Can Buffalo Succeed Where NYC Failed on Election Reform?
Shawn GriffithsThe Buffalo Charter Revision Commission voted 7-2 Monday to pass a resolution that ensures it will explore open primaries, ranked choice voting (RCV), and expanded ballot access. It is not a guarantee on any reform, but it is a step closer to change.
The resolution means the commission will give “substantial consideration” to all three reforms following public comment from residents, advocates, and anyone who might object.
“Unite NY and the Western New York Ranked Choice Voting Coalition applaud the Commission’s vote to pass this resolution,” said Unite NY Executive Director Anthony Thomas. “Buffalo voters deserve an electoral system that works for them, not career politicians.”
Thomas previously presented the case for these reforms before the commission.
Unite NY is a nonpartisan movement committed to building a stronger democratic process in New York. However, while many reform groups focus on one specific proposal, Unite NY’s agenda is built on five pillars:
- Term Limits
- Ranked Choice
- Citizen Ballot Initiatives (New York does not have a citizen initiative process)
- More Candidates
- Open Primaries (New York has closed primaries)
The group’s objective in Buffalo is to hit 3 of these pillars. Unite NY was named the chair of the Western New York Ranked Choice Voting Coalition (WNYRCV) in January, which is working on advancing RCV in Buffalo and Erie County.
But Unite NY has also linked its ballot access effort in Buffalo to a broader issue in New York where sitting lawmakers effectively pick their successors by exploiting candidate filing deadlines.
For example, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes announced she would not seek re-election after the candidate filing deadline. No one filed to challenge her, which allowed the Erie County Democratic Committee to fill the party vacancy on the ballot.
They chose Buffalo Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope. Unite NY asserts that this is a routine practice in the state. Meanwhile, independent candidates are given excessively high barriers to gain ballot access.
In an interview with IVN, Thomas said it is important to the mission of reform to identify specific community needs by listening to them. Especially since election systems at-large tend to leave some groups out in favor of others.
“The perspectives that allow all of us to participate have to be inclusive,” he said. “If we believe all men are created equal, we don’t get to say some men are created more equal.”
He said he got involved with Unite NY from a distance. At the time, he was working with a client on open primaries. He said he saw what Unite NY was doing and he realized there weren’t many organizations that approached reform work the same way.
“I thought the board was diverse and thoughtful in origin and perspective, but also in argument, which I think is something you need for a reform movement to be successful,” Thomas remarked.
Thomas has been an organizer in the campaign space for almost 20 years. This largely includes work with the labor movement, but he has worked in government spaces, for political parties, for unions, and more.
“Because of the rooms I have occasionally been in or historically been in, I have a pretty healthy assessment of the proverbial system,” he said. He also added that he comes from a family that believes in a “leave it better than you found it” mantra.
“I think about this work as part of that larger moral arc of the universe,” he elaborated. It is a reference to the famous Martin Luther King Jr quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
It is a quote that was frequently used by former President Barack Obama, who added to the idea by noting that the arc does not bend on its own. There must be people willing to pull it in the direction of justice.
Thomas was appointed executive director in November 2025. A critical role he plays is building cross-partisan coalitions in communities across the state to advance proposals that will bolster participation, competition, and accountability in elections.
But this work isn’t about going in and telling a community what reforms they need. It is identifying communities who have a need and working with them to achieve their goals.
“We should go to communities that are already chewing on something,” Thomas said. “If you go to place A and they are really up in arms around ranked choice voting, I am not going to sell them term limits.”
“No, let’s talk about how ranked choice voting can be effectual in this community or communities.”
He said the same thing applies to a community that is talking about term limits. The goal should not be to turn them off of the reform they want and push something else. In fact, it is a good way to lose the trust of the community entirely.
“It would be obtuse of us to try to get them to equally appreciate other pillars when their community doesn’t need that,” he remarked. He added that it is important to meet people where they are.
Shawn Griffiths
This is essential to the mission of Unite NY: Work with communities, bring resources and information, “provide connective tissue,” as Thomas puts it, and "convene conversations.”
This is what is happening in Buffalo.
Thomas said Unite NY is working in Buffalo because it identified groups that were already working on reform, including WNYRCV, and they are taking the baton handed to them to convene conversations.
This means educating community members, as well as talking with commissioners and community stakeholders. Many people may not know, for example, that open primaries were the norm in Buffalo until the 1970s.
The Buffalo Charter Revision Commission has the ability to put reforms on the November ballot for voters to decide for themselves. A vote to consider reform is a step in that direction, but it is not a guarantee it will happen.
Unite NY and other reform advocates have enough experience with this out of New York City. The NYC Charter Revision Commission voted in 2025 to consider open primaries but ultimately decided not to advance any reform that opens taxpayer-funded primaries to independent voters.
On that note, Thomas said to stay tuned. There are still opportunities to advance open primaries reform in the Big Apple.
Unite NY has its sights on several communities, including Buffalo, NYC, and Albany. The group believes in a bottom-up approach to reform. The best way to catch the attention of state lawmakers is to effect change in the communities that elect them.
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