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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Howard Edelbaum on the need to enfranchise independent voters
3:29:28
·
178 sec
Howard Edelbaum, an accountant, artist, and independent voter, testifies in support of open primaries.
He shares that as a Jewish progressive, he wanted to support Zohran Mamdani in the recent primary but was forced to rejoin the Democratic Party to do so, a choice he found deeply troubling.
He is thrilled the commission is considering a nonpartisan top-two system and asks them to give voters a chance to vote on it in November.
- Edelbaum, a longtime independent, had to re-register as a Democrat to vote in the recent primary.
- He resents being forced to join a party he doesn't believe in just to participate in a crucial election.
- He sees a connection between his independent status and his work fostering dialogue between Jews and Muslims.
- He fully supports a nonpartisan top-two primary system to give all voters a fair and just process.
Howard Edelbaum
3:29:28
Good evening.
3:29:29
My name is Howard Edelbaum.
3:29:31
I'm an accountant and a visual artist from Ditmus Park.
3:29:36
I am here speaking in support of open primaries.
3:29:41
I was a registered democrat for many years but got tired of being told to vote for the lesser of two evils.
3:29:50
I want to vote for candidates I actually believe in, not just against ones I don't.
3:29:57
So I became an independent decades ago.
3:30:01
But in New York City, that means I'm shut out of the primaries, the elections that often decide who ends up leading our city.
3:30:11
This year, as a Jewish progressive New Yorker, I am proud to support Zohran Mamdani.
3:30:19
Our city needs new leadership.
3:30:22
I've been deeply troubled by the way antisemitism, an issue I've dealt with my whole life, is being weaponized to drive a wedge between Jews and Muslims.
3:30:36
As a Jew, I wanted to support Mamdani's leadership, but because I'm an independent, I had to rejoin the Democratic Party just to vote.
3:30:49
That's not how democracy should work.
3:30:52
You might say, well, what's the problem?
3:30:54
As many people said tonight, everyone can who wants to vote could just reregister.
3:31:00
But it's a profound problem.
3:31:03
We are not Democrats or Republicans.
3:31:06
I'm not a Democrat, and I'm deeply troubled with being forced to join an organization that I don't believe in, one that is undemocratic in many ways, a party that voted for the war in Iraq that refused to hold the presidential primary in 2024 and a party that has been that has a deep distrust of ordinary people like me.
3:31:36
I don't wanna be a member of such a party or any party.
3:31:39
I wanna be able to freely freely vote for whom can lead us forward and bring us together.
3:31:47
To me, there's a relationship between being an independent and the work I do to foster conversation between Jews and Muslims.
3:32:00
I don't wanna sacrifice that in order to vote.
3:32:05
I am thrilled that you are considering a nonpartisan top two primary system for our city.
3:32:14
It is time to give all New York City voters a fair and just primary system.
3:32:22
Please give us a chance to vote on this in November.
3:32:25
Thank you.