Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joshua Cajas in support of open primary elections
2:33:42
·
178 sec
Joshua Cajas, a recent political science graduate, testifies in favor of open primaries, arguing the current closed system disenfranchises over a million independent voters and leads to more polarized candidates appealing to small primary electorates. He believes open primaries would increase participation, encourage broader candidate appeal, foster less partisan solutions, and make elected officials more representative of the entire city.
- Closed primaries exclude ~1 million independent voters (24% of electorate).
- Low primary turnout (~5-10%) allows small groups of partisan voters to select nominees.
- Argues closed primaries encourage candidates to adopt more extreme positions.
- Believes open primaries would lead to more representative candidates and moderate policies.
Joshua Cajas
2:33:42
Good evening, everyone.
2:33:43
My name is Joshua Cajas.
2:33:45
I'm a lifelong New Yorker and a recent graduate of the government and politics program passage program at St.
2:33:49
John's University.
2:33:51
I come here before you this evening to voice my support for open primaries here in New York City.
2:33:57
Though I have been a registered both a registered Republican and Democrat over the years, I'm not strictly a partisan individual, so I have found issues and platforms and candidates on both sides that I believe in, contribute to, and inevitably vote for.
2:34:11
This interest in politics is why I went to school and learned about our government, to more fully understand the issues and what we as citizens can do
Richard R. Buery Jr.
2:34:18
to fix them and make
Joshua Cajas
2:34:19
the government better positioned to work for us.
2:34:21
It is why I was compelled to come here this evening to support the addition of a ballot proposal for open open primaries here in New York City and argue that our current closed primary system negatively impacts more than a million voters across our city, including me, who do not find ourselves wholly aligned with either party and takes away our right to voice our opinions without registering as a Democrat or Republican.
2:34:45
As a democracy, our government should fully support and bolster its constituents' rights to vote for their elected representatives and create a government more aligned with its people, not just those allowed to vote in a closed primary.
2:34:56
A closed primary limits the participation in elections solely to party members and and suppresses the voting rights roughly 24% of New Yorkers who identify as independents.
2:35:06
This condensed electorate is further limited by the past that less than 10% of New Yorkers participate in primary elections, and roughly only 5% of party registrants participate in the prime in their party's primary elections.
2:35:19
While these primary voters are the most politically active, the Brookings Institute has found that they skew more partisan and polarized than the greater electorate.
2:35:27
To make matters worse, primary candidates realize this and configure their platform to be more partisan or ideologically extreme to deter primary challengers.
2:35:36
In our current age, it is prudent for us to lower the tension in our political climate and ensure our candidates, electorate, and parties are best positioned to work together towards common ground solutions and not the polarized positions of the few that our current system allows to proliferate.
2:35:51
In closing, open primaries can greatly benefit our society by allowing for an ideological variety of more registered voters to participate in the selection of candidates who go on to general elections and ultimately their elected offices.
2:36:02
Doing so would would make candidates and party platforms more representative of the positions and issues the electorate is supportive of and concerned about.
2:36:10
Our government is built upon a strong symbiotic relationship between voters and elected officials, but by using closed primaries, New York City has abused this relationship by artificially constraining those who can have their voices heard.
2:36:23
These five boroughs are a melting pot of the world.
2:36:26
Let us instill open primaries and give us voters a chance to exercise our rights regardless of party affiliations, lower the political temperature in our society, and select nominees truly representative of their elected.
2:36:37
Thank you.
2:36:39
Thank you.