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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Fabien Levy in favor of open primaries
2:27:12
·
3 min
Fabien Levy, a resident of New York City with experience working on political campaigns across the country, testifies in his personal capacity in favor of open primary elections.
He recounts his experience working in states with open primaries and argues that they force candidates to speak to a broader swath of voters.
He shares his own story of being unable to vote as a young, unaffiliated voter and pushes back against the idea that the reform proposal is about recent election results, stating it's about ensuring every voice is heard.
- Levy has worked on campaigns in red, blue, and purple states with open or jungle primaries.
- He believes these systems encourage candidates to appeal to all voters, not just a narrow primary base.
- He shares that he was disenfranchised as a young unaffiliated voter, a common experience that deters engagement.
- He disagrees that putting open primaries on the ballot would hurt the housing reforms, arguing voters can decide on multiple issues.
Fabien Levy
2:27:12
Good evening, chair, vice chair, secretary, and commissioners.
2:27:16
My name is Fabian Levy, and I'm a resident of New York City.
2:27:20
I know I know some of you in a professional capacity, but I wanna be very clear.
2:27:24
I am here tonight only in my personal capacity.
2:27:27
In fact, I have never had any conversation with my direct supervisor, about my plan to testify here or about the subject for which I am advocating for in my personal capacity.
2:27:36
So he has no idea.
2:27:37
I'm sitting before you tonight.
2:27:39
I signed up like every other citizen here and waited to discuss what I believe is an important issue to the future of our city.
2:27:44
I'm here to discuss the need to adopt open primary elections in city elections and send, lend my personal voice to that cause.
2:27:51
As someone who has worked in multiple cities and multiple states across the nation on different political campaigns.
2:27:58
Specifically, in three of the races I have worked on, in Louisiana, in California, and in Florida, red, blue, and purple, my candidates have participated in open or what are sometimes called jungle primaries, where the top two vote getters move on to a general election or a runoff.
2:28:14
These races ensured all the candidates were trying to speak to as large a swath of voters as possible, not just the consistent voters who often participate in closed primaries like me.
2:28:24
I also wanna point out that I am not in support of open primaries because my past candidates did well in these races.
2:28:30
In fact, in all three of the races I worked on with open or jungle primaries, my candidates either did not move on to the general election or lost in the runoff.
2:28:39
On the other hand, in all the local or statewide races that I've worked on that have had closed primaries, my candidates actually won those elections.
2:28:46
This, however, is not about winning elections, but about ensuring we do what is best for our city, and that is ensuring every voice is heard.
2:28:53
That is why so many major cities across the nation have adopted open primaries and why so many good government groups support it.
2:28:59
Multiple people tonight have testified that young people are the ones who are disenfranchised with close primaries, and they're right.
2:29:05
I know because I was once one of those young people a long, long time ago, who thought I could vote in a primary but was told no because the deadline to change from an unaffiliated voter, which I registered as as an 18 year old, was long before the voter registration deadline in that election.
2:29:20
I've been a registered democrat since that time almost two decades ago.
2:29:24
I've heard some also argue that putting something like open primaries on the ballot could hurt the housing reforms being proposed as well.
2:29:30
I disagree.
2:29:32
First, look at last year's ballot's proposals, which had split results.
2:29:35
Additionally, if we are worried more about the results of voters voting for or against a specific proposal than we are about having voters actually vote, I feel like we have strayed from our priorities as a republic.
2:29:47
Lastly, I wanna clear I wanna be clear that my testimony here tonight has nothing to do with the results of the democratic primary that took place two weeks ago.
2:29:54
I simply believe, like I would hope many of you, that every vote should count.
2:29:59
And if we do believe that every vote should count, then every potential voter should have the ability to vote, whatever party they belong to or even if they do not belong to a party.
2:30:08
I encourage the commission to put forward a ballot measure that supports open primaries this fall and give voters the ability to decide if their voices should be heard earlier in the cycle.
2:30:17
Some say country over party.
2:30:19
I say city over party.
2:30:20
Thank you.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
2:30:21
Thank you so much.