Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Commissioners, Susan Lerner, and Cathy Stewart discuss the timing and process for primary election reform
0:43:56
·
4 min
Chair Richard R. Buery Jr. questions Susan Lerner about the call for more time on primary reform, given the decades of consideration and the fact that any proposal would ultimately go to voters.
Lerner responds that a sizable opposition has formed, polarizing the issue, and that a failed ballot measure could delay reform for another 20 years. She believes more time is needed to build a base of support for a specific open primary model.
Commissioner Kathryn Wylde asks Cathy Stewart for her perspective. Stewart argues that missing the current opportunity could mean another 20-year wait and challenges the statistics claiming open primaries don't increase turnout, citing the Bipartisan Policy Center.
- Stewart emphasizes the 1.1 million disenfranchised New Yorkers and resents suggestions that open primaries would harm minority communities, noting that 53% of independent voters in NYC are Black, Latino, and Asian.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:43:56
I did a quick question, which may not be easy to answer, but I'm I'm sort of struggling with a paradigm, one about the top down decision making process that is actually up for referendum.
0:44:08
So, ultimately, it depend on the will of the voters.
0:44:12
So I I I would love to and I ask this because I I do trust your your judgment.
0:44:17
So I ask this honestly.
0:44:18
I'm just trying to balance that.
0:44:19
And the second thing I'm trying to balance is the perspective that we need more time.
0:44:24
But as we also know, this issue has been considered by numerous Charter Revision Commission over the years.
0:44:31
It's actually been put on the ballot before.
0:44:33
Ton of organizations and research.
0:44:35
It seemed to me that there is a fairly strong evidence base.
0:44:38
I mean, can disagree.
0:44:40
People can reasonably disagree, but it's hard for me to understand how more time after decades of consideration so I I I do really wanna sort of test.
Susan Lerner
0:44:49
First of all, I am concerned that we now have a fairly sizable opposition that at the beginning of your discussion we did not have, that we have polarized the issue.
0:45:02
And as you point out, if it goes on the ballot and fails, we're going to wait for another twenty years to try and solve what is a significant issue, which is a significant number of people who are outside of the primary.
0:45:16
In terms of more time, I think because of the number of people who have become an organizations, who have become concerned, about a decision being made without a broader base of discussion, that again, we are polarizing the issue, and we have not had an opportunity to really build the base of support for some form of open primaries that we were able to build for ranked choice voting.
0:45:42
Now why organizations don't pay attention to this issue earlier?
0:45:46
I don't have an explanation.
0:45:49
We certainly did a study two years ago.
0:45:51
But now the organizations that talk most frequently to voters are focused on it.
0:45:57
And I think the very diverse communities and organizations that talk day in and day out to voters should have an opportunity to weigh the different types of open primaries and come back with a consensus, and then we won't have to worry about its failing in the ballot and then we don't have a solution for another twenty years.
Kathryn Wylde
0:46:17
Richard, I'd like to hear the response from the other panelists, please.
Cathy Stewart
0:46:22
Well, me start by saying, and Susan knows this, I supported ranked choice voting even though, as someone who's organized in the independent voter community, none of those voters who voted for it could use it.
0:46:37
So, and and again, I think if we miss the opportunity this year, it's gone for twenty years again.
0:46:43
I've been there.
0:46:44
Done it.
0:46:45
And I wanna point out there's just a lot of work to do to understand this claim that's being made by some that it doesn't increase turnout.
0:46:54
You've got to look at the way they've done the statistics.
0:46:57
In California, when you increase the pool of voters by 4,000,000, well, you've got to think about the denominator that's changed when you look at those turnout figures.
0:47:08
That's one thing I would say.
0:47:10
I think it's worth looking at the bipartisan center studies on this.
0:47:14
They've looked at it.
0:47:15
They see that there is an increase in turnout.
0:47:17
They looked at Colorado's change.
0:47:19
They've looked at Oklahoma locally.
0:47:22
And I would say that, we have to look at the fact that there's 1,100,000 New Yorkers who pay for these elections.
0:47:31
I just I just think we can't wait.
0:47:33
That's why, in part, what we're saying is, look.
0:47:35
Maybe there's a step this year, and another commission can take another step.
0:47:39
But let's not miss an opportunity that this commission opened the door for because you listened to people come to you.
0:47:47
It's remarkable.
0:47:49
I I can't when I say I I really commend you, I do because that is a remarkable thing that happened.
0:47:55
And I can tell you in the independent voter community across the city and the country, people are very heartened by this.
0:48:01
So I think we have to relook at the stats.
0:48:04
I think we have to relook at why is the opposition opposing it.
0:48:07
Surely, they're not telling voters like me that we are gonna hurt union members or communities of color.
0:48:13
I resent that, especially since 53% of independent voters in this city are black, Latino, and Asian.
0:48:20
I resent that.
0:48:21
That's gotta be examined under a microscope.
0:48:24
I hope that addresses.
0:48:26
Thank you.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:48:27
Thank you.