Latest news with #BoardofElections
Politico
10 hours ago
- Climate
- Politico
As New York mayor's race heats up, Cuomo warns of inadequate weather plans
NEW YORK — The New York City mayoral race is heating up – literally. With temperatures predicted to hit 100 degrees on Election Day, front-runner Andrew Cuomo is anxious to get his voters into polling sites — and he's demanding better preparation from city officials. Cuomo, the Democratic frontrunner in the tightening race, posted on X, 'The steps outlined to meet the heat at polling locations are not sufficient. Water must be passed out and A/C systems must be installed to ensure that people who are voting can do so in a cool and comfortable environment.' The city Board of Elections' heat plan 'is insufficient, it's unacceptable,' Cuomo spokesperson Jason Elan said. 'We've been clear that the city should be distributing water on site, and that they would be installing a/c systems to make sure that everybody who wants to can make their voice heard on election day.' The former governor has reason to be concerned about turnout next Tuesday: His anticipated victory relies upon robust support from older voters, who are more susceptible to dangerous heat conditions. Board of Elections spokesperson Vincent Ignizio declined to comment on the Cuomo's campaign complaint. The board emphasized its preparation for the heat wave, releasing a statement earlier Thursday that staffers are finding fans for poll sites without air conditioning, 'ensuring a steady supply of water' and pledging a continuous supply of electricity, given the increased possibility of power outages. Ignizio couldn't say Thursday how many of the city's 1,213 poll sites lack air conditioning since the board's 'site-by-site assessment' was ongoing. Contingency plans are in place to keep voting going through power outages, he added. And the board doesn't expect any voters having to wait in long lines, whether indoors or out. 'Our anticipation is that there is ample amount of bandwidth in the system to accommodate the voting,' he said. There are just as many poll sites for the local primary as there were for the presidential election last year, which had roughly triple the turnout expected for the race to replace Mayor Eric Adams. Cuomo was the first candidate to publicly raise concerns about the heat wave. On Wednesday, he called on Mayor Eric Adams' administration to guarantee every poll site is 'cool, comfortable and accessible,' and ensure bottled water is provided to every voter. The former governor is running on his experience and take-charge attitude, and has taken digs at Adams' management. In a statement, City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus deferred to the Board of Elections, adding that it's an independent agency. 'As Andrew Cuomo should know, elections are managed by the New York City Board of Elections – an independent body, separate from the Adams administration,' she said. 'Mayor Adams believes that all New Yorkers should exercise their democratic right to vote, and we are coordinating closely with the New York City Board of Elections in advance of Tuesday's forecasted heat to monitor for impacts.' Cuomo isn't the only candidate with concerns. 'It's going to be blazing hot,' mayoral candidate Brad Lander said Thursday after casting his vote early. 'Let's make sure now that the air conditioning is working in every polling site, and let's make sure it's on in advance.' 'I do not have confidence that Eric Adams' administration will do it,' Lander added. Hot temperatures hurting Cuomo's vote total has been the subject of jokes from supporters of Zohran Mamdani. Cuomo's leading rival has a highly motivated base of younger voters who may be more likely to vote early, or to show up Tuesday despite the weather. 'Someone's worried about the old turnout Make it HOTTER!!!' leftist podcast host Stylianos Karoldis posted on X, referring to Cuomo. 'Praying to God it's a temperature only people under 45 can withstand,' he added. Mamdani's campaign is taking a more sober view. 'We're concerned about the health and safety of every voter, and want people to take every precaution,' spokesperson Andrew Epstein said. That includes the campaign's 'tens of thousands' of volunteers who will be standing outside poll sites as well, The campaign is preparing with pop-up tents, snacks, water and 'a lot of very specific guidance to canvassers to dress appropriately for the heat, to take breaks,' Epstein said. The National Weather Service is predicting a high near 94 Tuesday, with the heat index potentially exceeding 100 degrees at times, calling it 'a true summertime hot and humid regime.' Accuweather is also predicting that the high Tuesday could break the New York City record for June 24 of 96 degrees, set in 1888. Later that year, New Yorkers elected 30-year-old Tammany Hall favorite Hugh Grant, the youngest mayor in the city's history. Hoping to hold off the 33-year-old Mamdani, Cuomo's pushing his supporters to vote early, through Sunday, when temperatures will be merely hot, and not yet miserable. 'While it's hot out in New York today, it's only going to get hotter,' Cuomo's campaign wrote in an email to supporters Thursday. 'So please, vote today, and encourage everyone you know to vote now to avoid next week's extreme heat.' Voting rights advocates are pushing the same message. 'I don't ever remember a primary or any election day in New York state being remotely this hot,' said Perry Grossman, director of the Voting Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union. 'My strong message to everybody is: early vote. Whether it's today, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, it's gonna be a little bit cooler. Take advantage of it.' Joe Anuta contributed reporting
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Preparations for NYC Election Day heat wave blasted as inadequate by Cuomo
