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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sophie Sharps from the NYC Campaign Finance Board on voter participation
0:59:57
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178 sec
Sophie Sharps, Associate Director of Policy at the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB), presents findings from the board's 2024 voter analysis report.
She highlights that while voter registration is high, turnout lags, especially among young and unaffiliated voters.
The CFB recommends aligning city elections with higher-turnout even-year elections to reduce voter fatigue and expand participation.
- Sharps notes that NYC has a high voter registration rate (85.5%) but low turnout, particularly for voters under 30.
- One in five registered voters in NYC is unaffiliated, and they tend to be younger and vote at lower rates.
- The CFB's primary recommendation is to move odd-year city elections to even years to increase turnout by reducing voter fatigue.
Sophie Sharps
0:59:57
Alright.
0:59:58
Good evening, and thank you to chair Fieri and members of the twenty twenty five Charter Revision Commission for the opportunity to testify.
1:00:04
My name is Sophie Sharps, and I'm the associate director of policy at the New York City campaign finance board.
1:00:09
The CFB is a nonpartisan independent city agency that runs the city's matching funds program and engages voters through our NYC votes initiative.
1:00:17
Our mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable by giving New Yorkers the tools that they need to run to vote or run for office.
1:00:25
I'm here to highlight key findings from our 2024 voter analysis report or VAR and share policy recommendations that could reduce voter fatigue and expand voter participation.
1:00:35
The 2024 VAR published in April of this year shows that New York City maintained a high voter registration rate last year at 85.5% of the eligible population, but turnout still lags, especially for voters 30.
1:00:48
In 2024, 3.7% of young voters cast ballots in April, 5% in June, and 57.1% in November.
1:00:57
We also identified a participation gap for the more than 1,000,000 unaffiliated voters in New York City or one in five.
1:01:04
The VAR finds that unaffiliated voters turn out to vote at lower rates than their party affiliated peers.
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They also tend to be younger.
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Nearly half of all unaffiliated voters are under the age of 40.
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Given New York's closed primary system, unaffiliated voters cannot participate in primary elections, which may contribute to long term disengagement from the electoral process.
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Our recommendations are rooted in research on voter fatigue, the concept that holding more elections leads to lower voter turnout.
1:01:30
Our 2024 VAR offers three suggestions to prioritize voters when scheduling elections, the the frequency of elections across years, the number of elections within a single year, and the occurrence of last minute special elections.
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First, the 2024 VaR renews our long standing recommendation to align odd year city elections with higher turnout even year elections.
1:01:50
Voter turnout for mayoral elections has averaged under 30% in New York City, while turnout for presidential elections regularly exceeds 60%.
1:01:59
Consolidating elections would reduce voter fatigue, making it more likely that New Yorkers vote for the candidates who will represent them at every level of government.
1:02:07
This alignment would require state legislative action and a question posed to New York City voters through either a bill passed by the city council or a charter revision commission.
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Second, New York City held five elections in 2024 alone.
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We recommend combining primaries wherever possible, which would reduce the number of election days and ease the burden on voters and election administrators alike.
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Third, last minute special elections often yield a particularly low turnout.
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From 2020 to 2024, the city held 12 special elections to fill 16 vacancies.
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Aligning these context contests with regular election dates, whenever feasible, would help address voter fatigue and increase voter turnout.
1:02:45
More details on these recommendations and supporting data is included in the written testimony submitted to the commission and also in the twenty twenty four bar.
1:02:53
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today.