Dateline New York — The Green Party of New York has responded to frustrated voters calling for “open” primaries in the New York state, and the recent lawsuit filed to that effect.
“We did not participate in yesterday’s primary election for president. Instead, New York Greens will vote for the Green Party’s presidential nominee at a June 11 state nominating convention in Troy.
“The national convention of the Green Party of the United States will take place Aug. 4-7 in Houston.”
As for yesterday’s tumultuous New York primary, the Green Party was not surprised “by would-be voters in discovering that they do not belong to the party to which they registered. Many of our members experienced similar frustrations when attempting to register Green.
“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.
“Comprehensive voting reforms to support multiparty democracy, and a board of elections that operates free from partisan control, are the solution.
“Open primaries funnel unaffiliated voters into the corrupt, undemocratic duopoly parties instead of building the grassroots parties we so desperately need.
“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. They would flood third parties with non-members intent on backing duopoly candidates.
“Open primaries,” the Green Party statement continued, “only serve the short-term interests of unaffiliated voters. This is done 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 president of the 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.
“The Green Party of New York welcomes allies from all parties and perspectives in the fight for truly democratic reforms such as:
- “End partisan control of the Board of Elections. 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. There, citizens of age automatically are 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. This 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 incentivized to put their names 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.”
Mr. McNeill, of the Green Party staff, may be contacted at michael@gpny.org
