New York, NY (July 3, 2026) – Citizens Union welcomes today’s news that a voter petition drive on opening up New York City’s closed partisan primary system has gathered signatures in an effort to place a question on the ballot, and looks forward for voters having their say on the matter through a public referendum.

“Citizens Union has supported open primaries for decades because it delivers on our good government mission to advance fair and open elections,” said John Avlon, the Chairman of Citizens Union of New York. “Right now, 1.1 million New Yorkers – disproportionately under the age of 40 and in communities of color – are effectively disenfranchised from the elections that matter most. We need a new era of reform in New York to refocus our elections back to all the people, not the parties. That’s the essence of ‘one person, one vote.’

Citizens Union has long championed open primaries, advocating for a system that allows all eligible voters to participate in primary elections regardless of party affiliation. Under such a system, the top vote-getters would advance to the general election, with Ranked Choice Voting used to determine the winner. Unlike a fully nonpartisan election, in which voters are not informed of candidates’ party affiliations, candidates’ party designations would still appear on the ballot. Citizens Union strongly supported including open primaries in last year’s proposed charter amendments and has testified in favor of the reform on numerous occasions.

“It is unsurprising that open primaries – in one form or another – have been the subject of sustained public discussion and advocacy for years, including before multiple charter revision commissions,” said Grace Rauh, Executive Director of Citizens Union. “It will continue to be a reform that New Yorkers demand action on until voters are finally given the opportunity to decide the question for themselves.”