NYC early voting for mayor kicks off, putting new ranked-choice system to the test
It’s time to start ranking ‘em!
New Yorkers lined up Saturday to cast the first ballots — and test out the new ranked-choice voting system — as early voting kicked off in the crowded race for mayor.
Caroline Jackson gave a thumbs up to the early voting at Intermediate School 68 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, where there were no lines and voters were in and out in five minutes.
“It works for me. I think it’s great,” said Jackson, 59, who works for the city. “It’s less people and it’s convenient.”
A slow but steady trickle of voters turned up on the first day at St. Anthony of Padua Church in the West Village.
Dan Montgomery, 31, said it was a far cry from the throngs that showed up for the presidential election.
“The first day of early voting for the presidential election (it) was hours in line around the block,” said Montgomery, a lawyer.
It was most voters’ first experience using ranked-choice voting, which allows people to pick up to five candidates in order of preference.
Graduate student Jenny Hipscher, 38, credited the new system with forcing her to educate herself more on the candidates and their platforms.
“It made me pay more attention and actually learn about more people ... and prepare a little more,” said Hipscher, who voted at Brooklyn College, near her home in Midwood. “I think it’s a good thing.”
Paulette Martin conceded it was a “little confusing” making more than one selection on the ballot, especially with so many candidates.
“Some of the candidates ... I’ve never heard of them, you know?” said Martin, 57, a home health attendant. “But I did the best I could.
“Change is kind of hard,” said retiree Claudine Moultrie, 75.
Allison Rodman of the West Village admitted she had to ask for a second ballot after messing up on her first try.
”There’s a lot more homework to be done,” said Rodman, 33.
Actor Everett Quinton said he only liked two of the candidates for mayor.
“I didn’t have five choices,” said Quinton, 69, of Manhattan.
Early voting continues through next weekend and the regular primary day is June 22. The winner may not be known until all mail-in and provisional ballots are counted, most likely during the the first week of July.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx and Queens) and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams hosted a get-out-the-vote rally in Astoria, Queens, on Saturday.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has been leading most polls, followed by businessman Andrew Yang, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former de Blasio legal counsel Maya Wiley.
On the Republican side, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is running against Fernando Mateo, who previously led trade groups for bodega owners and livery drivers.
The Democratic mayoral frontrunners also appeared at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters in Harlem to urge voters to cast their votes early.
Wiley passionately reminded the crowd that New York is one of the few states making it easier to vote as many Republican-run states erect new barriers to casting ballots.
“Only when we have states and cities standing up for what matters … can we stand up to a nation that says it can take from us what we have fought for,” Wiley said Saturday morning.
Sharpton said he has decided not to endorse a mayoral candidate in the primary for the first time since 1989. He warned candidates not to attack one another, and most kept their speech tame.
Sharpton did defend Adams against recent attacks suggesting that he really doesn’t live in New York. He compared the mudslinging to the racist birther attacks against former President Obama.
“If somebody got a girlfriend in Jersey it has nothing to do with what is going on,” Sharpton said. “We know when people are playing a game and doing the dog whistles. Let’s stop this madness.”
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With Wes Parnell and Steven Ferrari
