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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Don Hulbert, Member of the Public, in support of open primaries
2:14:52
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167 sec
Don Hulbert, a long-time resident and independent voter since 1981, urges the commission to put a measure for open primaries on the November ballot.
He shares his personal story, including his experience as a gay man with HIV who had to maintain a specific job for health insurance, drawing a parallel to not wanting an unwanted party affiliation to participate in governance.
Hulbert believes open primaries will increase participation, give more voice to ordinary New Yorkers (including the 1.1 million independents), and improve the quality of life.
- He supports the right of parties to exist but argues they should not limit electoral participation for non-members.
Don Hulbert
2:14:52
Okay.
2:14:52
Thank you very much.
2:14:54
I appreciate the opportunity to speak, and I'll try to do this as quickly as possible.
2:15:02
My name is Don Hulbert, I've resided in the 5 Boroughs for forty seven years.
2:15:07
I came here to study music, have had a modestly successful career as a freelance musician, and I've also worked as a legal document spender specialist.
2:15:18
In addition, I've been an independent voter and activist since 1981 and I urged the Commission to put a measure to open the primaries on the November ballot.
2:15:30
I guess part of my story would be I also came to New York to have a full and open life as a gay man.
2:15:38
While doing that, I contracted HIV.
2:15:41
So while I enjoyed my work as a document specialist, it wasn't my first choice.
2:15:47
I had to keep that job to keep health insurance and access to healthcare.
2:15:52
I'm talking about this because I beg you to not make it the case that I need to have a party affiliation that I don't want in order to participate in this situation, in the governance of the city in that same way.
2:16:16
I also believe that there is adequate evidence that having an open primary system will open up elections to greater participation, will help create more voice for ordinary New Yorkers, the 1,100,000 that I'm part of, and would in general help the quality of life in New York and allow people to have a voice.
2:16:49
You know, I'm fine with parties.
2:16:51
I think people should be able to associate for whatever reasons and however they would like.
2:17:00
That said, those parties are not empowered by our constitution to completely limit all elections and electoral participation.
2:17:14
So I think these two issues can be divorced.
2:17:20
Opening primaries doesn't particularly weaken parties in general, even as it loosens some of the lockstep in terms of electoral process and who actually gets to run.
2:17:38
Thank you.