Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Cathy Stewart, Representative from Open Primaries, advocating for open primary reform
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Cathy Stewart, representing Open Primaries, shares her personal experience as an independent voter who, for the first and only time in 33 years, felt her vote mattered in a nonpartisan special election.
She argues it should not be the case that independent voters cannot fully participate in selecting their representatives in every election.
Stewart commends the commission for considering this "profound crisis" of a primary system that excludes 1.1 million independents.
- She urges the commission to advance a proposal this year, emphasizing the opportunity to enfranchise over a million people, regardless of the specific open primary model chosen.
Cathy Stewart
0:36:56
As Diane knows, my late husband Harry Kresge served on the two thousand and two Charter Revision Commission that considered the issue.
0:37:05
And in 02/2003, I played a leadership role in the unsuccessful campaign to pass nonpartisan elections question three.
0:37:14
I actually want to take a moment to share a personal story that I actually think addresses a number of the things we've been grappling with.
0:37:22
As an independent voter who lived in New York City for thirty three years, as an in 2021, after decades of being unable to cast a meaningful ballot for my local representatives, there was a nonpartisan special election for city council in my neighborhood.
0:37:40
I lived in The Bronx.
0:37:42
I got phone calls.
0:37:43
I got mailings from multiple campaigns.
0:37:46
It was shocking and very refreshing.
0:37:50
I actually got a phone call from a candidate himself, and we had a very engaged and thoughtful conversation about this very issue.
0:37:59
He told me no one had ever asked him to address the issue of primary structure.
0:38:04
When I went into the voting booth, my vote mattered.
0:38:08
It made a difference.
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I was a full participant in selecting my council member, and I got to use ranked choice voting for the first time.
0:38:16
I lived in New York City for thirty three years.
0:38:19
That was the first and only time I played a role in selecting my most local elected official.
0:38:27
It should not, and it cannot be the case that independent voters cannot fully participate on the same terrain as party members.
0:38:37
In a special election only, every election should be special and magical.
0:38:43
I want a system where every voter has the right to participate fully as they do in 85% of cities across the country.
0:38:51
And those cities, by the way, have very strong party structures.
0:38:54
It has not hurt the party structure.
0:38:57
I commend the commission for your responsiveness to this issue and to hearing from scores of New Yorkers who've asked you to consider this profound crisis a primary system that deliberately excludes 1,100,000 independents from elections that they pay for that determine the leadership of the city.
0:39:17
I know you're looking at various forms of open primaries, various models.
0:39:22
At open primaries, my organization, we're less focused on the specific model and more focused on the tremendous opportunity we have this year and the importance of taking a step forward on this critical and growing voting voting rights issue in the city.
0:39:39
I wanna urge the commission to take a path forward.
0:39:42
You don't have to solve every issue, but you have a chance this year to advance a proposal that would give the franchise to over a million people.
0:39:51
Hope you'll ask me some questions on the turnout.