There are over one million independent voters in New York City, but none of them are able to vote in primary elections.

News 12 sat down with Jeremy Gruber, the senior vice president of Open Primaries, a group pushing for all voters, no matter their party affiliation, to be able to vote in primary elections. When asked if June's primary dictated the outcome for November, Gruber replied, saying, "Oh, June's primary absolutely did. In New York City, once you win the Democratic primary, you sail through and then have a generally uncompetitive general election in almost every race. That means the vote in the primary is the vote that matters. So when you shut out a million voters, you're not just shutting out of one election, you're shutting them out of the entirety of the process to determine who the real winner is going to be." Gruber told News 12 the current system isn't fair. He says candidate Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary with over 550,000 votes. New York City has about five million registered voters. News 12 asked some independent voters how they feel about their role in the race. Mashia Anderson, an independent voter, said, "It's alright," when asked how she feels about not being able to vote in June's primary.

Anderson said she doesn't mind the current structure, adding that she's voting for whoever will bring positive change and stability to the city. Another independent voter, Anne Bonasera, said she would've voted in the June primary if she were allowed to do so.

"I think so. I think independents should be able to. I don't know why they can't," she said. About 1 million voters waiting to cast their ballot could potentially tip the scales in the election.