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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Yiatin Chu, President of Asian Wave Alliance, on the need for open primaries for Asian community representation
3:08:50
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122 sec
Yiatin Chu, President of Asian Wave Alliance, testifies in support of open primaries, arguing the current closed system particularly disenfranchises the Asian community, which has high numbers of unaffiliated voters in key districts (like Flushing and South Brooklyn). She believes open primaries are necessary to give the Asian community and other marginalized groups a greater voice in local elections affecting their daily lives.
- Argues closed primaries disproportionately harm Asian voters due to high rates of non-affiliation.
- Cites districts like CD20 (Flushing) and CD43 (South Brooklyn) where up to 1/3 of voters are excluded from primaries.
- Believes open primaries enhance representation for marginalized communities.
Yiatin Chu
3:08:50
Good evening.
3:08:52
Thank you for having me, and thank you for staying late to hear our testimony.
3:08:56
My name is Yatin Chu.
3:08:58
I am president of Asian Wave Alliance.
3:09:00
We're a nonpartisan political club advocating for the Asian community, and we support open primaries.
3:09:07
I am asking the Charter Revision Commission to put open primary on the November 2025 ballot.
3:09:13
Our local elections are consequential to the daily lives of New Yorkers.
3:09:17
Laws and resources that govern our public safety, transportation, schools, businesses.
3:09:23
All voters should have a say, not just ones who wanna register with a party.
3:09:28
As we know, New York City Leaders sorry, New York City Leaders are often decided in the Democratic primary.
3:09:36
This leaves many voters, especially independents, without a say.
3:09:41
This exclusion discourages voter participation and limits the diversity of perspectives in our political discourse.
3:09:49
Close primaries hurt the Asian community where many are new to democracy and for a variety of reasons are not registered with a party.
3:09:58
In District 1, which is Lower Manhattan and Chinatown, 1 quarter of the voters are independent or not affiliated with the party.
3:10:07
In City Council District 20, which is Flushing, Queens, we have the highest population of Asians at 72% and in District 43, the new newly created majority Asian district in South Brooklyn, 1 Third of the voters in these districts are independents or unaffiliated with the party.
3:10:26
New York City's closed primaries disenfranchises the Asian community and silences our representation in local elections.
3:10:34
Open primaries will give working class and marginalized communities who may not fit neatly into the two party structure a greater voice in choosing candidates who represent our needs.
3:10:45
That's why I hope the commission will seriously consider adding a measure for open primaries to the ballot in 2025.
3:10:52
Thank you.