It’s estimated that three and a half million New Yorkers were barred from voting in this week’s primary election because they aren’t registered with a political party. Several advocacy groups say that needs to change.
New York is one of just ten states that prohibit unaffiliated voters from participating in party primaries—even though voters with no party affiliation are the fastest-growing group in the state. In many districts, elections are effectively decided during the primary based on party dominance, leaving independent voters without a voice.
David Green with Unite New York says that’s fundamentally unfair. “You're sort of giving a non-choice to this huge swath of voters who are told, oh, you can't participate in this primary that's gonna probably determine who the person who rules you is," he explains. "And so, here's your general election, you have one choice, cool. Or maybe you have two choices, and you hate both of them. So probably they should have a say at some point in that process before you get to the end.”
Green says one solution would allow unaffiliated voters to choose a party’s ballot during the primary. But he says a better fix would be a nonpartisan, all-candidate primary. “Or even more ideally a fully non-partisan all candidate primary where everyone just jumps in, you have a few Democrats, you’ve got some Republicans, Independents or 3rd parties, and then everyone just votes however they want.”
Under that system, the top candidates—regardless of party—would advance to the general election. Green says it comes down to fairness: if taxpayers fund elections, they should be able to vote in every phase. Several groups are now working with lawmakers on potential legislation.
