With all the attention the 2020 Presidential Election is getting, some New Yorkers may not be aware that there is a local election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

And registered voters can start casting their ballots from Oct. 26. to Nov. 3, thanks to early voting.

At an information meeting held in Co-Op City, Councilman Andy King–before a report by the New York City Council substantiated claims of abuse in his office–was joined by members of the Board of Elections and New York City Charter Revision Commission 2019 to explain some of the local issues on the ballot. The New York City Charter is the city’s official constitution. The issues to be decided include changes to the election process and the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), extending prohibitions on lobbying from former elected officials, and city budget matters.

One of the changes to the charter is “ranked choice voting,” an election process that eliminates the runoff system in primaries and special elections. Under ranked choice voting rules voters rank the candidates in an order of preference rather than just one favorite.  If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, then an elimination process begins by instantly removing the candidate with the least number of votes.

For example, if ranked choice voting were in place now for the special election of the next public advocate, instead of casting a ballot for one candidate, voters would rank their preferences from one to three.  If none were to receive more than 50 percent, the third-place candidate would be eliminated and rather than have the two-top vote-getters run again, the Board of Elections would simply tally how many first place votes each remaining candidate received to determine a winner.

At the meeting King expressed reservations about ranked choice voting but encourages voters to look at the pros and cons before making a decision.  “I’m not sure that rank[ed choice] voting is the way to go, but once you learn about it here tonight, you’ll be able to make a decision that works good for you,” King said.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the 2019 election cycle is getting people to vote.  Jerome Rice, president of the Co-Op City branch of the NAACP, organizes outreach programs to help register new voters.  “One of the struggles that we’re going through at the NAACP is that we got to get people registered and then we got to remind them that they also got to come out and vote,” Rice said.

Analysis of voting data published earlier this year from the city’s Campaign Finance Board reveals how difficult it is to maintain voter participation beyond the presidential election, especially in the Bronx.

Among the neighborhoods with the greatest drop-off in voter turnout in 2017 after registering to vote in 2016, the year of the presidential election, were Bedford Park-Fordham South (50.4 percent), Crotona Park East (53.4 percent), and Tremont (50.7 percent).

In discussing ways to simplify the voting process so turnout rates do not drop off so drastically between election cycles, one Co-Op City resident suggested a novel idea.  Leslie Peterson has lived in Co-Op City for 35 years and votes at every election.  “Instead of sending me these paper [voter IDs] all the time, they should send us [plastic] cards with the bar code, like the ones I have on my key chain,” Peterson said.

Editor’s Note: A full list of early voting sites can be found on here. The New York Attorney General’s Office has a hotline set up for voters to report any issues with voting. The phone number is (800) 771-7755 or email election.hotline@ag.ny.gov.