Voter Protection Project (VPP), a political action committee working to end gerrymandering and voter suppression across the country, announced its endorsement on Monday, Apr. 27 of Council Member Ritchie Torres in New York’s 15th congressional district race.

 

Founded in 2019, VPP evolved following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Rucho v. Common Cause, which stated that federal courts could not regulate partisan gerrymandering. Since then, VPP has been supporting Democratic candidates running for office who champion voter equality all across the country at federal and state level.

 

“The Voter Protection Project is proud to endorse Ritchie Torres,” said VPP President, Matt Liebman. “To put it bluntly, as a member of the New York City Council, Ritchie has been a champion for voting rights, and we need more of those types of leaders in Congress.”

 

Last year, as chair of the City Council’s oversight and investigations committee, Torres challenged the New York Board of Elections’ plan to use voting machines that had caused technical issues at polling places in the past. He also raised the alarm about potential cyber-attacks.

 

“As a council member, I’ve fought to make our elections fair, secure and accessible for all New Yorkers,” said Torres. “In Congress, New Yorkers can continue to count on me to push back against Republican attempts at voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering.”

 

VPP’s agenda includes ensuring every state has automatic voter registration and online voter registration, same day registration, early voting, the elimination of the need to provide a reason for absentee ballot or vote-by-mail, and ensuring there are sufficient polling locations, personnel, and voting booths during elections.

 

According to vote.org, 17 states require voters to give a reason for voting by absentee ballot, New York being one, while 28 states and the District of Columbia don’t require a reason. Meanwhile, five states, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah hold elections entirely by mail-in ballot according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

 

VPP is also campaigning for independent redistricting commissions to be set up, and the restoration of voting rights to previously convicted Americans who have successfully completed their sentences.

 

On its website, VPP does not reference the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electoral process. Norwood News reported on Apr. 25 that Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated the automatic issuance of absentee vote applications to all New Yorkers in preparation for the June 23rd presidential primary, State and congressional elections. The governor’s order could prove futile, however, if prevailing mail delays are not resolved by then.

 

There were also reports on Apr. 24 and Apr. 25 by The NY Daily News that a statewide vote-by-mail process might not be feasible under the State’s constitution. A pending bill before the State Senate, introduced by State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi on Mar. 9 would allow voters with concerns over the risk of infection during in-person voting, to request an absentee ballot.

 

This point is now moot since the governor’s executive order on Friday renders the application for an absentee ballot unnecessary. However, the bill would also expand the definition of “illness” to include the spread, or potential spread of any communicable disease during a declared state of emergency, illness being the reason for the absentee ballot. The bill is currently under discussion by State committee members, the second stage of a seven-step process of its passage into law.

 

In a statement confirming the endorsement, Torres wrote that he was proud to have the support of VPP which he views as a necessary counterweight to the conservative movement in the United States. “The conservative [U.S. Supreme] court recently held that partisan gerrymandering is constitutional, which is an erroneous decision,” he said. “The Republican Party has been systematically weaponizing the electoral college, the senate, partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression laws in an unrelenting assault on American democracy.”

 

A statement on VPP’s website says, “The Voter Protection Project will fight back against President Trump’s and Republicans’ attacks on our right to vote by leading the charge to make sure every American has the right to cast a ballot.”

 

In an interview with Norwood News on Apr. 25, Torres said that, according to VVP, a silent majority, 64 percent of eligible voters are in favor of a progressive agenda, and these young people, people of color and women are core constituencies of the Democratic Party.

 

“And so, the mission of VPP is to galvanize the 64% into voting participation,” Torres said. “It is a real need – to awaken the sleeping giant of suppressed voters in America.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, VPP is a political action committee, which, so far, has contributed $101,000 to democratic candidates running for federal office. A disclaimer on VPP’s website states that the group is not authorized by any candidate nor by any candidate’s committee.

 

Born and raised in the Bronx, Torres grew up in public housing with a single mother. He would later chair the City Council committee that oversees NYCHA. “I oversaw the largest landlord in the United States,” Torres said, when questioned about his credentials as a congressional candidate. “I’m in charge of investigations into agencies that make up an over $90 billion budget.”

 

Indeed, housing is one of his top three campaign issues, along with health, which he ranks highest and jobs. He is a recent survivor of the coronavirus, despite having had underlying health conditions as a child in the form of asthma. Torres said he was able to secure a test in the first instance because he had been in contact with someone who had contracted the virus and also because of his history with asthma.

 

“It actually has been more challenging for me to obtain a second test, an antibody test verifying that I have immunoglobulins that would protect me from future infection,” he said. On the subject of testing, he panned the policy of drive-thru only sites in the Bronx, a borough in which the majority of people get around using the subway but was not surprised by the apparent lack of foresight in this regard. “The impact of the uneven effects of COVID-19 demonstrate the unique disadvantages of the Bronx,” he said.

