Tomorrow Is Election Day. Over 850,000 Eligible Brooklynites Are Yet To Vote

BROOKLYN – Election day is tomorrow! If you are a citizen and of-age to vote, do consider doing so tomorrow if you have not already. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow. If you are in line by 9 p.m., you are allowed to vote and must stay in line to do so. To find your polling place, check out this website.

Early voting ended yesterday Sunday, November 1. This is the first time early voting took place in NYC after the Senate passed a bill to make NY the 38th state to allow early voting last January.

According to the NYC Board of Elections, 373,270 people voted in Brooklyn in the past nine days,  250,083 in Queens, 238,581 in Manhattan, 153,079 in The Bronx, and 104,043 in Staten Island. All in all, of the 3,748,026 registered voters, 1,119,056 New Yorkers have voted (without taking into consideration the absentee ballots).

In Brooklyn, among the about 2 million residents that are over 18, there were 1,223,840 registered voters as of November 1, 2020, according to the NYS Board of Elections.  So about 30% voted early. This leaves 850,570 Brooklynites who are registered voters have either mailed in their ballots or not yet voted.

“Over 2.5 million New Yorkers cast their ballot over the past nine days, including over 1.1 million in New York City alone– an astonishing number that validates our efforts last year. Across our city and state, voters waited in long lines and braved rain and cold to ensure their ballots would be counted in the most important election in our lifetimes,” State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who is also the Chair of the Senate Elections Committee, said.

“I am incredibly grateful to the poll workers who worked so hard in difficult conditions to keep things running smoothly, many of whom served for the first time this year. The lines were often long, but New Yorkers responded the way we always do– with patience, grace, and good humor. I also honor those institutions that hosted early voting sites in this complicated year. Organizations that receive tax breaks or other public funds should always be willing to serve the voters who make those benefits possible.”

“Overall, early voting was a great success but also raised several concerns. There were clearly too few sites to accommodate the level of interest we saw from voters, and there was also a wide disparity in the number of voters assigned to each site (from just 10,000 to over 100,000),” he continued. “Guidance for poll workers, voters and volunteers outside poll sites was sometimes inconsistent, and the number of scanners at some sites was insufficient. In the next Legislative session, I plan to review these and all other aspects of our election administration to ensure that New York voters receive the world-class democracy they deserve.

“What these past nine days have shown is that when you make voting easier and more accessible, voters respond with great enthusiasm,” he said. “Our Majority has already demonstrated a willingness to do just that, and while New York can’t go from #WorstToFirst overnight, we are well on our way.”

Borough President Eric Adams said “The record-shattering turnout during the early voting period this election clearly shows the level of voter enthusiasm among Brooklynites and New Yorkers. I’m proud that Brooklyn had the highest early vote turnout of any borough, but many people still faced unnecessary obstacles to casting their ballot.”

“With so much at stake, I encourage my fellow New Yorkers to cast their ballots tomorrow if they have yet to do so and to be patient in the mission of ensuring every vote is counted. We must also carry forward this enthusiasm beyond Election Day, because the ongoing struggle for justice and equality is far from over, no matter the results.”

At his press conference this morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio stressed the fact that it is very possible the results of the election tomorrow will not be available tomorrow— the count may take some time.

“So many people voted by mail and it does take time to count those ballots. And this city, those ballots can come in after Election Day so long as they’re postmarked by Election Day. So, it’s natural that the count may take some time.

“We don’t see any example of voter fraud in this city on any widespread level at all. Almost no incidents of it. We know that the count historically can take time and the more mail imbalance, the more time it takes,” de Blasio said.

“So, we are in an unprecedented time, there’s a reason people are so worried, but I want folks to know this city is prepared. I want folks to know that for those who want to express themselves about the results, the way to do that is peacefully,” he continued. “That will always be honored. But the most important thing right now is to focus on the task at hand, to make sure that every single New Yorker votes, and that their right to vote is protected. And that’s what this city will do.”