Watching thousands of mail-in ballots being counted, at the Board of Elections (BOE) located at 5112 2nd Avenue in Sunset Park, is like peeling back the Wiz’s curtain to reveal reality. Spoiler alert: there’s no magic.
There are, however, dozens of dedicated BOE workers, volunteers, and spectators determined to bring the voting process to its fruition after a primary election season fraught with a health crisis and civil unrest.
As of July 7, the day before the official mail-in count began, the BOE had a total of 113,702 voted ballots returned from both parties in Brooklyn.
Now, with a sophisticated assembly line of ballot openers and personal protective equipment (PPE), the BOE is working through each vote while staff and Brooklyn Chief Clerk Raymond J. Riley oversees the proceedings with strict guidelines on who can enter the premises.
On the second floor of the massive warehouse, in a highly restricted and fenced off space, about 30 people in gloves and face shields sat two-by-two at folding tables. They systematically opened, separated, sorted, filed, and bundled each stack with bright orange bands to be thrown in the United States Postal Services buckets by their feet. Large, yellow extension cords hung from the ceiling, and the cavernous space seemed to go on forever. The constant hum of giant industrial fans could be heard over the stream of buzzing voices and shuffling papers.
In the area directly behind the fencing, BOE staff in blue uniforms huddle around giant scanners.
The sectioned off public, socially distanced, viewing areas held supporters of candidates like Marcelle Lashley-Kabore and Maria Aragona, who’s running for judge of the Civil Court in the 3rd Municipal Court District in Williamsburg.
“I just wanted to let her know I support her and that I’m here if she needs me,” said Aragona’s mother, who was patiently seated on the side of the cage while she watched the counting.
State Assemblymember Tremaine Wright (D-Northern Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant), who ran for 25th Senate District seat and has unofficially lost to Democratic Socialist Jabari Brisport, made an appearance as well. “It’s my first time here, I’ve never been to this before,” laughed Wright, who seemed to be taking the potential loss in stride.
She said that she wasn’t worried so much about the count but focusing on what needs to be done in the community instead, then went to enjoy lunch with some of her campaign supporters outside the BOE building in its parking lot.
Among the closer Brooklyn primary races that the mail-in ballots will determine is that of the 57th Assembly District where incumbent Assemblymember Walter Mosley (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights) who is clinging to a 588 vote election day lead over Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Phara Forrest.
Also clinging to a narrow lead in the 57th Assembly District is the unpaid but politically important Female Democratic District leader where Shaquana Boykin is clinging to a 233 vote election day lead over incumbent Olanike Alabi with Beverly Newsome also still in contention being 1,521 votes behind Boykin.
In the 51st Assembly District race, incumbent Assemblymember Felix Ortiz has a razor-thin 464 vote election day lead over DSA candidate Marcela Mitaynes with Katerine Walsh, 1,109 votes off Ortiz’s total, still in contention.
In the 50th Assembly district race, Assemblymember Joe Lentol (D-Greenpoint, Williamsburg) has a more healthy, but not insurmountable 1,763 vote election day lead over challenger Emily Gallagher with 4,615 mail-in ballots yet to be counted.
In the vacant 25th District State Senate seat, Brisport has a healthy, but not insurmountable 3,812 vote election day lead over Wright in a district covering Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Red Hook, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Sunset Park, Gowanus, and Park Slope.
New York City Board of Elections Spokesperson Valerie Vazquez-Diaz said there is no official day the final vote count will be released, but it will happen “when every valid vote cast is counted.”