NEW YORK — Hundreds of polling sites in the city that do not have air conditioning systems will be equipped with electric fans on Tuesday, when temperatures are projected to soar into the 100s as New Yorkers head out to vote in the local 2025 primary elections. But the ramped-up heat precautions were criticized as inadequate by mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo's campaign, which earlier this week demanded that Mayor Adams ensures the Board of Elections installs portable air conditioning units at all sites that do not have centralized A/C. The Cuomo campaign also demanded the mayor's office makes sure polling sites have water bottles on hand to distribute to voters waiting on line. 'This isn't sufficient,' Cuomo campaign spokesman Jason Elan said Thursday in response to the BOE's new heat precaution protocol. 'We are specifically asking for water to be passed out and A/C systems to be installed to ensure that people who are voting can do so in a cool and comfortable environment.' Elan's rebuke came after Vinny Ignizio, the deputy executive of the city Board of Elections, said his agency estimates a bit less than half of the 1,213 polling stations operating across the city Tuesday will not have air conditioning and will need to be fitted with fans. He cautioned that the board's review of sites is still ongoing and that he didn't have an exact number on how many sites don't have A/C. In a statement, the board also said staffers will ensure 'a steady supply of water is available' at all polling stations and work closely with emergency management agencies and utility providers to make sure sites aren't at risk of losing electricity amid the heat. Ignizio said the heat wave set to wash over the city during Tuesday's election is mostly a problem for poll workers. 'While voters generally spend only a few minutes at a polling place, our poll workers serve on the front lines for up to 17 hours,' he said. 'This is fundamentally a facilities and workforce challenge, and we are treating it with the urgency it deserves.' Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak shot back at Cuomo's criticisms, arguing his demands are misdirected. 'As Andrew Cuomo should know, elections are managed by the New York City Board of Elections – an independent body, separate from the Adams administration,' she said. 'Mayor Adams believes that all New Yorkers should exercise their democratic right to vote, and we are coordinating closely with the New York City Board of Elections in advance of Tuesday's forecasted heat to monitor for impacts.' Cuomo is polling as the favorite to win the Democratic mayoral primary, the top item on Tuesday's ballot. A significant segment of Cuomo's political base is older, and the scorching temperatures could pose an issue in terms of those voters making it out to the polls Tuesday. Cuomo's main opponent in the mayoral race, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, has been closing in on him in some recent polls. Adams isn't running against Cuomo in Tuesday's primary, having dropped out of it to seek reelection as an independent in November's general election instead amid continued political fallout from his federal corruption indictment. _____
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How ranked choice voting works: A guide ahead of New York City's primary
When New Yorkers fill out ballots in Tuesday's mayoral primary, they'll be able to choose more than just one candidate. They can pick a second choice. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. It's part of a process called ranked choice voting, a system that lets voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than pick just one. Supporters of the system say ranked choice voting builds consensus, promotes positive campaigning and lets voters express a fuller range of opinions. Opponents argue it's overly complicated and can lead to ballots' being thrown out. Here's what you need to know about ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting is a method of voting in which people rank candidates in order of preference. The number of candidates voters can rank depends on the specific rules in an area. In New York City, voters can rank up to five in one race. Voters don't have to fill their ballots, though. A voter whose heart is set on only one candidate can just pick one. But if that candidate doesn't get the most votes, that voter won't have a say in later rounds of counting. After the votes are tabulated, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Ballots from voters who supported that candidate then have the next choice counted. If no candidate has hit 50%, then counting continues, eliminating another last-place candidate and counting the next-ranked choices on all those ballots in the next round. The process continues until a candidate reaches majority support and wins. It depends on where the election is. In Maine, for example, the ranked choice tabulation in one of the state's congressional districts was conducted on Nov. 15 last year, 10 days after Election Day. In New York City, the Board of Elections will post unofficial results from the first round of votes on election night. Preliminary elimination rounds will be tabulated a week later, and officials will post an unofficial report, according to the elections board. The results could still change as mail and affidavit ballots are processed. It can take longer to project winners in ranked choice votes, because election authorities need to have every ballot counted before they know in what order to eliminate last-place finishers. And as we know from recent elections, it can take some time to process and count mail-in ballots, provisional votes and others. Supporters argue that ranked choice voting strengthens democracy by promoting positive campaigning and coalition-building, since people choose more than one candidate. Advocates also say the system encourages politicians to find middle ground, which could help reduce the number of lawmakers on the ideological fringe. 