Recap: NYC hitting the polls on Election Day
Additional reporting by HELINA SELEMON
No matter the outcome of the presidential election, Election Day in New York City went off with very few hitches this year.
Other than ballot scanners that had mechanical glitches in Queens, there were little to no wait times for most voters. Anecdotally, poll workers at various sites in Brooklyn told the Amsterdam News that they had the bulk of voters come in during the early voting period and more or less a “trickle” of people steadily coming in on Nov. 5.
Sen. Zellnor Myrie, chair of the state committee on elections, also credited this ease to the early voting process. Myrie, who spearheaded early voting legislation, said he voted with his mom on Halloween at SUNY Downstate Hospital’s early voting site.
Jason Blanks, who owns a small fashion label, voted early. “It was important to me — I have parents. They’re in their late 70s and 80s and their health is not right, so I’m just thinking about health care,” he said.
Myrie dropped off donuts and coffee for workers at a polling site on McKeever Place and visited polling sites in Brooklyn and Queens on Election Day. He was running uncontested to keep his State Senate seat. He also announced earlier this year that he’s running in the mayoral race in 2025.
“I am in the middle, the heart of my district — Crown Heights. One, to thank all of the poll workers for [upholding] our democracy today,” Myrie said. “If you’re voting, make sure you thank a poll worker. It is more important than ever that all of us participate in our democracy. We have, I think, a lot of rhetoric over what the future of our republic is going to be. If you want to have a say in that future, you must participate. That’s why, not only as the chair of the state senate elections committee, not only as a state senator, and not only as someone looking to lead this city, but as a New Yorker, it’s important for me to come and vote.”
“The fact that we have a woman running for president was good for me,” said one woman at the Brooklyn Museum’s poll site.
Despite the hope, many voters also spoke about a sense of anxiety and fear about the outcome of the national election.
In Georgia, there were bomb threats to polling places in Fulton County, reportedly of Russian origin. Although these threats were deemed “non-credible,” the investigation caused closures and disrupted voting access for many of the county’s Black voters. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and NAACP Georgia State Conference released a letter in the afternoon during Election Day calling on local officials to extend polling hours in Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett County so voters could get to the polls in time.
“The right to vote is sacred, and no individual or foreign entity should be able to undermine the voices of Black Georgians through intimidation tactics,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.
After the polls closed at 9 p.m., elected officials, advocates, and even the most casual voters tuned in to see the election results. Some watched at home while others attended watch parties around the city.
“This is a consequential election, which will change the course of this nation, and history,” Senator Cordell Cleare said. “It has been a long campaign season and tonight, we will witness the culmination of this pivotal moment in time, with a momentous outcome. Our community has a great investment in the results, and we want to watch them together.”
Henry Butler, a male district leader and three-time presidential delegate, held a watch party in Brooklyn after, like many across New York State, spending the last three months on phone-banking and door-knocking in swing states on Harris’s behalf. He said he was “nervous” about who would win, “because they always underestimate Trump; because people underestimate the racism, and — more importantly — the sexism in America,” Butler said on Election Night. “This is the second time we have a woman running. Women were more qualified than a bunch of men who ran for the first time for president. Hillary [Clinton], when she ran, was probably the most qualified candidate.”
Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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