Election reform advocates bashed New York’s closed primary system for leaving millions of voters locked out of next Tuesday’s presidential primary.
New York State has a closed primary, which means only people registered with a party can vote in that party's race. Voters are prohibited from crossing party lines.
The state has a closed primary, only allowing people registered with a particular party to cast ballots in that party’s race. Voters can’t cross party lines — and independent unenrolled voters can’t vote in any primary.
That leaves 3.2 million people in New York State, and nearly a million in the city, unable to vote in next week’s contest, according to the group Open Primaries, which rallied with others Thursday at City Hall.
“Independent voters are shut out and everyone else was forced to pick which primary they wanted to vote in six months ago,” said John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, referring to the deadline to register with a party. “The political rules keep the voters powerless.”
Some other states use an open primary system, where voters can choose which primary to take part in.
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