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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Mary Fridley, Member of the Public, on the importance of open primaries for independent and LGBTQ+ voters
0:59:03
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3 min
Mary Fridley, a longtime independent voter and community organizer, testifies in support of open primaries, emphasizing the pain of living in a city that denies millions the right to vote in primaries, which she considers the only meaningful election in New York. She notes the significant number of independent voters (1.1 million) and highlights that this demographic includes a rising number of LGBTQ+ individuals who did not fight for liberation only to be told they must join a party to vote.
Fridley asserts that ordinary people understand fairness and are not easily confused by electoral reforms, countering arguments often made by opponents of open primaries. She concludes by urging the commission to put open primaries on the ballot to make them as free, open, and independent as possible.
Mary Fridley
0:59:03
I'm Mary Friedley.
0:59:06
It is an honor to be here and to speak on behalf of independents across the city.
0:59:12
I also want to thank the commission for giving us an opportunity to help shape the future, including the electoral future of New York, and I actually think the two are closely related.
0:59:25
And because this is a city that I have I I love even with all its flaws and have proudly called home for about forty five years.
0:59:34
I currently live down the road in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
0:59:38
I make my living as a nonprofit fundraising consultant.
0:59:42
I'm a longtime community organizer, a dementia rights activist, theater director, and a member of the LGBTQ community.
0:59:51
I too, as so many have said before, am a lifelong dependent.
0:59:55
I actually never believed that two parties equal democracy.
0:59:59
It just seems silly to me.
1:00:03
And I really hope that you'll understand, and I don't think it's just mine, the pain that we feel about living in a city that is denying so many millions of people the right to vote.
1:00:17
I mean, it's just Yvonne said it's a basic American tenant.
1:00:22
You have the right to vote, particularly in the primaries, which everybody, we're not stupid, knows is the only meaningful election in New York.
1:00:33
And I know this figure that one there's 1,100,000 independents in New York, and I know everyone said it.
1:00:40
But when that was somebody said that to me the other day, it was kinda like, wow.
1:00:45
It's a lot of people.
1:00:47
And so, of course, I went to Google.
1:00:48
That's that's where
Diane Savino
1:00:49
you go.
Mary Fridley
1:00:50
And I I learned that 1,100,000 is more people than live in a I think it's like a dozen cities in the country have more than 1,100,000 people.
1:00:59
So we're actually we could be our own thirteenth largest city, which, you know, sometimes we might wanna consider then.
1:01:08
And, again, I know people have talked about the popular the percentages in the black community, the Latino community, but I I just wanna say, speaking I don't know.
1:01:16
Honestly, I'm not gonna throw out a I didn't Google this.
1:01:19
I don't know how many peep independents there are in the LGBTQ community, but I guarantee the number is rising because, speaking for myself, we did not fight for liberation just
Diane Savino
1:01:33
to
Mary Fridley
1:01:33
be told that the only way we could vote is to remain in what effectively is a two party closet.
1:01:40
And I've, you know, I've been advocating for open primaries a long time.
1:01:45
So I know I've learned kinda two things.
1:01:47
One, ordinary people are not stupid.
1:01:49
I'm afraid of popular belief or what some people say.
1:01:53
We're not so easily confused.
1:01:55
We get it.
1:01:56
We get fairness.
1:01:57
We understand that, yeah, there might be not a lot we can do about it.
1:02:00
We get it.
1:02:03
And the other thing that I've learned is the people who oppose it
Sharon Greenberger
1:02:07
oh, no.
1:02:10
Anyway, it's
Mary Fridley
1:02:11
it will confuse and complicate things.
1:02:14
So I really hope to me, the question is simple.
1:02:17
Please, please, please put on the note that we open up the primaries so they're as free.
1:02:23
They're open and independent as possible.
1:02:26
Thank you.
Sharon Greenberger
1:02:26
Thank you.