For the second consecutive Election, barely 1 Million, 1,097,846, New Yorker City Voters cast a Vote for their next Mayor in the General Election, a Turnout of under 25%, from a Total of 5,053,842 Registered Voters. As the cliché goes, something is rotten in Denmark.
Many people will blame the Minimal Interest on the lack of Competitive Races. The Political Scientists who specialize in New York all blame Term Limits. If that’s true, the 2021 Election will be much more interesting, because of Term Limits, the current Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, all Five Borough Presidents, and 37 of the 51 City Council Members have to give up their Seats.
Except for the Mayor, almost all them will be running for some other Local Job and a whole horde of Newcomers will enter those Races.
Of course, the downside is that all 45 of these Politicians will spend the next Four Years focused on how to get that Job rather than the Issues that matter to the City, primarily by Avoiding Tough Choices if they can. So, this Episodic Series of Competitive Races has a Downside.
Term Limits are unlikely to be Abolished anytime soon, so new Ideas are needed. The Consensus is for Two Structural Changes:
The First, is to make Voting Easier. The Tools for this are used around the Country with great success, so much so that Republicans, who benefit from Low Turnout, are trying desperately to undo them. They could include Early Voting, Vote-by-Mail, No-Excuse Absentee Ballots, and Registration closer to an Election. For New York Democrats, these should be a No-Brainer and it would be up to the Governor and Mayor to join with the City Council in a United Front to push these Changes through the Recalcitrant State Senate by replacing the IDC Members.
The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), Collaborate with Republicans in the State Senate has allowed that Party to Control the Chamber despite being outnumbered by Elected Democrats. The 63-Seat Senate now comprises 31 Republicans and 32 Democrats. In addition to the Eight Democrats who now belong to the IDC, another, Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, also Caucuses with the Republicans. That leaves the traditional Senate Democratic Conference with just 23 Members.
The Second, is to weaken the Democrats' hold on the General Election by switching to Open Nonpartisan Primary Elections. California has adopted this Approach and it allows all Candidates, Major Party, Minor Party, and independents, to appear on the Ballot and be Competitive, although that very Blue State continues to be very solidly Democratic.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
