The new Congressional Districts map for New York City. Click image to open map. Image Credit: New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment.
The 2020 Census revealed changes in the population of New York State that required changes to the state’s districting at federal and state levels. After multiple legal challenges to the proposed redistricting maps, new Congressional, State Senate and State Assembly maps have been finalized. As a result of the ongoing challenges, New Yorkers will vote in two primaries this summer ahead of the general election in November. (more…)
Ross Sandler, Center for New York City Law Director
Large numbers of people will vote by mail-in ballots this November because of Covid-19. Everyone should be concerned about the impact of mail-in ballots on democracy. (more…)
New technology hopes to solve polling site issues quicker. Photo: BOE.
City Board of Elections purchases 4,000 tablet computers to speed up election results and monitoring. The Board of Elections of the City of New York has introduced new technology to speed up election results and report problems at poll sites. The Board’s tablet program has grown since its implementation in 2013 when election monitoring teams started with 500 tablets. The Board now has more than 4,000 tablets housed in the Board’s Manhattan warehouse and available for use. Both the monitoring teams and the poll sites are issued their own sets of tablets. The tablets are Microsoft Surfaces specifically chosen for their USB ports, central charging, and general flexibility, according to Steve Thompson, supervisor of Poll Site Devices at the NYC Board of Elections. Each poll site will have two tablets powered by a Verizon Wifi Hotspot for Internet access. (more…)
Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizen Union.
A runoff election held weeks after a primary election always results in depressingly low voter turnout. Citizens Union supports instituting an instant runoff voting system where voters rank their preferred candidates on the day of the primary rather than needing to return to cast another ballot on a subsequent election day two to three weeks later. This would ensure that the winning candidate enjoys broad electoral support, as well as avoiding the logistical and financial burdens of runoff elections that often yield low voter turnout.
Read these numbers associated with the October 1, 2013 run-off election for Public Advocate: $13 million spent. Only 202,000 voters voted out of a possible 3,140,000 voters. The turnout was 6.5%. (more…)
Image credit: New York City Council.
On July 14, 2022, the City Council approved three new appointments for the City Planning Commission during their Stated meeting. (more…)
