Efforts to Improve Voter Turnout Have Sparked Ballot Proposal 6
The Voter Analysis Report 2024 released by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB) revealed that although “New York City maintains high voter registration — nearly 4.7 million active voters — the overall turnout tells a more complex story.” Turnout at this year’s primary remained low, especially among young voters. Systemic challenges include “protest voting in the form of blank ballots, inconsistent turnout across boroughs, and barriers for unaffiliated voters, which account for 1 in 5 registered voters totaling over 1 million that are locked out of participating in primary elections. These continued concerns have prompted consideration by the city’s Charter Revision Commission, convened by Mayor Eric Adams, to adopt open primaries and align local elections with state and federal elections. Currently New York has a closed primary election system – restricting eligibility to only those voters registered to a political party, while an open primary system would allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Unaffiliated New York City voters account for the second largest bloc of registered voters at 21.1%, preceded by registered Democrat voters which make up almost two-thirds of the city’s electorate. While a proposal for adopting open primaries has yet to make it to the ballot, among the 6 proposals on the upcoming November election ballot, Proposal 6. Move Local Elections to Presidential Election Years to Increase Voter Participation offers voters the opportunity to have a say in potential changes to the New York City Charter that would result in city elections (for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council), which are currently held on odd-numbered years, being aligned with federal presidential elections that are held on even-numbered years, every four years. The proposal would also require a change to New York State law before it takes effect, requiring action from Albany. The intention of the proposal is to improve voter turnout for local elections which typically see lackluster participation. The recent article by Crain’s New York cites Los Angeles and San Francisco, which have already moved their municipal elections to even-numbered years and seen significant turnout increases as a result.
Source: https://www.nyccfb.info/pdf/2024_VoterAnalysisReport.pdf