Get Out The Vote! Polls Sluggish At Sunset Park Congressional Primary

Voting locations in Sunset Park were staggeringly short of actual voters today.

I visited four different poll places all Tuesday morning to speak with voters and poll workers about how the voting process is going in the 7th Congressional District, and only came across five voters. One woman was unable to vote because she neglected to change her address prior to the primary. Another voter declined to speak to me and the other three other could not communicate in English.

“It’s been going pretty smoothly, so far — no issues with the machines or anything,” said a man who was working at the polling location, but declined to share name. He was pacing disinterestedly across the street from the polls, seemingly bored.

When I asked him about the turnout he said, “It definitely hasn’t been busy, but it’s been pretty constant.”

The low turnout is notable in light of a recent reports that the district was hard hit by the massive voter purge that came to light during the recent presidential primary. The incumbent Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who has held the position for 12 terms, called for federal monitoring of Tuesday’s congressional primary. She is up against banker Yungman Lee, and lawyer Jeff Kurzon.

Velazquez became the first elected Puerto Rican woman in Congress in 1993. In 2003, Hispanic Business Magazine honored her with it’s first “Woman of the Year” award because of her support of minority small businesses. She also has raised money from corporations such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and supported the loosening of the Glass-Steagall Act, which is regarded as setting the stage for the 2008 financial crisis.

Lee — who got in a tiff with councilman Brad Landers over ads slamming the congresswoman — is banking on Sunset Park’s Chinese American population turning out in numbers. Asian Americans in southwestern Brooklyn have become increasingly engaged in the political sphere in the wake of the conviction of ex-officer Peter Liang, and the battle over specialized high school admissions.

Kurzon, also considered a long shot candidate, is a progressive and a self-described “Bernicrat,” is riding on the fervor surrounding Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid. He advocates for middle class interests and hopes to separate big money from politics.

Part of the problem in Brooklyn appears to be the convoluted deadlines for registering to vote. When ranked and compared to all other states, New York is ranked 46th for voter turnout, according to a report by the New York Campaign Finance Board. Six of the top 10 states have more modernized voting laws than New York such as being able to register the same day you go to the polls to vote, according to the report.

Luckily, for register voters in Sunset Park, there is still time. Polls are open until 9pm. Click here to find your voting place.