As President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, I regularly interact with all levels of government and have built relationships with many elected officials over my 30-year career. I’ve observed both exemplary public servants and others who have unfortunately lost their standing.
I am also the face of a disenfranchised voter, one of the 1.1 million voters who have chosen to register as “unaffiliated.” In fact, unaffiliated voters make up the second-largest voting bloc in New York City after registered Democrats.
This upcoming citywide election in November, we have a chance to end voter disenfranchisement and double down on more democracy, as most big cities across the country have already done. We have a chance to vote for open primaries and usher in the single most important voter reform in NYC history.
We will only get this chance if the NYC Charter Review Commission, a mayoral-appointed commission that reviews potential changes to the City’s governing charter, advances this recommendation to the ballot box.
Open primaries will strengthen democracy by allowing the 1.1 million unaffiliated voters to participate in the primary process. We already have open primaries; they are called “special elections,” and they occur when a vacancy in an elected office occurs prior to an election cycle.
Open primaries can take many forms, but essentially they allow for any registered voter to vote in a primary, leading to the selection of a select number of final candidates advancing to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Open primaries will not only lead to greater voter participation overall, but general elections in NYC will now actually matter because they will be competitive.
It’s worth noting that 24 of the 30 largest cities in America have open primaries. And the results have been exceptional, increasing voter participation and expanding choices. Over time, open primaries can also lead to encouraging more people to step up and run for office, given that the playing field will be more equal and not controlled by party systems and insiders.
In fact, combined with ranked choice voting and public financing of campaigns, NYC has the potential to once again lead the nation in expanding democracy and voter rights.
In its recent interim report, the Commission declined to commit to advancing open primaries, citing unrelated concerns about ranked choice voting and contentious election cycles. This stance is questionable given that most public testimony at the many hearings favored open primaries.
While the Commission did commit to housing and land use recommendations, it remains unclear why the most requested reform may be excluded.
As we see an unraveling of democratic institutions on a national level, now is the time to act decisively in defense of more democracy, not less. I urge the Charter Commission to include the open primaries recommendation on the ballot this year.
Randy Peers is President & CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the largest Chamber of Commerce in New York State. He is also a registered “unaffiliated” voter.