Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Danny Batista, Member of the Public, on the exclusionary experience of being an independent voter in NYC
1:40:25
·
3 min
Danny Batista, an independent voter and Staten Island resident, shares a personal experience of being immediately dismissed by a campaign worker upon revealing his unaffiliated status.
He uses this anecdote to illustrate how the closed primary system relegates independent voters to a "second class status," effectively telling them they don't matter in the political process.
Batista strongly urges the commission to recommend open primaries, allowing all New Yorkers to participate meaningfully in elections regardless of party registration.
Danny Batista
1:40:25
Thank you for this time.
1:40:27
My name is Danny Batista.
1:40:28
I'm a lifelong New Yorker, a resident of the city for twenty years, fourteen of which I've lived right here on Staten Island.
1:40:37
The topic tonight is government reform.
1:40:39
And to quote part of the description of this hearing, after a review of the entire charter, the CRC may recommend changes intended to help city government work more efficiently and better serve all New Yorkers.
1:40:53
That's what brings me here this evening.
1:40:55
Better serve all New Yorkers.
1:40:58
I'm one of the 1,100,000 registered voters in this city who simply because of my choice not to affiliate with a political party is completely shut out of the primary elections.
1:41:10
This effectively omits the preferences of voters like me throughout the city who are otherwise ready and willing to participate meaningfully in our ongoing process of self governance.
1:41:22
This must not continue any longer.
1:41:25
It's an election year, and here we are in the middle of a primary season.
1:41:30
A couple of weeks ago, I was out for a walk in my neighborhood.
1:41:34
And as I neared the waterfront by the ferry, I could see someone handing out flyers and talking to people.
1:41:40
And a few moments later, they approached and questioned me directly as many of us have experienced.
1:41:47
Are you a registered Democrat?
1:41:49
They asked.
1:41:50
Hi.
1:41:50
I'm not.
1:41:51
I'm independent.
1:41:52
Okay.
1:41:54
And instantly, they stopped on a dime and walked away, already gone before they could even finish saying the word okay.
1:42:05
There was no attempt or interest in introducing their candidate to me, what they stand for, why they're running, how their leadership might benefit me or our city.
1:42:15
Perhaps this is poor electioneering, but it's deeper than that.
1:42:20
This behavior is, in fact, a sad and logical result of a contorted system.
1:42:26
In this instance, because I'm not a registered Democrat, I, like so many others in this city, are relegated to a second class status or one could even say a nonstatus.
1:42:37
Not only can voters like me not vote in our publicly funded primary elections, but so profound and insidious is this dynamic that's been created over decades that has normalized excluding independent voters from the process that even speaking with an unaffiliated voter on the street is seen as futile.
1:42:58
The system we have says to independent voters, you don't matter.
1:43:03
You don't exist.
1:43:04
Talking with you is worthless and pointless.
1:43:08
New York City, a place I've always thought of as a beacon of possibility and progress, often referred to as the greatest city in the world, must finally join other cities and states in our country that have open primaries where people can vote without the condition of identifying themselves with the political party.
1:43:29
First and foremost, I am a New Yorker, one of all New Yorkers that you are charged with recommending changes on behalf of in the name of making things better.
1:43:39
So please make it better.
1:43:41
Make it fair.
1:43:43
Make it right.
1:43:44
Open our primaries and let all voters vote in New York City.
1:43:48
Thank you.