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New York primaries: Advocates push to open vote to all

A group of independent voters and advocates rallied on the steps of City Hall Thursday pushing for an open New York State primary.

There are about 3.2 million independent state voters who won’t be able to cast a vote in Tuesday’s primaries and John Opdycke, the president of the nonprofit Open Primaries, said it was time for everyone to have a voice.

“We don’t have stability, what we have is gridlock,” he said.

He pushed the New York to follow suit of New Hampshire, Illinois and Wyoming which have had open primaries for years. State Assemblyman Fred Theil, the only Independent assemblyman, introduced two bills that would allow independents to vote in local, state and national primaries.

“New York has some of the most archaic election laws on the planet,” he said.