Posted by John Fernandes on April 15, 2016 at 12:28 PM

New York State ripped over election rules that prevent 3 million residents from voting in presidential primary

This article was written by Erin Durkin for the NY Daily News.

New York State has a closed primary, which means only people registered with a party can vote in that party's race. Voters are prohibited from crossing party lines. 

Election reform advocates bashed New York’s closed primary system for leaving millions of voters locked out of next Tuesday’s presidential primary.

The state has a closed primary, only allowing people registered with a particular party to cast ballots in that party’s race. Voters can’t cross party lines — and independent unenrolled voters can’t vote in any primary.

That leaves 3.2 million people in New York State, and nearly a million in the city, unable to vote in next week’s contest, according to the group Open Primaries, which rallied with others Thursday at City Hall.

“Independent voters are shut out and everyone else was forced to pick which primary they wanted to vote in six months ago,” said John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, referring to the deadline to register with a party. “The political rules keep the voters powerless.”

Some other states use an open primary system, where voters can choose which primary to take part in.