PARK SLOPE, Brooklyn — In-person voting in the all-important New York City primary is a month away and as election officials firm up logistics, candidates said they are getting concerned about how the election will be handled.
“On a sunny day in June, when everybody is happy, they can’t get an election right,” quipped leading mayoral candidate Eric Adams.
He went on to say he felt the New York City Board of Elections has not done enough ahead of this crucial election. He expressed concerns, especially in communities of color and non-English speaking neighborhoods, there has not been enough education around the new ranked choice voting system and about polling places getting moved.
“This could turn into a modern day Jim Crow-ism,” Adams said.
PIX11 News also found at least one confirmed instance of someone requesting an absentee ballot, and the online ballot tracker told them a record of the request was not found.
During its regularly scheduled virtual meeting the City Board of Elections insisted more 73,000 absentee ballot requests submitted already have been processed and voters should get their ballots soon.
“The tracker is being updated and all information should be in the tracker tomorrow,” an election official said at the meeting.
The Board also confirmed there would be 104 early voting locations with expanded hours, the most in the city’s history.
One commissioner did express some concern not enough was being done to educate voters who might not have access to the computer. But overall, few questions were asked the Board of Elections ranked choice voting campaign.
More information about candidate ranked choice voting, along with early and absentee voting deadlines and resources can be found here.
