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Q&A
Commissioner Savino asks about removing party labels to combat national political influence
1:06:24
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134 sec
Commissioner Diane Savino asks John Ketchum whether removing party labels from the ballot in an open or nonpartisan primary might mitigate the problem of national political polarization influencing local races, where primaries are often dominated by the extremes.
Ketchum maintains his position against removing labels, arguing they serve as important informational shortcuts for voters.
He suggests that encouraging clearer, distinct local party platforms and potentially more local parties would be a better way to foster meaningful choice than removing labels entirely.
Diane Savino
1:06:24
Sorry.
1:06:25
Because when you you mentioned, the issue of national politics filtering down to to local politics and primaries.
1:06:32
In fact, that is exactly what's happening because of the small number of people who participate in primaries now.
1:06:37
You said yourself, I think in 2021, '20 '3 percent of voters voted in the general election.
1:06:42
I think a fewer fewer percentage of voters voted in the primary in June.
1:06:46
And you compare that to forty years ago when you might have 70% of voters participating in an election.
1:06:52
So is it the if we were to take the party label off the ballot line in whether the nonpartisan primary or the open primary, Do you think that might help alleviate that problem where you had the the the far right and the far left controlling the primary process?
1:07:10
And that's my last question.
1:07:11
I promise.
John Ketchum
1:07:11
Thank you for the question.
1:07:13
I would rather not remove the party label.
1:07:15
As I mentioned, they provide information cues to voters to help voters decide on the spot which candidate best aligns with the voters' values and preferences and concerns.
1:07:28
That said, I think that we should have more party competition, more options for voters to choose from, including local parties.
1:07:37
Right?
1:07:37
So the Democratic Party of New York City should stand for something.
1:07:40
Right?
1:07:41
But but we don't know or the Republican Party, I should say.
1:07:44
They should stand for something.
1:07:45
But it's very difficult to have a coherent sense of what that is because there are many factions that make up these major parties.
1:07:53
And some of these factions are better may perhaps they're better suited as their own political party.
1:08:01
Right?
1:08:01
And you can have a separate party label that means something significant to voters, and other party labels, may represent very different policy matters, but the point is that you have clear distinguished party brands that voters can appeal to and that voters can identify with.
1:08:24
And it makes it a whole lot easier to know, I like, the green party, for example, and I will therefore vote for a green candidate or or the green party in a proportional representation system.