Testimony before the New York City Charter Review Commission David Green, Statewide Organizing Director

Thank you for this time to testify, and for your well-researched report last week: I’ve been in the election reform space for over 5 years and I still learned a few things!

My name is David Green and for the last year and a half, I’ve been the Statewide Organizing Director at Unite NY, an organization I’m proud to represent here today. My past related experience all had to do with ranked choice voting: I volunteered for the 2020 ballot initiative in Massachusetts, where I used to live, and then for three years was a National Organizer at Rank the Vote working to bring RCV into the mainstream in red, blue and purple states all across the country. I am here today because I believe in a democracy that distills the needs and wants and identities of the public into the avatar of our representatives. They’re called “representatives” for a reason!

Unite NY—a nonpartisan grassroots organization—is building a movement for a better democracy by educating voters about five key reforms that would improve our democracy: ranked choice voting, term limits for statewide offices, allowing ballot initiatives at the statewide level, better ballot access for non-major party candidates, and, of course, open primaries. The thousands who support our work, and our polling both prove that these aren’t just necessary reforms, they are popular, supported by upwards of 77% of New Yorkers. I’m so glad the Commission is helping to create a space for this important conversation around opening our closed primaries.

As you know, New York is one of only 10 states with fully closed primaries, which means forty other states are ahead of us on this issue. Back in Massachusetts, as an unaffiliated voter I would walk in on primary day and choose whether I wanted the Democrat or Republican ballot. I felt represented and like my vote mattered.

Coming to live in New York, a self-proclaimed pro-democracy state, I was hit with the culture shock of 3.5 million registered voters across this state, 1 in 4 voters, being entirely shut out of the primary process, over 1 million of those are here in New York City. Considering that about half of this City’s unaffiliated voters are people of color, this seems particularly exclusionary. So many people I have met on the street while canvassing here in New York City have felt coerced to register as a Democrat, even if they were more progressive or more conservative, just so they could have a say in the most important elections.

The Commission’s recommendation to add open primaries to the existing  ranked choice voting system will go a long way towards creating a truly representative democracy. Both the primary and general election would become actually competitive and representative as candidates are incentivized to inspire the public at large with a policy vision for all instead of skipping over vast swaths of the population and catering to a small base for fear of being primaried. Open primaries will help ensure that politicians are working for the people, not the other way around.

I want to note that the Commission’s top-two proposal is an improvement to the systems used in California and Washington State, which have had mixed results. Incorporating ranked choice voting into the all-candidate primary ensures the two candidates advancing to the general election actually represent as many voters as possible. We can also preserve the major benefits of representation for women and for people of color that we see in ranked choice systems: any candidate can join the race without splitting the vote or being told to “wait their turn.” As you noted in your report, this method of RCV combined with top two was recently passed by referendum in Seattle, another progressive major city.

What’s more, nationwide, the number of unaffiliated voters is growing quickly, especially among young voters: 52 percent of Millennials and Gen Z voters, and 55 percent of post-9/11 veterans do not identify with a major party. Without open primaries, these voters are more likely to disengage from politics, lose their voice, and lessen the validity of our democracy. 

In closing, on behalf of Unite NY’s fifteen thousand members, I want to thank the Commission for its practical and common-sense proposal and let you know that Unite NY stands behind you in your effort to bring open primaries to New York City. It would right a fundamental injustice of the current system and, when combined with ranked choice voting, help put New York City on a path to a more truly representative form of government.

Please refer open primaries to the ballot so all citizens can choose their better future for New York City.

Thank you for your time.