Poll Finds NYC Democrats Favor Open Primaries by 2-to-1 Margin

A new poll commissioned by Open Primaries and the Independent Voter Project finds 51% of NYC registered Democrats support opening primaries to independents, while 23% oppose. The survey also says about 40% of registered Democrats are really independents or Republicans who enroll as Democrats to vote in the city’s decisive primary elections. Why it matters: - New York City’s closed primary system could be a major target in the city’s Charter Revision Commission process. - The poll suggests support for change extends well beyond independents, including many registered Democrats. - The findings add pressure to a system that leaves about 1.2 million unaffiliated NYC voters out of primary elections on June 23. - Open Primaries says more than 1 million independents in the city are already locked out of the contests that often decide local races. - The group says 54% of those independents are voters of color. What happened: - IVC Media conducted a poll June 11-12, 2026 among 1,394 NYC registered Democrats who voted in at least one of the 2024 or 2025 general elections. - Open Primaries and the Independent Voter Project commissioned the survey. - The poll found 51% of registered Democrats favor opening primaries to independent voters, while 23% oppose. - Open Primaries plans to enter the findings into the public record at a Charter Revision Commission hearing on Tuesday, June 23. The details: - The survey found 40% of NYC registered Democrats call themselves proud party members. - A statistically equal 39% said they are really independents who registered as Democrats for one reason: to vote in primaries. - Among Latino Democrats, 33% actually consider themselves Democrats, the lowest share of any racial or ethnic group surveyed. - 60% of registered Democrats said the NY Democratic Party should allow independents to vote in the 2028 primary. - 20% of NYC registered Democrats disagreed. - A majority of self-described proud Democrats also said independents should be able to vote in the 2028 Democratic primary. - IVC Media said its crosstabs are available to media members upon request. - The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at 95% confidence, including the weighting design effect. - Results were weighted to the L2 voter-file population on race, gender and age. - Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding. - Subgroup estimates carry wider margins of error and are directional. Between the lines: - The findings suggest New York Democrats may be more open to reform than party leaders expect. - The gap between party registration and party identity also points to strategic registration behavior, not just partisan loyalty. - Open primaries remain politically sensitive because primary elections are often the only contests that effectively decide local power in the city. - The poll frames closed primaries as a voter access issue, not just an internal party rule. - John Opdycke, Open Primaries president and founder, said the current system forces people to lie in order to vote and argued closed primaries do the opposite of protecting election integrity. What’s next: - The Charter Revision Commission hearing on June 23 is the next public test for the issue. - Open Primaries will put the polling into the official record at that hearing. - Continued scrutiny of the city’s primary rules could shape the 2028 Democratic primary debate. - Open Primaries says the broader goal is to ensure every voter can participate equally in every public election. The bottom line: - The poll gives open-primary advocates a clear data point: many NYC Democrats already support letting independents vote, and a large share of Democrats may not be loyal partisans at all.