Election Day 2011 Has Barely Begun And Low Turnout Is Expected

Photograph by Lisa F. Young / Shutterstock

It's election day, and the polls in NYC are open until 9 p.m. (PDF). You can see who is running your district by entering your address here—you'll be able to see your voting location and a sample ballot. The biggest race in NYC might be the battle for Staten Island DA, between incumbent Daniel Donovan, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Mike Ryan. The Staten Island Advance reports, "Those working on both sides of the race expect between 25,000 and 30,000 voters will go to the polls today. At the high end, that would be little more than 10 percent of the borough's 268,181 registered voters." So if you can vote in SI, you should go to the polls to show your voice!

Elsewhere, Suffolk County will see two newcomers vie for the County Executive position (Steve Levy failed gubernatorial race put him out), and Newsday spoke to some voters: One said, "I'm a Democrat...I think the Republicans are very anti-progressive," while another said he voted Republican, "They're better than what we have...The economy is the No. 1 factor."

The Wall Street Journal focuses on the Westchester Legislative seats up for election, noting, "Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino isn't up for re-election Tuesday, but his political future might as well be on the ballot. Mr. Astorino is seen as a rising Republican star and a potential 2014 challenger to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But his troubles with the county's Democratic Legislature for the past two years have hindered an agenda that could anchor a later statewide campaign. So Mr. Astorino and state Republicans have lowered their shoulders in a fight to knock off at least one of the 12 Democrats on the 17-seat Legislature. If successful, he would remove a veto override and force negotiations on his priorities."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on November 8, 2011 9:52 AM

Comments [rss]

69GeorgeWBush69

Did anyone else not get a voting pamphlet in the mail? How do I know if there's anything worth voting for?

Mad Joy

No contested races in my district, either. Of course, what that really means is we need to reform the system so it isn't all controlled by party bosses :/

Jake S

There are literally no contested races in my district. Don't feel bad about skipping this one.

colonelcasey

There's pretty much nothing going on in my district so I don't see a point in hitting the polls this year.

Nikki May

FYI, Steve Levy's failed gubernatorial face isn't what put him out. It's the fact that his campaign fundraising practices are under investigation by the Suffolk County DA.

Dan Smith

Anybody remind the OWS folks? No? Meh.

jibbly

Here's a quick view for some of the judicial nominees:

http://www.nycourts.gov/vote/2...

Tom Giebel

According to my ballot, there are eight judges running, and the instructions say "vote for any eight."

Since that's the only race in my district ... why are they bothering?

Eggcream

Write in Herman Cain.

jibbly

Hey you can always throw in a "write in" candidate.

diablofreak

in observance of election day, people elect not to vote today

Roark

One way to totally turn the Political system founded on money not people completely on its head is to making voting mandatory in this country.

Compulsory voting is the answer that protest groups should start pushing if they want real change.

Election Day should be a national holiday and everyone of voting age needs to check in a the polling place. If you do not want to participate in the election you can vote to abstain.

Considering the voter turnout has been about 50% for presidential years and as lower than 30% in off years for the past 50 years. Changing it to 100% would seriously rearrange the political landscape.

marco_esquandolas

Mandatory voting would be nice. Making sure that one political party is not actively disenfranchising vast swaths of the other party's base would be better.

mikecherepko

We should have fewer elections. That would make people interested.

I looked at a sample ballot and I, someone who spends far far far too much time following politics, can't really say what the offices are. But it doesn't matter because I don't think we should be electing judges. But that doesn't matter, because the people on the Democratic and Republican lines are the same for every office except 1.

It completely undermines democracy to expect people to vote for, monitor, and hold accountable 20-30 people.

marco_esquandolas

"But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance
by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price
if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to
be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government." - Andrew Jackson, 1837

The whole point of democracy is that citizens hold every member of our government accountable for their actions, as they are representing the will of the people. Far from undermining democracy, if people really got involved and saw how their government worked, that would be the greatest bulwark democracy could ever have. When people are able to vote for, monitor, and hold accountable the contestants on American Idol with no problem, much less the comings and goings of their local sports teams, the least we can ask of our fellow citizens is at least try to monitor the actions of their government.

mikecherepko

Oh shut up. That isn't the point of democracy at all and a democracy that imposes infinite time and attention costs on its citizens is going to crumble.

If I take the time to inform myself about then monitor the performance for president/vp, 2 senators, a U.S. representative, a governor, a mayor, a state senator, a state representative, and a city council member, I am already busy. A comptroller, attorney general, city public advocate, borough president, and whatever job John Liu has these days is truly pushing it. And showing up at the polls to vote for any 6 judges that I have never heard of that are evidently so non-controversial that they can win both the Democratic and Republican nominations is absurd. I have a lot of free time. I have a lot of interest in politics, even local politics. If the system doesn't work for a hyperengaged voter like me, the system doesn't work period.

Dan Smith

Holding fewer elections will just breed even more complacency... and yet people still complain politicians don't listen to them.

Candidates know most Americans are unaware of things. That's up to a good campaign to draw them out and sway saps like you to vote.

marco_esquandolas

What is the point of democracy, then?

BTW, John Liu is the comptroller for the City of New York, Mr. Hyperengaged Voter.

mikecherepko

The point of democracy is to have a government that reflects the will of the electorate. The point is not to assign good-for-you homework to the citizens. And when the homework detracts from the will, the homework is undemocratic. Some homework is a necessary evil, but requiring citizens to monitor 30 people is not necessary, thus it is simply evil.

marco_esquandolas

First of all, I think you may need to recalibrate your definition of the word, "evil".

Tell me, how you are supposed to know who to vote for unless you know something about the candidates positions on the issues? Is it too much to ask that people know the name of their congressman before heading to the voting booth? What you call "homework", I call the lifeblood of a functioning democracy.

If you're ok with people you don't know making decisions on your behalf in your name, well then, by all means, don't do your homework.