registered with any party — including a large share of young voters and people of color — to participate in the crucial primary stage of the city’s election process.
“ We think that particularly when you look at what’s happening around the country with voter disenfranchisement, it’s a fundamental civil rights issue,” said Anthony Thomas, executive director of Unite NY, the nonpartisan nonprofit that submitted the petitions.”
Visit Uniteny.org to learn more.
