Election Night might be next Tuesday, June 23, but those looking for winners in a number of primary contests will have to wait until at least July 1 for definitive results and may have to wait until after the nation celebrates its Independence Day on July 4.
And then there is always the possibility that mail-in-ballots could be – to use an old euphemism that many voters on both sides of the aisle have regularly experienced – “lost in the mail,” which is exactly what recently happened in the Wisconsin elections.
But for now, the state’s new early voting system seems to be running smoothly and people involved with running the elections are hoping for the best.
As of February 21, the Board of Elections (BOE) had totaled 1,650,432 voters registered in Kings County, with a breakdown of 1,042,528 Democrats and 121,848 Republicans actively registered.
The BOE reportedly said it had received about 437,000 applications to receive mail-in ballots and had sent voters about 381,000 mail-in ballots as of June 9.
Earlier today BOE spokesperson Valerie Vazquez said she had hoped to have updated data on how many ballots were mailed out by the end of the day, but at post time she still didn’t have that data or on how many ballots have been returned thus far.
Vazquez noted that voters have until June 23 to mail back their completed ballots, but New York State law prohibits the BOE opening the mail-in ballots until a week after the election – or July 1.
One political insider said that logistically mail-in ballots have been causing confusion among voters on the ground. They said the big problem is that some voters still haven’t received ballots. They said that some voters got the application for by-mail ballots on the date that the application to receive the mail-in ballots was due, which was June 16. The insider said there would definitely be a need for a recount at this point, likely at the end of next week.
This could mean that some hotly contested primaries such as the Congressional NY-9 primary covering Central Brooklyn might come down to recounts and lawyers.
“Given the nature of this election, the results may be delayed while all of the ballots are counted and it’s important that we remain patient and protect the integrity of our democracy,” said Democratic 9th Congressional District Candidate Adem Bunkeddeko. “This is a competitive race, and there’s always a chance there could be recount. We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it, but we are confident that our campaign will prevail to bring true progressive leadership to NY-9.”
Bunkeddeko said that it’s important that every voter has the chance to make their voice heard, either voting in-person or by mail, and his campaign is encouraging all voters to vote by-mail since there is no evidence that voting by-mail leads to significant fraud.
Democratic 9th Congressional District Candidate and City Councilmember Chaim Deutsch said that obviously COVID has thrown a wrench into normal GOTV [Get Our The Vote] operations, and absentee voting is certainly not a perfect method.“I know that the Board of Elections did their utmost to get ballots out in time, but of course it’s not just up to them. We’re relying on a series of cogs in the system to get these ballots to the voters in time, including the oft-delayed post office. I certainly think the vote by mail system will negatively impact turnout, particularly among seniors, who usually tend to be motivated voters,” Deutsch said.
“As Congressmember, a priority for me will be restructuring the postal service, which has been riddled with delays, slow service, and outright negligence for many years,” he added.
“We are living in unprecedented times, times of real uncertainty; COVID-19 has impacted us all,” said Democratic 9th Congressional District Candidate Lutchi Gayot about the ballot situation. “Post offices have had staggered hours, workers have been affected by COVID and there has been a lot of confusion concerning absentee ballots. I believe the post office is doing their very best under real constraints.”
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) passed on commenting.
But Brooklyn’s unpaid Democratic District Leaders, whose role it is to maintain order at the polls, feel confident the election process will play out smoothly.
“I visited the Masonic Temple (Fort Greene) and the Brooklyn Museum (Prospect Heights) early voting sites,” said Female District Leader of the 57th Assembly District, Olanike Alabi on the subject of early voting that concludes Sunday, June 21.
“Both were well-staffed and turnout was extremely light. I observed and confirmed that there were no lines, frequent sanitization of voting equipment, barriers and signage to enforce social distancing, use of personal protection equipment (PPE) by election day workers and voters were able to cast their votes very quickly,” she said.
Alabi said she doesn’t anticipate any problems and if there are, there is a post-election process to resolve problems with counts. She did note we may have to wait a bit longer for results given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the voting process.
Douglas Schneider, the Male Democratic District Leader for the 44th Assembly District covering Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Ditmas Park, said that there was real professionalism and efficiency in his district as far as early voting as well. He said the people he spoke with felt safe with precautions put in place against the spread of COVID-19 and were consistently showing up, if in small numbers, at the polls.
“I’ve heard one or two stories about people that didn’t get their absentee ballots,” said Schneider, “The vast majority, the overwhelming majority of people that I’ve spoken to said that the absentee ballot process has been smooth and that people are in fact voting.”
Personally, he and his wife voted by absentee ballot, filling out the application online, and got confirmation that it was received today.
