Fair and Open Elections

Open Primaries

New York City’s partisan primary elections are closed to over a million unaffiliated voters—locking out a growing, young and diverse segment of the electorate. Opening the primaries would make our elections more inclusive, representative, and responsive to the full electorate.
New York City is an outlier – nearly all U.S. cities use a version of open primaries. But when only voters registered with a political party can participate in the most crucial election, mayors are effectively chosen by fewer than 10% of electorate in low turnout primaries. Unaffiliated New Yorkers, nearly half under 40 and majority are minority voters, are politically engaged and want to vote in primaries. Citizens Union is working to open up our closed primary system and strengthen New York City's democracy.

Highlights:

Statement July 16, 2025

Citizens Union Statement on Charter Revision Commission’s Decision to Exclude Open Primaries from 2025 Ballot Proposals

Report July 7, 2025

Fact Sheet: Opening New York City’s Closed Primary System

Report February 24, 2025

Citizens Union Calls on Charter Revision Commissions to Implement Bold Reforms to Strengthen Democracy and Government Accountability

From the Archives:

1915

Slate voting reversed; Citizens Union enables voters to choose candidates across parties

2010

Seminal report on needed NYC Charter revisions to increase public participation

2019

Ranked Choice Voting passes in a voter referendum

Recent Action on Open Primaries

Reports

July 7, 2025

Fact Sheet: Opening New York City’s Closed Primary System

February 24, 2025

Citizens Union Calls on Charter Revision Commissions to Implement Bold Reforms to Strengthen Democracy and Government Accountability

August 2, 2010

Citizens Union Report on Special Elections In New York City Convincingly Shows Voter Turnout is Greater in Nonpartisan Elections than Partisan Elections

June 30, 2010

Citizens Union Unveils 50 Specific Recommendations For City Charter Revision

Testimonies

July 7, 2025

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Manhattan July 7 Hearing

June 23, 2025

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Staten Island June 23 Hearing

May 19, 2025

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Brooklyn May 19 Hearing

February 24, 2025

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Government Reform February Hearing

All Testimonies

Statements

July 16, 2025

Citizens Union Statement on Charter Revision Commission’s Decision to Exclude Open Primaries from 2025 Ballot Proposals

April 30, 2025

Citizens Union Applauds Charter Revision Commission for Advancing Open Primaries and Even Year Elections

Visit Citizens Union's Library for more on Open Primaries.