Staten Islanders: In NYC Mayoral, Council Races, Every Vote Counts! Record Turnout Already On First Day Of Early Voting

In case Staten Islanders and New Yorkers aren’t aware, there is already record turnout for this election according to the NYBOE (this page should update each evening after the polls close) – comparison numbers can be found below. The BOE and the Conservative Party have reminded voters to ‘flip your ballot,’ as the ballot questions are on the reverse.

Readers may remember our previous reporting on a study about voter turnout and the importance of literally double digit votes (like 20 to 50), where that tiny margin was the difference between victory and defeat for the candidate.  The more people who come out and vote, the more accurately the results will represent the actual residents of the city.  

You may have noticed that there’s a lot of messaging and advertising during this campaign about stopping the ‘socialist’ candidate, literally encouraging Republicans specifically to vote for Cuomo instead of Sliwa

However, record turnout is the one thing that can flip this race – even so far as electing Curtis Sliwa, who is in last place in the pre election polls. Residents should vote for who they feel is the best candidate and not worry about picking the winning candidate.  In addition, ranked choice voting means you get to vote for all of them in order, and this contributes to their overall totals. The NY Post says of this race: 

“The Big Apple’s hotly contested mayoral race sparked a massive first-day voter turnout Saturday, with about five times more voters hitting the polls compared to 2021 as early voting kicked off, according to the Board of Elections.

The increase comes as a high-stakes showdown to replace Mayor Eric Adams pits former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an Independent, against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee, and beret-wearing Republican Curtis Sliwa.

The New York City BOE reported a total of 79,409 early voter check-ins as the polls closed Saturday night – a sharp jump from the 15,418 who showed up when early voting began four years ago…

Officials said 24,046 ballots were cast in Manhattan, 22,105 in Brooklyn, 19,045 in Queens, 7,793 in the Bronx, and 6,420 in Staten Island.

The numbers are staggeringly higher than first-day turnout in 2021, which recorded 4,563 voters in Manhattan, 3,751 in Brooklyn, 3,441 in Queens, 2,079 in the Bronx, and 1,584 in Staten Island, data showed. ”

The following was in an editorial in the Rockaway’s newspaper, The Wave: 

“In 1993, NYC Mayor David Dinkins was far ahead in the polls before Election Day.

Running against the GOP candidate, Rudy Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney for Manhattan, many polls showed Dinkins ahead by as much as 14 to 18 percentage points.

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History tells us that Giuliani benefited from a high turnout (57% of registered voters) and also benefited from a large turnout of Catholic and Jewish voters outside Manhattan, which may have been a section of the electorate that pollsters may have overlooked.

Voter turnout is always a factor in these kinds of elections, and that’s why The Wave has been so adamant in trying to convince our readers that every vote counts.”

All of the borough Republican Party chairs have voiced their support for Sliwa. However,  the Staten Island Conservative Party has not endorsed Curtis Sliwa, and has advised that members of their party vote for whoever they feel most comfortable voting for: 

“The Staten Island Conservative Party, which fully supports municipal independence for Staten Island from the City of New York, has made no official endorsement in any of the citywide contests and we recommend that voters support the mayoral candidate whom they believe has the best chance to defeat the communist nominee of the democrat party. We further recommend that voters reject all of the citywide ballot propositions by voting ‘No’.”

Banner Image: NYC Election graphic.  Image Credit – CSI / CUNY NYPIRG