Unite NY on Capital Tonight – Let’s empower independent voters, not bosses

Did you see Unite NY’s founder Martin Babinec on Capital Tonight? We were thrilled to have Nick Reisman interview Martin based on last week’s press release.

Right now, there are 3.5 million New Yorkers not affiliated with a party, but those same voters are shut out of primaries. Many think that New York’ system of closed primaries – where only registered Party member are allowed to vote – is the norm, but it isn’t. In fact, New York is one of only 9 states with a completely closed primary process.

Statewide, primaries typically see only about 20% turnout – this year, we saw races like the Buffalo Mayor’s race where a mere 11,000 votes were enough to win the primary in a city of about 270,000 people.In that race, incumbent Mayor Byron Brown lost the primary, but won the general election as a write-in candidate.

Unite NY’s solution is simple – allow unaffiliated voters to vote in Party primaries, allowing more New Yorkers to have a voice at the polling place!

Check out the Capital Tonight piece here.