 

Norwood News asked Torres for his thoughts on reports from South Korea about recovered COVID-19 patients who became re-infected, and whether he had any concerns about this in the context of the timing of plasma donations by recovered patients to other COVID-19 patients, who are still severely ill, in the hope that the antibodies will assist the other patients’ immune systems to fight the virus. “No one knows for sure whether previous infection induces immunity, and if so, how long does the immunity last,” Torres said.

 

He said it was possible that in those South Korean cases, there were three possible explanations for the resurgence. He said it could have been re-infection, it could have been reactivation of the virus within the body, or it could have been defective testing.

 

“Keep in mind that there are two purposes for which you can employ a serology test,” he said. “You can either employ a serology test for the purpose of determining the extent of the infection, or you could administer the test where the focus is on determining who was immune, and those are two different kinds of tests.”

 

“If the purpose of the test is to determine the infection rate, then you can afford false positives at the margins because you’re seeking an estimate rather than an exact number,” he added. “But if the purpose is to determine who is individually immune, and who can safely return to the workforce, then a false positive could result in someone’s death.”

 

Torres said the proper test to use varies, depending on the purpose, and that some tests are more effective at determining the infection rate, and some are more effective at determining individual immunity.

 

On the topic of the now-evidenced statistics which show the racial disparity of COVID-19 cases among people of color, Torres said the virus had split society in two. “There are those who risk their lives on the front-lines, and then there are those who are white-collar workers who safely shelter at home,” he said.

 

“And those risking their lives on the frontlines are disproportionately lower-income, people of color from places like the Bronx. That’s why I think the occurrence of COVID-19 has revealed that the Bronx is the essential borough.”

 

When it comes to social distancing, Torres said it was a luxury not everyone could afford. “If you’re a frontline worker who lives in an overcrowded apartment, or rides a crowded subway, then you have a limited ability to practice social distancing,” he said, adding that one of the other unintended consequences of the economic lockdown has been a spike in domestic violence rates, which he said is a persistent problem that has plagued Bronx communities.

 

Nonetheless, he was complimentary of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic. “I think he’s been an extraordinary crisis manager – the best in the country,” he said. On the other hand, he was critical of the Trump administration’s management of the crisis.

 

“None of the actions that the Trump administration has taken were remotely effective at containing the virus,” he said, in response to a question about the president’s decision to ban Chinese travelers from entering the country at the end of January. He views the flight ban as President Trump pandering to bigotry which Torres said has been his modus operandi from day one.

 

Asked if any of his Chinese constituents had reported any incidences of racism, Torres said, “I have less Chinese constituents than elsewhere in the City but I have a general sense that the Asian community in general, and the Chinese community in particular, feels under assault from the President of the United States.”

 

U.S. Rep. José E. Serrano, who has Parkinson’s disease, announced that he would not seek reelection to New York’s 15^th congressional district in March 2019. The race to succeed him has garnered the interest of 14 other diverse candidates, in addition to Torres.

 

The councilman said he has the right combination of youth and experience that’s needed to win the race. “I was among the first elected officials representing a full Bronx district, a pioneer of participatory budgeting right in the heart of the Bronx in Belmont, Fordham and Tremont,” he said.

 

Norwood News asked Torres how he differentiated himself from the other candidates in the race. “I’m deeply committed to the mission of the voter participation project, the mission of building people up,” he said. “The central mission of my life has been aimed at building political power in communities of color, especially in places like public housing.”

 

“From The New Yorker to Netflix, to NBC, to Newsweek, I have been nationally recognized for the work that I’ve done on behalf of those who have been rendered voiceless by America’s broken policies,” he said. “No one else in the race has a comparable record.”

 

Torres is leading the race in terms of campaign contributions, with more than double the amount of his nearest rival, Assemblyman Michael Blake, who represents New York’s 79^th district in the Bronx, more than four times that of former City Council Speaker, Melissa Viverito, and more than six times that of Council Member Ruben Diaz, Sr.

 

Also in his favor is the fact that of the $1.2 million which Torres has raised to date, $1.18 million came from individuals across 49 states, as well as from the District of Columbia.

 

Both Blake and Viverito ran unsuccessfully in the 2019 public advocate race, eventually losing out to the incumbent, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

 

Blake had touted his broad experience at that time, having worked in state government, and also for the Obama administration. Meanwhile Viverito was the first woman of color to hold the position of City Council Speaker when she was elected in 2014. She finished third in the public advocate race behind Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich.

 

In 2013, Torres became the youngest elected official in New York City at age 25 and the first openly LGBTQ elected official from the Bronx. He has been known to knock heads with Diaz. Sr. over LGBTQ rights in the past.

 

While LGBTQ representation has grown in New York City’s political scene in recent decades, Norwood News asked Torres what he thinks could be done to gain more visibility for the transgender community.

 

“We need to have more representation of the trans community in elected office, in the chambers of power –  that’s a powerful starting point,” he said. “A wise person once said, if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably going to be on the menu.”