To: Chairman Buery, Jr, Vice Chair Greenberger, and the Members of the New York City Charter Revision Commission
We the undersigned are New York City voters. Some of us are independents, some of us are registered with a political party. All of us are
concerned about the health of our democracy and the future of our city.
We commend you for your consideration of New York City’s primary system that locks out 1.1 million independent voters.
Independent voters are the fastest growing group of voters in the country.
Here in New York City, 49% of independents are under the age of 50.
53% of NYC independents are from communities of color.
We need all NYC voters to have a voice, and to be able to participate in primaries that are paid for with all of our tax dollars.
NYC is way behind the rest of the country. 85% of the cities in the United States use some form of open primaries.
We urge the Commission to act and put a proposal for open primaries on the ballot this November for the voters to decide.
No American should be forced to join a political party to be able to vote.