Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kai Rosenthal from the League of Women Voters in support of open primaries
1:26:21
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174 sec
Kai Rosenthal, Co-president of the League of Women Voters of the City of New York, testifies in favor of the ballot question to establish open primaries.
She states that the League's position, based on study and consensus, is to allow all registered voters to participate in primaries regardless of party affiliation.
She argues this would address the low turnout among the city's one million unaffiliated voters and give broader representation.
- Rosenthal states that the League of Women Voters supports establishing open primaries for city elections.
- She notes that approximately one in five registered voters in NYC is unaffiliated, and this trend is more pronounced among younger voters.
- The League believes open primaries provide the broadest voter representation possible and can help counter political polarization.
- She also applauds the commission for the proposal to move city elections to even years.
Kai Rosenthal
1:26:21
Good evening.
1:26:22
I'm Kai Rosenthal, co president of the League of Women Voters of the city of New York.
1:26:27
And on behalf of the league's community of members, volunteers, and partner organizations, I appreciate the opportunity granted by chair Burry and the other members of the Charter Revision Commission to submit testimony today on the subject of open primaries.
1:26:43
As a multi issue, nonpartisan political organization of over a hundred years, the League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of policy issues, and impacts public policy through advocacy and education.
1:27:03
We are in favor of the proposed ballot question that would establish open primaries for city elections.
1:27:11
The league is a grassroots member led organization that engages in study and consensus based processes to reach positions.
1:27:20
We studied the question of opening up the primary system in New York State, including in New York City, and found broad based consensus among our membership across the state with regard to this issue.
1:27:34
Our position supports allowing all registered voters to participate in the primary regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof.
1:27:44
Turnout is still limited by the inability of nonparty affiliated voters to participate in the primary system.
1:27:52
The league encourages electoral methods that provide the broadest voter representation possible and are expressive of voter choices.
1:28:01
Increasing numbers of voters decline to choose a party when they register to vote.
1:28:06
This trend is particularly pronounced among younger voters who in New York often do not choose a party.
1:28:13
Approximately one in five registered voters identify as unaffiliated in New York City, and nearly half of those are under the 40.
1:28:23
Excluding voters that are not registered with a party from the primary may significantly limit such voters' choice of candidates in the general election.
1:28:33
Additionally, closed partisan primaries give disproportionate power to the small number of voters who turn out to vote in primaries, which may be contributing to polarization.
1:28:45
For these reasons and more, we would strongly support the change currently being proposed by the commission.
1:28:51
In addition, we applaud the commission for ballot question number five on moving city elections to the same year as presidential elections.
1:29:01
We were pleased to see that the interim report concurred with our testimony that the change is likely to lead to a more inclusive electorate.
1:29:10
As always, I wanna thank the charter commission for your leadership for New York City.