Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Commissioner Valerie White and L. Joy Williams discuss the growing unaffiliated voter population and voter education
1:40:12
·
3 min
Commissioner Valerie White notes the increasing trend of voters registering as unaffiliated and asks L. Joy Williams for her thoughts on ensuring voters understand the ramifications if an open primary proposal reaches the ballot.
Williams points out that there have been multiple Charter Revision Commissions recently, suggesting another opportunity for reform wouldn't necessarily be 20 years away.
She also mentions that ballot questions can be poorly phrased, leading to "vote no" campaigns, and that any proposal would need review under the John Lewis Voting Rights Act for its impact on voters of color.
- If a proposal moves forward, Williams states the simplest form would be best, but emphasizes that community organizations like hers would bear the burden of voter education with likely insufficient city funding.
Valerie White
1:40:12
You're welcome.
1:40:13
Elaine.
1:40:14
Thank you for your perspective and testimony.
1:40:16
And I've heard you talk about your Adelphi experience before, so good to see you again.
1:40:23
You know, it's in my viewpoint or the statistics that I would really like to see is that it seems like there's a trend, more of a trend and that's more concerning to me that this trend is rapidly moving toward the unaffiliated population.
1:40:42
So I wanted to hear more about, or your thoughts, right?
1:40:47
Because this, we're just put if this passes a vote amongst us, that's a big if, right, because we want to consider all the perspectives and get as much data as possible, but there's still an opportunity to do that education and getting the opinion of the community because it's gonna go to a vote and it's gonna be voted either yes or no if it happens.
1:41:12
So I'd be interested to hear your thought about the if it gets on the, you know, ballot at all, what would be the best way to ensure that everyone understands the ramifications and then can make a clear decision when they do vote in November.
L. Joy Williams
1:41:28
I have two points to that.
1:41:29
I think, one, the suggestion that it may be twenty years before we have a charter revision commission, I would just point to the fact that how many charter revision commissions have we had in the most recent five years?
1:41:43
And so it's to say that there wouldn't be another opportunity that it would be twenty years or thirty years from now, I do think is not a point that is valid because we have had just in five years the conversations in order to do that.
1:41:59
City council, the mayor, So there can be another opportunity, that's number one.
1:42:04
Number two, in terms of the community education, we have also had in the state of New York, ballot questions, the way they which they were phrased, the structure in which they were presented, where people have had to mobilize quickly and say vote no because of the way it is phrased, because of the structure where in which is presented.
1:42:25
Here in New York, where we were part of the lead effort to help pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the state of New York.
1:42:32
This will also have to go before the attorney general for review on how this would impact black voters and voters of color in this city as well.
1:42:42
So I don't think there is a harm in really setting forth a rigorous process of community engagement and setting up a structure for more people to be involved in in in the process.
1:42:56
Now that being said, if it does move forward, if y'all go behind closed doors and y'all decide, you know, we just can't wait and we must move this forward, making it as simple as I know my partner in, you know, others would say in crime, but I would say in democracy, Susan Lerner has mentioned, and making it as simple and people being able to choose, right, like in terms of participating in a democracy, that would be our process.
1:43:21
I can tell you still though, y'all are going because y'all will be done after this gets on the ballot.
1:43:27
Right?
1:43:28
It will be organizations and like ours who will have to be in the streets, who will be in the senior centers, who will, you know, be gathering the community meetings in order to inform and educate and tweet and text.
1:43:44
And the city will say, here's a little $2,000.
1:43:47
Here's a little 5,000 to do it, and they'll put up a bus shelter and put you know, do one mailing, and they'll be like, education, when that is not what voter education or civic education is in that process.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:44:00
Yeah.
1:44:00
Thank you very much.
1:44:01
That was very helpful.