Why non-Democrats will get to vote in Democratic primaries on Aug. 23rd

NYC is about to have a rare "open primary" [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] [Ad: We connect health and social care. click here to find out more at unite us dot org]( Advertisement Republicans could sway NYC's most competitive Democratic primaries on August 23rd. Here's why. [By Brigid Bergin]( [a close-up of someone peeling off an "I Voted" sticker] Mary Altaffer/AP When a New York judge ruled earlier this year that congressional and state Senate district lines [would have to be redrawn]( the decision did more than create two separate primary dates. It also set the stage for a one-off test of a type of open primary election, where registered voters can change their party affiliation up until — and including on — Primary Day itself, August 23rd. Under state election law, the deadline to change one’s party affiliation is normally February 14th. The window would then remain closed until one week after the June primary. That meant voters who wanted to change parties for the June 28th primaries for governor and state Assembly needed to submit their updated registration more than four months before the election. But that’s not the case for New Yorkers looking to vote in the August primary for new congressional and state Senate races. When the court ordered a second primary date for August as part of the redistricting decision, it created a loophole in the law permitting people to change parties or switch from being an unaffiliated voter to a party member right up until the election. The law was written assuming there would only be one primary, and it would be in June. The glitch in election law opens primary races up to voters who might not otherwise be tuning in because they didn’t think they had a competitive contest to vote in. It also may change the calculus for candidates competing in crowded fields that are seeking every advantage to overcome their opponents, whether that’s appealing to voters across the proverbial aisle or asking those who are not currently party members to join their ranks, at least for a day. "This year is an anomaly," said Vincent Ignizio, deputy executive director of the New York City Board of Elections, noting that voters can change their party affiliation now, or by requesting an affidavit ballot at the voting booth. "By way of the courts, and without intention, it will test an open primary-type system in New York," he said. In New York City, with more than 5 million registered voters, only 3.4 million are registered Democrats. That means more than 1.6 million voters who are members of other parties — or no party at all — could see what’s happening in the district where they live and possibly change parties just for this election. For example, if a registered Republican living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan decided to update their registration this week, that person could cast a ballot in the hotly contested 12th Congressional District Democratic primary. The person could also request an affidavit ballot during early voting, which runs August 13th through August 21st, or on Primary Day. Similarly, a voter who is registered with the Working Families Party living in Park Slope could still cast a ballot in the new, crowded 10th Congressional District Democratic primary by simply updating their registration or requesting to cast an affidavit ballot. This also holds true for state Senate primaries, like the competitive Democratic primary for the new 59th Senate District. New York’s long-standing closed primary system was modified in 2019 to reduce the amount of time between when a voter had to select their party and the next primary election, shrinking the window from a year to four months before the June primary election. "These are the unforeseen consequences of adding a second primary into the election mix in May," said Dustin Czarny, chair of the Democratic caucus for the New York State Election Commissioners Association and the Democratic elections commissioner for Onondaga County. While Czarny stressed the deadline for first-time voters to register or update their address is still Friday, July 29th, and must be received by the BOE on August 3rd, when it comes to party changes, "I don’t believe the public knows about this," he added. Even proponents of open primaries, which take several forms but often allow more than just registered party members to vote in the primary, were surprised to learn about this August 23rd loophole when contacted by Gothamist on Monday. "I think it’s great," said John Opdycke, executive director of Open Primaries, a national nonprofit that advocates for open primaries in states across the country. "I think that everybody running in those races should take advantage of this opportunity and say, 'We could campaign to independent voters, those voters that we typically ignore.'" In what is widely expected to be a very low turnout election, Ignizio, the city BOE’s deputy director, said they're hoping this glitch in the traditional system actually inspires more people to pay attention and vote. "We're hoping that more people say, 'You know what, I'm gonna go and vote in whichever primary they want,'" he said. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ad: We connect health and social care. click here to find out more at unite us dot org]( Advertisement --------------------------------------------------------------- For Further Reading [a row of check-in tables in a voting precinct] [What you need to know ahead of the August primary]( Here's your rundown of deadlines to look out for and competitive races to watch in the upcoming congressional and state Senate primaries. [Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin] [Suspect accused of attacking Lee Zeldin arrested on federal charges]( A Fairport, New York resident who appeared to attack Rep. Lee Zeldin, the New York Republican gubernatorial nominee, is being charged with assaulting a member of Congress using a dangerous weapon. [an empty polling place] [NYC files appeal in noncitizen voter case, keeping the fight alive to enfranchise nearly 1 million new voters]( This comes after a Staten Island judge said a New York City law allowing noncitizens to vote in municipal elections violated the state constitution. [Bill de Blasio marches in a pride parade] [Bill de Blasio's (last?) exit interview]( The former mayor, who recently dropped out of the crowded Democratic primary contest in the newly drawn 10th Congressional District, said he's also retiring from electoral politics. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ad: We connect health and social care. click here to find out more at unite us dot org]( Advertisement [the logo for Brian Lehrer's politics podcast] [American politics in the era of Trump's 'Big Lie']( Politico's Jonathan Lemire traces the path of Donald Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud from fringe rumblings to a mainstream GOP belief. [LISTEN]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential political coverage and more. 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