Nonpartisan Primaries

At this year's LWVNYS convention, the majority of delegates representing 39 local leagues voted to adopt the following new position statement:

The League of Women Voters of New York State supports changing from a closed partisan primary system to a primary system, including a nonpartisan primary system, that allows all registered voters to participate, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof. 

We support the use of nonpartisan primaries to elect federal, state, and local officials. 

What is a Nonpartisan Primary?

Let’s start with a little history.  Until the early 20th century, candidates for political parties were usually chosen by party leaders with little input from party members.  In 1913, New York adopted direct primaries where voters registered as a Democrat or Republican could participate in selecting candidates for their party. Registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary and registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary, but if you are registered as an independent, you cannot vote in either primary. We continue to use this closed partisan primary today, limiting who is allowed to participate.

In contrast, a nonpartisan primary lists all candidates, regardless of party, on one primary ballot, and all registered voters are eligible to participate.  In these systems, the two or three candidates with the most votes — regardless of political party — proceed to a general election.

Nonpartisan primaries empower every voter.  This is more important today because voters — especially young voters — are increasingly not choosing a party when they register to vote.  That means that under the current system, more and more people cannot vote in primary elections in New York and a disproportionate power is given to a small number of voters who turn out to vote in primaries. 

Often, the closed primary system can result in the selection of candidates from the more extreme wings of the two major parties and negative campaigning. Nonpartisan primaries, however, foster campaigns focused more on policy discussions and collaborative governance because candidates need to appeal to more voters in order to win. 

Why Does LWVNYS Support Nonpartisan Primaries?

The League supports the use of nonpartisan primaries because they allow all registered voters to participate in primary elections, thus encouraging voter participation and engagement.