On Apr. 27, citing concerns over the probable spread of the coronavirus, the New York State Board of Elections announced the cancellation of the State’s presidential primary. The Sanders campaign released a statement the same day, describing the decision as an “outrage”.

 

“What the [NYS] Board of Elections is ignoring, is that the primary process not only leads to a nominee, but also the selection of delegates, which helps to determine the platform and rules of the Democratic Party,” the statement read.

 

Bizarrely, the Board chose not to cancel the congressional, state and other special primary elections which were also planned for Jun. 23, 2020, even though these would have also required people to go out, intermingle, and vote. Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito told the Norwood News in May that the confusion arising from the announced cancellation did not bode well for successful primary elections, with many voters believing all elections had been cancelled.

 

“They [NYS Board of Elections], unfortunately, in enacting that move also was creating a lot of confusion because people were hearing that the primary was cancelled, so in the calls I’ve been making, there are people who actually think that even the congressional and state elections were canceled,” she said in May.

 

A subsequent court ruling reinstated the presidential primary and all elections duly went ahead on Jun. 23. The drama did not end there, however. After absentee or mail-in ballots were proposed as a way to avoid long voting lines, discussions ensued about whether a statewide mail-in vote was actually legal under the State’s constitution, since this option was usually reserved for the ill or otherwise engaged.

 

This latter point was, apparently, resolved however and Gov. Andrew Cuomo subsequently issued an executive order in late April, mandating the issuance of absentee voting applications to every eligible New York voter, saying at the time, “The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world, and while we are making great progress and the numbers keep going down, no New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their right to vote”.

 

But more problems emerged when numerous residents reported to Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz that, although they had sent back their applications, their ballots had not arrived just days before the primaries were due to take place on Jun. 23.

Dinowitz said that he contacted both UPS and the City’s Board of Elections and that neither entity reported any delays or problems with the issuance of ballots. He has since called on the State legislature to pass legislation that will mandate the future use of ballot tracking technology for absentee ballots, as is already the case in some other states.

 

“As we continue working to expand vote-by-mail options for New York’s voters, it is imperative that we have systems in place that ensure confidence and accountability between voters and Boards of Elections,” he said.

 

On election day, since in-person voting was also still allowed, indicative results became available that evening, though the final outcomes for all elections will not be known until all absentee ballots are tallied. According to the City’s Board of Elections, this would not happen until, at least, one week after the primary date, which was Tuesday, Jun. 30. As it stands right now, in the 81st assembly district race, Dinowitz himself has, so far, secured 59.81 percent of the vote. (In the final tally, Dinowitz later won with 63.5 percent of the vote to George Diaz’s 36.2. Write-ins accounted for 0.3 percent.)

 

In the 16th congressional district, it looks like there could be a shake-up. Incumbent Congressman Eliot Engel currently has secured just 35.7 per cent of total votes. Meanwhile, new challenger Jamaal Bowman stands with 61.6 percent of center tallies. During a hot mic moment at a press event on Jun. 2, Engel was overheard saying that he wouldn’t care about addressing residents’ concerns in the wake of the June 1st riots on Fordham Road if elections had not been imminent. Some say this comment may have cost him his seat.

 

Meanwhile, in the hotly contested 15th congressional district race, City Councilman Ritchie Torres leads with 31.1 percent of the votes so far. Norwood News conducted a one-to-one interview with Torres in April. If he wins, he will be the first Black man who is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community to be elected to Congress. Trailing Torres is Assemblyman Michael Blake with 18.2 percent, City Councilman, and favorite to win the race, Ruben Diaz Sr. with 15 percent of votes, and new challenger, profiled by Norwood News a few weeks ago, Samelys López, with 13.4 percent.

 

In the 14th congressional district race, incumbent Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looks set to see off a number of challengers and retain her seat, winning 72.9 percent of votes so far. Meanwhile, State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi has won 85.22 percent of votes so far in the 34th senatorial district primary, while State Sen. Luis R. Sepulveda has notched up 52.87 percent of votes in the 32nd senatorial district.

 

In the 78th assembly district, so far, Assemblyman José Rivera has won 83.38 percent of the vote, while in the 79th assembly district, Chantel Jackson is in the lead so far with 27.14 percent of votes.

 

Norwood News caught up with voters on election evening outside PS 280 in Norwood and PS 8 on Briggs Avenue in Bedford Park. Manuel Diaz, who voted at PS 8, made some last minute changes when it came to selecting his preferred candidate. Speaking in Spanish, he said, “It was very exciting for me to vote”.

 

The majority of voters cited few to no problems with their voting experience. Most said that the process was quick, easy, and safe, and that mask-wearing and social distancing were in order for the most part. Maisha Smith, who voted at PS 8, said, “There was a bit of confusion because I did the mail-in ballot, and I thought I had to drop it off”.

 

However, she said the polling site staff told her that she had voided her mail-in ballot because she showed up in person, and therefore had to vote in person. She wanted to simply drop off her mail-in ballot in order to avoid standing in line with others [and risk infection] but in the end, she said she used one of the voting machines.

 

“There was a bit of a glitch,” she said. “They said that I over-voted; I put in more votes than I did, and I was like, ‘No I didn’t’. I put exactly eight.” Smith said she had to do it over in the end, adding that usually she votes very quickly but that this time, it took a little longer than usual.

 

Smith said not everyone was wearing masks, though most were, and when it came to social distancing, she acknowledged that the venue was a small space but said she felt organizers could have made a little bit more effort to try to keep people apart. She said the center did keep everyone “sort of distanced” for the most part. “There were still some areas between scanning-in your ballot and actually voting,” she said. “There was a little bit of a cluster.”