New York is failing independent voters

Last week, voters in Washington, D.C. voted overwhelmingly to open primary elections to independent voters, while similar ballot initiatives fell short in a half-dozen other states. The New Mexico and Pennsylvania legislatures are close to passing legislation that would enfranchise unaffiliated voters in their states. Many other states are debating the rights of independent voters. Not New York, though, where conversation has been stifled at every turn, where no legislation has been introduced in years, and where not a single elected officeholder has come forward to champion their right to vote.

What leaders in other states have come to understand is that America is experiencing a historic realignment of political affiliation. Gallup announced in January that independent identification is tied for an all-time high. Millions of voters are leaving the Democratic and Republican parties and registering as independents. Registered independents are now the largest group of voters in a number of states — from Alaska to Massachusetts. They outnumber members of at least one of the major parties in most states already.

In New York, the numbers are too big to ignore. Some 3.5 million New Yorkers are registered as independent, 700,000 more than the number of registered Republicans. There are 26 states with a total voting population of less than 3.5 million people. And independent New Yorkers — from Long Island and New York City to upstate — are starting to exercise their power when they can vote, having significantly impacted this year's election in ways both parties are just starting to unpack.

For independents like myself, the right to vote in New York more closely resembles an autocracy than any democracy. It begins with the state forcing voters to register with a party affiliation. It’s not for election integrity; 20 states don’t register voters with a party affiliation. Its sole purpose is to allow the state to differentiate voters to enforce a closed political party primary election system.

And you pay for it. Primary elections are held in public buildings, on public machines, with publicly paid election workers and administered by state and local election authorities. We all pay for primary elections, including independents. New York asks independent voters to make a false choice. Register with a private political party you don’t agree with or be barred from voting in the state’s public election system. It’s downright un-American.

Just vote in the general election, some say. Sounds reasonable until you consider that most general election races in New York are meaningless. More than 60% of this year's races for the State Legislature were uncontested or virtually uncontested with a gap of more than 30% between the first and second-place finishers. Only 6% of races were actually competitive. All meaningful choices took place in the primaries. That's why millions of dollars in general election get-out-the-vote efforts consistently underperform. No one wants to vote in an election that doesn't matter.

The unfairness doesn't end there. State election code discriminates against independent voters. Independent New Yorkers can't serve on election boards. They can't be poll workers or poll watchers. They are restricted from accessing voter data available to major party members. In all respects, independent New Yorkers are second-class citizens.

It’s unsustainable to maintain the pretense of democracy when such a large group of voters is disenfranchised. How long will New York lawmakers continue to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the voting rights of millions of independent New Yorkers?

This guest essay reflects the views of Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president of Open Primaries, an election reform organization.