'With RCV, candidates run more positive campaigns — or even 'cross-endorse' one another. Instead of worrying about 'wasting' their vote or picking the lesser of two evils, voters can rank their honest preferences. RCV rewards candidates who can build a majority coalition,' Deb Otis, the director of research and policy for the election reform group FairVote, said in a statement. In New York, mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani, for example, has announced cross-endorsements with fellow contenders Michael Blake and Brad Lander in an effort to consolidate support. The system is also called instant runoff voting, since it replaces the need for separately scheduled runoffs for winners to get majority support, because votes are counted until a candidate has majority support. New York City spent about $13 million in 2013 for a runoff that drew a turnout rate of 6%, which drew calls to switch to ranked choice voting. Supporters also point out that ranked choice voting eliminates candidates' winning with extremely low percentages in crowded primaries. For example, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., won her primary in 2020 with 19% of the vote before she easily won the general election. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., won an open primary in 2022 with 28% before he likewise enjoyed an easy general election in a safe district. 'New Yorkers adopted ranked choice voting because they wanted a change from primaries where candidates could win with just 20% of the vote. Now, thanks to RCV, voters have more choice and more voice in who represents them,' Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, said in a statement. Opponents argue that the system confuses voters and leads to ballots' being thrown out. Critics also say ranked choice voting lengthens the voting process because voters have to take the time to research all of the candidates. In New York City's case, that includes 11 mayoral candidates on the Democratic side. New York's 2021 mayor's race was also marred by initial controversy after 135,000 test ballots were accidentally included in one version of the announced election returns as the city used ranked choice voting for the first time. 'Ranked choice voting is like putting your ballot in a paper shredder and hoping democracy miraculously reassembles itself inside the black box of tabulation,' said Madeline Malisa, a senior fellow at the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability. 'The reality is ranked choice voting has been a disaster of delayed results, errors, confusion and voter disenfranchisement everywhere it's been tried. All of those problems erode confidence,' Malisa added. Some groups have also argued that ranked choice voting disenfranchises minority voters, with several analyses noting that wealthier and whiter neighborhoods had fewer mismarked ballots and more use of ranking. Though ranked choice voting has spread to a number of jurisdictions in recent years, there have also been efforts to roll it back. In Alaska, voters narrowly passed (by about 1 percentage point) a ballot measure enacting a ranked choice voting system in 2020. Four years later, an effort to repeal the system failed by an even narrower margin, 0.2 points. This article was originally published on
NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
How ranked choice voting works: A guide ahead of New York City's primary
When New Yorkers fill out ballots in Tuesday's mayoral primary, they'll be able to choose more than just one candidate. They can pick a second choice. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. It's part of a process called ranked choice voting, a system that lets voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than pick just one. Supporters of the system say ranked choice voting builds consensus, promotes positive campaigning and lets voters express a fuller range of opinions. Opponents argue it's overly complicated and can lead to ballots' being thrown out. Here's what you need to know about ranked choice voting. How does ranked choice voting work? Ranked choice voting is a method of voting in which people rank candidates in order of preference. The number of candidates voters can rank depends on the specific rules in an area. In New York City, voters can rank up to five in one race. Voters don't have to fill their ballots, though. A voter whose heart is set on only one candidate can just pick one. But if that candidate doesn't get the most votes, that voter won't have a say in later rounds of counting. After the votes are tabulated, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Ballots from voters who supported that candidate then have the next choice counted. If no candidate has hit 50%, then counting continues, eliminating another last-place candidate and counting the next-ranked choices on all those ballots in the next round. The process continues until a candidate reaches majority support and wins. How long does it take to count the votes? It depends on where the election is. In Maine, for example, the ranked choice tabulation in one of the state's congressional districts was conducted on Nov. 15 last year, 10 days after Election Day. In New York City, the Board of Elections will post unofficial results from the first round of votes on election night. Preliminary elimination rounds will be tabulated a week later, and officials will post an unofficial report, according to the elections board. The results could still change as mail and affidavit ballots are processed. It can take longer to project winners in ranked choice votes, because election authorities need to have every ballot counted before they know in what order to eliminate last-place finishers. And as we know from recent elections, it can take some time to process and count mail-in ballots, provisional votes and others. Why use ranked choice voting? Supporters argue that ranked choice voting strengthens democracy by promoting positive campaigning and coalition-building, since people choose more than one candidate. Advocates also say the system encourages politicians to find middle ground, which could help reduce the number of lawmakers on the ideological fringe. 