Ed. - The
presidential primary drew attention to shortcomings of New
York's electoral system.
Common
Cause New York
April 19, 2016
Common Cause New York Statement on New York's
Closed Shut Primary Election
Don't yell at poll
workers, call your
state legislators!
NEW YORK, NY -- Today Common Cause/NY
Executive Director, Susan Lerner, issued the following statement:
"New York's closed-shut primary
effectively rewards partisanship and
punishes independent minded voters by preventing them from
participating fully in the democratic process. But don't yell at the
poll workers. Call your lawmakers in Albany and tell them to fix New
York's system of elections!"
Unlike voters in many states, a New York
voter is not allowed to
arrive at a polling place, register and vote in a party primary. New
York's closed-shut primary rules mean independents and late
registrations are excluded from the primary voting process. In New
York, the deadline to change or declare party enrollment for
presidential primary was wildly early: October 9, 2015.
Lerner has an op-ed
in today's New York Post explaining the problem and potential solutions
(excerpted):
New York is one of only 11 states with
closed primaries. Eleven
other states have open primaries in which members of either party can
vote freely for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
Twenty-four states have a hybrid
system, with some variation
between open and closed primaries for handling unaffiliated voters and
changing registration. Eleven states plus the District of Columbia have
same-day registration, allowing unregistered and unaffiliated voters to
show up on Election Day and participate. Similar legislation is
withering on the vine in New York.
Simply fixing New York's retrograde
primary rules would be a
start, but it isn't enough. A modern mobile society with a 24-hour news
cycle needs one uniform set of rules for registering voters, including
same-day registration, that apply equally across the country.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan
grassroots organization dedicated
to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create
open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public
interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for
all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political
process.
Green Party of New
York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2016
Green Party of New York
Contact:
Michael O'Neil | Green Party of NY Staff
Gloria Mattera | Green Party of NY Co-Chair
Statement from the Green Party of NY on "Open" Primaries Lawsuit
and Need for Democratic Reform
Purged
Primary Voters Have the Greens' Sympathies, but Lawsuit For "Open"
Primaries Fails to Address the Real Problems – and it Could Destroy
Third Parties
New
York (April 18, 2016) – The Green Party of New York (GPNY) has issued
the below statement in response to frustrated voters calling for "open"
primaries in the state of New York, and the recent lawsuit filed to
that effect.
GPNY will not participate in the
April 19th Primary Election for president, and instead New York Greens
will vote for the Green Party's 2016 presidential nominee at a June 11
state nominating convention in Troy, NY (with a mail-in ballot
available for Greens who cannot attend).
The
Green Party of the United States national convention will take place in
Houston, TX from August 4-7. The winner of the GPUS nomination will
appear on the November 8 General Election ballot for all New York
voters.
STATEMENT FROM GPNY:
We
are not surprised by reports of would-be voters in tomorrow's
presidential primary discovering that they do not, in fact, belong to
the party to which they registered. Many of our members experienced
similar frustrations when attempting to register Green.
But
the solution to this and other threats to democracy in New York is not
so-called "open" primaries, as proposed in a newly-announced lawsuit ,
but comprehensive voting reforms to support multiparty democracy and a
board of elections that operates free from partisan control.
"Open"
primaries funnel unaffiliated voters into the corrupt, undemocratic
duopoly parties instead of building the grassroots parties we so
desperately need. And in a "fusion" voting state like New York, with
the odious "Opportunity to Ballot" provision that can force parties to
cross-endorse non-members, "open" primaries could obliterate the
progress of third parties by flooding them with non-members intent on
backing duopoly candidates.
"Open" primaries
only serve the short-term interests of unaffiliated voters at the
expense of party members who spend time and energy building a fighting
organization with a coherent platform and agenda. Should someone who is
not a member of a union be allowed to vote for who will be the
president of that union? Of course not: a fundamental element of the
right to freely assemble is the ability to set reasonable criteria to
establish who is a member and who is not.
GPNY welcomes allies from all parties and perspectives in the
fight for truly democratic reforms such as:
•
End partisan control of the Board of Elections and institute rigorous
transparency to banish the patronage, unprofessionalism and
incompetence resulting from the current system
•
Same-day voter registration for general elections and eventually move
to a more European-style system where citizens of age are automatically
registered to vote by default, instead of "opt-in" registration.
• Move the deadline for party affiliation changes to at least 90
days before the first primary election of the year
•
Eliminate gerrymandering, which allows single-party domination of
districts and makes general elections seem perfunctory, by instituting
an independent redistricting commission
•
Proportional representation to end the disenfranchisement of voters who
support third parties and independent candidates in general elections
•
Eliminate the "Opportunity to Ballot" rule and reform "fusion" voting
so that candidates are not incentivised to put their name on as many
ballot lines as possible in every election
You
want reform? So do we. We must work together to institute real reforms
that allow grassroots, democratically-run parties to grow without
interference.
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