Our real President is taking a European trip -- I assume Joe Biden has been dreaming of this for over thirty years -- and we are voting here in New York City.
2021 had important elections right away with two Senate run-offs. And, there are multiple important races, especially since the city has term limits. So, we will have a new mayor as well as comptroller, public advocate (second in command mayor-wise and a type of ombudsman), Bronx borough president, and district attorney (Manhattan). Plus, city council, the guy who resigned his assembly slot to get a better paid local gig not running again since he figures no one would vote for him.
If Georgia had ranked choice voting like New York City races (so not for a state race even though a borough prosecutor comes off as a "city" one), we would probably have at least a 51-49 (R) Senate right now. But, the concept as a whole seems reasonable, especially if the alternative (as might be the case with at least one key prosecutor race) is the winner having thirty something percent of the vote or unnecessary expensive run-off is the alternative (which only happens for mayor and I don't know what else).
There are a lot of mayoral candidates, thus this quiz is a helpful way to get a sense of where you fit. It told me Art Chang, an also ran, would be someone in my top five. So, I tossed him in. Scott Stringer came up on top for me, and on the issues (and city experience), he is a good choice. But, he had that problem with a sexual harassment accusation (and how he handled it). Plus, darn he seems boring. I also want a woman and/or person of color to be mayor. Finally, various people I trust have endorsed Maya Wiley. So, she was first. Stringer poll-wise isn't doing well either. I tossed him in as fourth.
Yes, I early voted today, being the first day of early voting with a closer polling place (there are not the same number as on Election Day) this time. Last time, it was at a school. This time at "St. Martha's" -- not the actual church, but I still find that a bit dubious on separation of church and state grounds (back in the day, I went to Knights of Columbus). I received my early voting guide in the mail yesterday. And, one of the episodes of Petticoat Junction this early Saturday was when Uncle Joe runs for mayor (the winner turns out to be his Indian statute, which makes sense in context).
Back to my choices. I was going to rank Dianne Morales, the most liberal candidate, either first or second. She was my personal ideological choice, basically having no chance of winning. But, Morales ran such a poor campaign, including having labor problems, and that is just damning. I ranked Kathryn Garcia, my compromise choice who has some chance of winning, second. If Wiley doesn't win, I think she would make a good choice, even though she probably is too conservative on certain issues. And, even there, she might be open to some movement left.
Eric Adams was fifth, simply as a safety if it was him vs. Yang, who simply should not be mayor. Some argue he is actually more likely than Adams to do the right thing, but after 2016, we have to have some basic standards. If I cared about someone else, I wouldn't have ranked Stringer either probably. Like I don't see it being Stringer over Adams at the end of the day over Garcia or something. He also has enough going for him that I guess he deserves to be ranked on my ballot.
Comptroller is an important position and I basically relied on endorsements. Brad Lander got the progressive vote (AOC, Liz Warren etc.), so he was first. My assemblywoman and some others favored Brian Benjamin. So, two. I tossed in Reshma Patel, someone who I saw interviewed and seems to have a good life story and professional background. David Weprin by one of the papers was cited as a credible option. And, I tossed in term limited and late comer to the race, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who very well might win. But, comes off as an also ran and rather someone else win. If he wins, shrugs.
Public advocate was the incumbent and two nobodies who don't even offer much in "eh why not" in my opinion. I voted for the incumbent and wrote in a member of my family. My assemblywoman is running for Bronx Borough President, but someone a little older with more experience and some good endorsements (including my former councilman) is also a woman person of color. So, I put Vanessa Gibson first there. The others are also rans, and one is cited on Wikipedia to be anti-choice. So, I wrote in a family member for third place.
Oh let's not forget "Delegates to the Judicial Convention 80th Assembly District," not even cited in my voter guide except for ("there might be other races"). This is one of those asinine things where people don't know anything about the people. You pick ten. I picked the first eight, another one, and wrote in a tenth. The particularly annoying this (besides needing to fill in ten ovals) is that it is a separate ballot and not ranked choice. So, it's one big pain in the ass [plus for poll workers, who have enough paperwork] in general.
One last race as part of my voting experience (plus a stylus pen, sticker, and early voting armband) was City Council District 13. Someone gave me a campaign card (nice looking) but it was for another candidate of the actual polling place (again, you don't go to your usual local polling place for early voting , and need not go to the closest early voting location either; you can go to any early voting location*) so I had a reason to think "who is this person?" The choices for mine were Marjorie Velazquez, second place last time, and also rans. Only one even submitted information to the voter's guide -- so I ranked her second -- Monique Johnson. Again, I filled in someone's name for third (you get one write-in option for the ranked choice options).
I wish there was a bit more attention given to the races though that's partially my focus more on national issues. Still, it really seems to me that even as late as a month before, a whole lot of people did not pay attention to the mayoral race. This basically (though he has been dropping) helped Andrew "hey, he's new and seems nice" Yang and Eric "from Brooklyn and seems like the somewhat less liberal / pro-cop choice" Adams. Adams is now in the lead, but it's like twenty percent or something, so who knows.
Again, there are other races -- the biggie is Manhattan District Attorney. There are Republicans running for mayor, including Mr. Guardian Angel. And, Wikipedia tells me there are three Republicans in the New York City Council, so hey, at least there, some Republicans actually will win in November, without determining if they have any competitive primaries now. In 2020, there were no Republican primary for my polling location; now there would be. I also am not aware of any third party primaries.
Voting continues to be a basic part of our system, including giving the individual citizen a chance to take part. Elections also give non-voters, and even non-citizens, a chance to be informed and in some fashion take part about the government and issues out there. Many in New York City are non-competitive, but we have a few actual races this time. I voted.
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* My local polling place is a school a few blocks away. Once there, you have to go a certain "election district" table, which there are around five or so at my polling location. A table might have more than one "ED." You cannot vote (except by affidavit) if you are assigned another polling place. But, early voting is different, and you don't have "election districts" to worry about.
You also don't need id, though are assigned a card that helps the process. You do sign the book, now electronically, and it is supposed to look somewhat like the signature on record. That also helps to prevent repeat voting -- one signature locks you in and you can't vote again. I assume it is also checked against any paper ballot. More reason "voter fraud" is not a thing.
You can now get an absentee ballot (more broadly than before because of COVID; a full change requires a change of the state constitution, which is tedious but explains why it couldn't simply be done legislatively) ahead of time and drop it in a box as well.
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Thanks for your .02!