'With RCV, candidates run more positive campaigns — or even 'cross-endorse' one another. Instead of worrying about 'wasting' their vote or picking the lesser of two evils, voters can rank their honest preferences. RCV rewards candidates who can build a majority coalition,' Deb Otis, the director of research and policy for the election reform group FairVote, said in a statement. In New York, mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani, for example, has announced cross-endorsements with fellow contenders Michael Blake and Brad Lander in an effort to consolidate support. The system is also called instant runoff voting, since it replaces the need for separately scheduled runoffs for winners to get majority support, because votes are counted until a candidate has majority support. New York City spent about $13 million in 2013 for a runoff that drew a turnout rate of 6%, which drew calls to switch to ranked choice voting. Supporters also point out that ranked choice voting eliminates candidates' winning with extremely low percentages in crowded primaries. For example, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., won her primary in 2020 with 19% of the vote before she easily won the general election. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., won an open primary in 2022 with 28% before he likewise enjoyed an easy general election in a safe district. 'New Yorkers adopted ranked choice voting because they wanted a change from primaries where candidates could win with just 20% of the vote. Now, thanks to RCV, voters have more choice and more voice in who represents them,' Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, said in a statement. What are the problems with ranked choice voting? Opponents argue that the system confuses voters and leads to ballots' being thrown out. Critics also say ranked choice voting lengthens the voting process because voters have to take the time to research all of the candidates. In New York City's case, that includes 11 mayoral candidates on the Democratic side. New York's 2021 mayor's race was also marred by initial controversy after 135,000 test ballots were accidentally included in one version of the announced election returns as the city used ranked choice voting for the first time. 'Ranked choice voting is like putting your ballot in a paper shredder and hoping democracy miraculously reassembles itself inside the black box of tabulation,' said Madeline Malisa, a senior fellow at the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability. 'The reality is ranked choice voting has been a disaster of delayed results, errors, confusion and voter disenfranchisement everywhere it's been tried. All of those problems erode confidence,' Malisa added. Some groups have also argued that ranked choice voting disenfranchises minority voters, with several analyses noting that wealthier and whiter neighborhoods had fewer mismarked ballots and more use of ranking. Though ranked choice voting has spread to a number of jurisdictions in recent years, there have also been efforts to roll it back. In Alaska, voters narrowly passed (by about 1 percentage point) a ballot measure enacting a ranked choice voting system in 2020. Four years later, an effort to repeal the system failed by an even narrower margin, 0.2 points.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Twice the number of New Yorkers are turning out for early voting in the heated Democratic mayoral primary: data
Twice the number of New Yorkers are turning out for early voting in the 2025 primary compared to four years ago, data from the city Board of Elections show. The dramatic 50% spike hints that the heated Democratic mayoral primary — which polls show is a tight two-way race between frontrunner Andrew Cuomo and runner-up Zohran Mamdani — has lit a fire under Big Apple voters. Nearly 94,000 New Yorkers cast ballots during the first three days of early voting — which began Saturday and lasts through June 22 — compared to 44,000 at the same point in 2021, BOE data show. Advertisement 3 Over 50% of New Yorkers are heading out for early voting in the 2025 primary compared to the previous mayoral election cycle. Robert Miller Brooklyn led the boroughs with early votes cast – 33,000 – after three days, in contrast to the 2021 when Manhattan held that distinction. And this year, younger voters under the age of 44 accounted for 45% of ballots cast so far – a potential positive sign for the Mamdani, a leftist social media phenom. Advertisement 'F–k Andrew Cuomo,' declared Maia Villalba, 23, at a polling site outside Southbridge Towers near the Financial District — where she told The Post she ranked Mamdani first, inspired by his campaign promise to make city buses free. By contrast, retiree Ann Munkenback, 79, said she'd rather hold her nose for the former governor, despite the sexual harassment allegations against him, which he has denied. 'He's (Cuomo is) kind of a bully, but he'll get things done,' she said at an Upper West Side polling site. 'He certainly has charisma.' 3 Through the first three days of early voting, almost 94,000 Big Apple residents have made their way to cast their vote for mayor. Michael Nagle Advertisement 3 Early voting began last Saturday, June 14, and will last through June 22. Robert Miller Stella Saint-Claire, 38, a nail artist who cast her ballot in Williamsburg Community Center, called herself 'politically inept' and said she voted for Mamdani based in part on a friend's recommendation and the Democratic socialist candidate's promise to keep rents low. 'I don't know, politics is just really confusing,' Saint-Clair said. 'But stuff like this probably is important.' Advertisement Saint-Clair, who is also in a band, noted one of their last shows featured an 'Anybody But Cuomo' chant. Munkenbeck, the 79-year-old Cuomo voter, said her second pick was City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is polling in third place behind the ex-gov and Mamdani, and then hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. She also tapped friends for help in deciding how to fill out her ballot. 'We have a glass of wine and right into the politics,' Munkenbeck said.
