When people think of the issues plaguing New York, a few of the more prominent issues likely come to mind. From the rising cost of living to criminal justice and pollution, New York is in need of reforms in several areas. One overlooked area that might require serious changes is New York’s voting system.
According to polls conducted by the New York-based political organization Unite NY and online focus group company and survey data collector John Zogby Strategies, many New Yorkers are growing dissatisfied both with New York’s hyper-partisan political system and the closed voting system that feeds into it. In 2021, 68% of respondents they surveyed believed that open primaries would be a good idea for a political system that is “corrupt, stale, and hyper-partisan. In 2022, 43% of respondents they surveyed also expressed interest in supporting a gubernatorial candidate that ran on a platform of establishing open primaries. Furthermore, 61% supported other voting reforms such as putting third parties on general election ballots.
It is clear that years of partisan politics and limited choices in elections have led to a desire for changes among both independent voters and the general public. People are also dissatisfied with the way New York politics have been in a while, as 51% of respondents in the 2022 survey believed partisan politics in New York have become worse since 2020. Hopefully, New York’s recent adoption of a ranked-choice voting system is a sign that they will be able to change the status quo in voting and politics.