NYC Charter Revision Commission seriously considering election reforms

The Charter Revision Commission convened by New York City Mayor Eric Adams is considering several election reform-related proposals, including moving city elections to even-numbered years and implementing an “open primary” system, according to several people with insight on commission discussions.

The good-government group Citizens Union is slated to deliver testimony to the commission about these issues at a public meeting in Staten Island Wednesday evening, arguing they will significantly increase voter turnout. Citizens Union is strongly in favor of moving city elections from the current odd-year schedule to an even-year cycle – thus aligning with higher-profile, higher-turnout federal and state elections. The group also supports opening the city’s closed primary system so all voters can participate. Both concepts have been brought up frequently by the public at commission meetings over the past couple of months. 

“We’ve mentioned both of these issues at the last public hearing in February, but we know that there’s some interest and the commission is seriously looking at them,” said Ben Weinberg, Citizen Union’s director of public policy. 

The 13-member commission, created by Adams in December, is currently holding a series of hearings across the city as it works to produce ballot proposals for voters to consider – perhaps as soon as Election Day in November. While the panel was initially intended to largely center on housing reform – and indeed this has been a focus – members have also expressed an interest in more seriously looking into election reform as the process has gone along. 

If the commission decides to introduce proposals to shift city elections to even years and to open up primaries, the impacts could be far-reaching. City elections are currently plagued by low turnout, which has steadily dropped for more than three decades. As it stands, only a small minority of New Yorkers are having any say in who leads their city – in the case of the 2021 mayoral race, a mere 23% voted in the general election. Participation in smaller races like City Council is even lower. Aligning city elections with federal and statewide elections would also save the city an estimated $42 million every other year, according to a recent report from the city’s Independent Budget Office. 

Currently only registered party voters are allowed to participate in the city’s primary elections – meaning more than 1 million independent and non-affiliated voters are shut out of the process. Citizens Union is specifically pitching a top-two primary election system: a ranked-choice voting election where candidates and voters of all parties would participate. Party identification would remain on the ballot – unlike in a full nonpartisan primary – and the two candidates that received the most votes would go on to the general election. 

No decision on potential ballot proposals has been made by the commission yet, including what form a theoretical open primary would take, but a spokesperson for the commission emphasized that there is no interest in getting rid of ranked-choice voting and party identification, 

Gothamist reported that Citizens Union also plans to also pitch a proposal Wednesday to create a new procedure to remove a mayor for misconduct by allowing voters to determine the outcome through a special removal election. This comes roughly a week after Adams’ federal charges were dismissed at the urging of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. While Adams hasn’t escaped completely unscathed from his legal ordeal – he’s taken a big reputational hit and faces a tough path to reelection – Gov. Kathy Hochul opted not to remove him from office despite calls to do so. 

This commission, which is chaired by Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery, has made an effort to emphasize its independence from the mayor over the last couple of months. Members have stressed as much during meetings. In one instance after Adams suggested he could potentially ask the commission to look at changing the city’s sanctuary city laws, which restrict agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, Buery issued a statement saying he would “strongly oppose” any such efforts. It’s also worth noting that any election reform-related changes ultimately taken up by the commission would not go into effect until after the November mayoral election – meaning Adams, who recently announced he’d be ditching the Democratic primary to run as an independent, would be in no way impacted.

This is the second Charter Revision Commission to be convened by Adams. 

While the City Council recently moved to form its own commission, Adams’ new panel complicates that effort. Any ballot proposals put forward by the mayor’s commission will again take precedent over any from the City Council. Last year, the City Council attempted to put a measure before voters that would allow them to exert more control over mayoral appointments. The mayor knocked their proposal off the ballot with several questions from his first Charter Revision Commission. 

Citizens Union was among the organizations last year pushing for New Yorkers to vote against all five of the ballot proposals from the mayor’s first commission. This time around though, Weinberg noted a marked difference in how the commission is proceeding.  

“We think this commission has been holding a serious, robust revision process. Their hearings have been packed. They’ve been doing proper outreach and most importantly, in several incidents in the past few months they’ve shown their independence,” Weinberg said, pointing to members’ statements about immigration. “We appreciate that and we think that it is the right thing to do.”