NYC’s early voter turnout low in primary to decide governor, Assembly and Senate picks

Just over 17,000 people turned out for early voting in New York City this weekend — an anemic number for a primary that will decide who’ll vie for governor in this November’s general election.

According to the New York City Board of Elections, a total of 17,393 voters cast ballots at 140 early voting sites in the five boroughs in the first two days of early voting, which kicked off Saturday.

Early voting in the Big Apple will run through Sunday, June 26. Polling places will be shuttered the following Monday and will re-open at about 1,200 sites throughout the city on Tuesday, which is the final day to cast ballots in person.

The city’s Board of Elections provides information about early voting, but Ken Sherrill, professor emeritus of political science at Hunter College, suggested that hasn’t done the trick.

He said low turnout in the city over the weekend shows there’s little to no voter education happening when it comes to early voting.

“The television campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor don’t mention when primary day is, or when early voting begins,” he said. “In other words, there is absolutely no voter education going on by any of the candidates or political parties — or virtually none.”

Gubernatorial candidates on the ballot right now include the incumbent, Gov. Hochul, as well as fellow Democrats Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The Republican candidates for governor are former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Rep. Lee Zeldin, as well as Andrew Giuliani, an aide in former President Donald Trump’s administration, and businessman Harry Wilson.

Early voting turnout wasn’t just low in the city over the weekend. According to an unofficial tally released by the state Board of Elections, only 42,831 voters cast ballots throughout the state as of Sunday.

While turnout in the five counties that comprise New York City was low, it was far lower in other locales. For example, in upstate Albany County, only 536 people voted over the weekend. In Erie County, which includes Buffalo and is where Hochul was born, only 1,741 votes turned out Saturday and Sunday. And in Suffolk County on Long Island, only 1,624 people voted, according to the state Board of Election’s unofficial count.