Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jeremy Gruber from Open Primaries on the national context and benefits of open primaries
1:36:40
·
3 min
Jeremy Gruber, representing the national organization Open Primaries and identifying as an independent NYC voter, argues that the city's closed primary system is severely outdated and disenfranchises over a million voters.
He notes that 36 states and most major cities utilize open election systems and emphasizes that independents are the fastest-growing voter bloc nationally and locally, particularly among young people and communities of color.
Gruber cites research showing open primaries boost voter turnout in both primary and general elections and foster more collaborative governance.
- NYC's closed primary system excludes over 1 million voters, a scale larger than the total electorate in 10 states.
- 36 states and 85% of major US cities have open election systems.
- Independents are the largest and fastest-growing group of voters nationally and in NYC.
- Shutting out independents disproportionately affects young voters and voters of color.
- Research indicates open primaries increase voter participation in both primary and general elections.
Jeremy Gruber
1:36:40
Thank you, commissioners.
1:36:41
My name is Jeremy Gruber.
1:36:43
I'm the senior vice president of Open Primaries.
1:36:45
Open Primaries is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to more open and inclusive systems.
1:36:52
I'm also a New Yorker.
1:36:53
I've lived in this city over thirty years.
1:36:55
And first and foremost, I'm a registered independent voter, which as we've been talking about means I can't vote.
1:37:01
As New Yorkers, we see it in every election season, candidates, politicking ahead of the primaries, and then seemingly on vacation after.
1:37:09
Because the primary election in this city is really the only election that matters.
1:37:13
It's taxpayer funded and government administered, and yet 1,000,000 independent voters like me are shut out.
1:37:20
The scale of that impact cannot be overestimated.
1:37:24
There are 10 states with less than a million total registered voters in their state.
1:37:30
Imagine if every registered voter in Vermont or Hawaii or Delaware or Rhode Island was denied a meaningful vote.
1:37:39
That's the scale of impact of New York City's closed primaries.
1:37:43
We are so far behind.
1:37:45
30 fives actually, 36 states.
1:37:48
New Mexico just passed open primaries two days ago.
1:37:51
36 states and 85% of cities like LA and Chicago already have open elections.
1:37:57
It's the standard way our cities run their elections.
1:38:01
Closed municipal primaries are such an aberration that no one even studies them.
1:38:07
As an election law expert, I travel around the country working with cities and states that are debating how to establish equal rights for independence and passing reform.
1:38:17
They're doing so because we're facing two hard truths as a country.
1:38:22
First, independents are the fastest growing group of voters in our city, in our state, and in our country, and we are the largest group of voters overall in The United States.
1:38:33
Second, for most races, the general election is so uncompetitive, oftentimes to the point of races being uncontested, that the primary election is the only election that matters.
1:38:45
Yet in our city and state, where calls for equality and democracy are part of everyday conversation, the silence from the political class on this issue is deafening.
1:38:56
We bemoan why voter participation in New York City is one of the lowest in the country and why millions of dollars in general election get out the vote efforts consistently underperform.
1:39:06
It's because no one wants to vote in a meaningless election.
1:39:10
All the research shows that voter participation goes up in the primaries.
1:39:14
The Bipartisan Policy Center, among others, issues reports that consistently find that to be the case.
1:39:19
What's less appreciated is how broadly voter participation goes up because it's not just the primaries.
1:39:25
Studies show that voter participation goes up in the general election as well.
1:39:28
That's because once you establish a culture of voting, every election is impacted.
1:39:33
It's no coincidence that the two fastest growing group of voters in our city, Asian Americans and Latinos, are also the two fastest growing groups of independent voters.
1:39:44
Over half our city's millennial and Gen z voters are independents.
1:39:47
When you shut out New York City independents, you aren't just shutting out people that look like me.
1:39:51
You're shutting out the full diversity of our city.
1:39:54
Opening the primaries will create real political opportunities as my friend David Holt, mayor of Oklahoma City and leader of the US conference of mayors has said, quote, open primary systems foster collaboration and bridge building in the service of finding solutions.
1:40:10
Closed systems foster zero sum game competition and partisan rivalry.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:40:15
Thank you so much.