Growing up in a household dedicated to Democratic values, conversations about democracy and civic responsibility were commonplace. However, when I struck out on my own at 19, I was confronted with a disquieting truth: the democracy I had learned about didn’t fully represent me.
In the present day, my children and I find ourselves among over one million independent voters in New York City who are excluded from participating in primary elections. Notably, 54% of these voters — including my family and myself — are people of color. It’s almost poetic that the deadline to switch party affiliation falls on February 14, Valentine’s Day, as New York has been disregarding the desires of independents for many years.
To clarify the nature of these elections: New York’s primaries are funded by taxpayers and managed by the government. Both the New York City Board of Elections and the New York State Board of Elections — government entities — are responsible for organizing, staffing, and financing these elections with public funds. These are not private gatherings; they are official government operations.
In reality, a significant amount of taxpayer money is allocated to conducting primaries and even funding campaigns. New York’s public campaign finance programs draw from state resources to provide matching funds for candidates, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, both before and during the primaries. This funding comes from taxpayers like you, me, and my children, who contribute financially but remain voiceless until the general election.
Therefore, it’s important to recognize primaries for what they truly are: a taxpayer-funded, government-managed electoral system that unjustly excludes a vast number of taxpayers from genuine participation. This exclusion is not only inequitable but also contradicts the very essence of democratic ideals.
By the time the general election arrives — open to all voters — the candidates have typically already been determined in primaries that independents are barred from. Consequently, these publicly funded and government-facilitated elections occur largely without the input of over a million New Yorkers.
And the unfairness only deepens when you realize public support for expanding access is broad: about 80 % of New Yorkers support open primaries that let every registered voter — taxpayer or not — vote in the primaries they help pay for.
It’s insulting to us as citizens — and as taxpayers — that a supposedly democratic process funded by all of us can so casually exclude us. My children, both thoughtful, engaged voters who research issues carefully, should have just as much say in choosing the candidates who shape our schools, housing policy, policing, and transit.
What makes this even more frustrating is how the Board of Elections and voter outreach efforts treat independents: as primary season nears, independents receive notices urging them to change their affiliation so they can participate — a tacit acknowledgment that the rules are excluding us, and that the loophole to participate is to leave our independent status behind. No other group of voters must endure such regular coercion.
If democracy means anything, it means every voter counts — not just those who join one of two major parties. New York City must overhaul our antiquated, closed primary system. Until that day, my kids and I will keep paying into a system that, too often, pretends we don’t matter — even though we pay for it. That’s not democracy. Not here. Not anywhere.
Childs, who holds a doctorate of criminal justice in higher education, is a mother of four and deeply involved in community service in Brooklyn.
