Independent voters and advocates for open primaries demanded reform of the New York State election system to include the 3.2 million voters who are registered as independent and cannot vote in the upcoming presidential primaries.
Included among those millions is New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, the only independent of the 213 members of the New York State legislature.
“New York State has some of the most archaic voter laws in the entire country,” said Thiele, “I can vote to make the laws for you — I just voted on a 155 billion dollar budget for the people — but next Tuesday, I won’t be able to vote in the presidential primary.”