Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Sunday, August 08, 2010

NYC DP Pols Resist Support for Nonpartisan Elections

NYC CHARTER REVISION

  • City Leaders Blast Proposal To End Partisan Primaries (By: NY1 News)
  • A vote for open primaries (Crain's New York) Seven years after voters decisively rejected a proposed system of nonpartisan elections, the commission reviewing the City Charter is considering the question again. The panel believes open primaries—in which the top two finishers advance to the general election—would help reverse a decline in voter turnout that has continued since the public chose to keep the current system. Voters should be given the choice this November to reconsider their 2003 decision.
  • Rev. Al Sharpton clashes with Mayor Bloomberg and pet cause calling for nonpartisan elections (BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU) "We can't allow people to drive us away from the empowerment of our community," said Sharpton. He added, "If we end up with no party....We go back to Ground Zero."
  • No Easy Answers In Charter Review (By DOMENICK RAFTER, Queens Tribune) On non-partisan elections, most commissioners agreed that the current process is unfair to most voters. Commissioner Fiala said that there were more than three quarters of a million voters in New York City not registered in a party, thus meaning they could not vote in partisan primaries, which is where most elections in the city are decided.
  • Non-Partisan Elections (Brennan Center for Justice/ReformNY) Just a few short weeks ago, it looked like the issue of non-partisan elections was dead for the City Charter Revision Commission. In the past few days, however, there appeared to be a serious pushback -- claims of its demise were said to be premature.

Check here for VIDEO of community and expert testimony before the NYC Charter Revision Commission

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