Primary Day

The GM blathered some and the owner is scheduled to talk today. Meanwhile, David Peterson (after battling but not breaking during the first inning), actually had a good game. 

And, so did the Mets. They had good games before amid this extended horrible stretch. And, the Brewers are just a mediocre team. So, don't be too excited. But, it's nice when it happens.

===

Tuesday was primary day and I am an "inspector" (I'm at the table to check in voters) from 5 A.M. to 9:30 PM or so (polls are open 6-9, and the rest is set up and clean up).  I didn't see the game though checked in a bit as I did with the morning Supreme Court opinion announcements.  

The New York Daily News summary is here with some discussion of races in my own area. The city council offices are term-limited and now shorter.  Overall, there will be some turnover, and it appears at least a couple more Republicans (still very much a minority in the city council).  And, the winners of all the races won't be immediately known.  That is a general lesson in recent years, most noticeably in the 2020 presidential elections and the Georgia senate races with significant effects on the Senate.  

Early voting (6/17-6/25) and the usual low turnout of primary elections, especially in a non-presidential year (even then, the race is generally settled before NY) or congressional primary (the AOC race was low turnout) meant not too many voters showed up.  I would say around 70 in total.

The election in my district chose city council members (there were Republican and conservative choices though [1] I know of none of the latter that showed up -- I know a few personally that could have if they wanted to do so, except maybe one who said he was conservative and wasn't actually labeled as such, so voted absentee [2] the three candidates on the separate conservative line [the first time since 2019 that I know of there being one for a primary] were all also running Republican. 

A primary election keeps local people honest and now and then (AOC!) there is an upset.  My city councilwoman received about sixty-five percent of the vote when I checked the results last night. The opponent that received the most votes received about 25%.  Now, this was a ranked choice affair [we gave voters an instruction card though a few were still confused], so, in the end, the other candidates were eliminated.  So, this is the "first round."

The Republican and conservative races (three candidates) were closer with two candidates splitting the votes (last night, one was winning the Republican line while the other -- with a few hundred votes total all around -- of the two slightly winning the conservative) with a third (who a co-worker noted was an extreme sort, including being a vaccine truther) coming up behind.  As one voter noted, it's nice for the other party to have a chance.  And, though the person is not likely to win, my area does have some conservative-leaning voters -- back in the day, Republicans won.

The rather historical moment this time is that Yusef Salaam one of the so-called "Central Park Five," who were wrongly charged with a heinous rape, won his race. He is a political newcomer and ran against two city council people.  So, it is pretty impressive for that reason too. Congratulations. 

There were local judicial races (which I continue to generally think is stupid, largely since basically no one knows who these people are), but none in my district.  The other race was for Bronx district attorney, which is a state office. So, no ranked choice, though there were two options. No Republican candidate either, which seems a bit of a wasted opportunity for that side to promote itself.  The challenger (who I voted for) received about a quarter of the vote.  The Queens DA also didn't have too much of a scare.

The primary system is a somewhat flawed one though ranked-choice voting helps. It would have been better if the federal race in one crowed Manhattan campaign in 2022 had it, instead of the winner being able to eke through with less than thirty percent of the vote.  Dan Goldman is doing a good job but there is a good chance that he would have been eliminated in a ranked-choice race since over 50% of his opponents were more liberal.

The low turnout is one problem. This aggravates the tendency of more ideologically stronger and at times weaker in-value candidates winning the races. So, we have two candidates in the general that the voters as a whole might not have picked otherwise.  A few states try various methods around this (including so-called "jungle primaries") that might have some merit.

Overall, primaries are a chance for voters to do their part.  It is a time to honor those who do their civil responsibilities.  And, it is appreciated that so many do show up though many more really should.  As to our polling place, after a bit of a foul-up (we had to open a bit late since tables and chairs were delayed -- only a 30m delay though), it went fine enough.  

The basic issue with working the polls is boredom.  It's a long day -- it might be better if they have two shifts but hey appreciate the full day's pay -- and there were hours when only a few voters showed up.  Still, it was okay in the end, and it moves by. I appreciate doing something where there are more things to do.  The people (this time there was one) who float around to help the voters have a lot less to do.  

I know.  I had that job once (technically, I was one of two helping with the ballot reading machine that is used mainly by those with special conditions, such as the blind, which one person used last election -- that I know of -- and that time, two did, and once there was some screw up).  There was actually a bit of a controversy about someone assigned to the machine supposedly telling a voter who wanted to use it that he didn't know how. 

This was observed by an election monitor so that wasn't ideal.  We were required to do more hands-on training with the machine this time.  Not much but maybe the people specifically given that job (though that is not all they do) are given more.  As would the supervisors.  

There is also a requirement that things are politically balanced. Each table is supposed to have a Democratic and Republican monitor. If you help a voter while they fill out a ballot, a worker of both parties is supposed to be present.  Uh-huh.  Not followed here.  This election -- as was the case in past primaries -- the tables have one election inspector. 

There is a lot of signage.  The one other thing I'll say is that I like the pens.  They also have a rubber tip -- you sign in when you come to vote, which is also a sort of fraud device since you can match signatures and it shows someone voted.  The rubber tip is used to sign in to the little election pad. the voter gets to keep the pen, which also serves as a sort of stylus.