From City Council deputies to judges: who and why New Yorkers will choose on June 27

On June 27, the New York primary will be held. Residents of the city will elect deputies of the city council and districts, as well as judges, in Queens and the Bronx - district attorneys. You can register to vote this year online, and those who do not understand English well can bring an interpreter with them or ask for one at the polling station.

Many citizens do not even know about the upcoming elections in New York. Usually everyone follows the presidential race, but at the same time they are not particularly interested in who exactly represents their interests in district or city councils. Meanwhile, it is these people who are responsible for how garbage is taken out, how housing quotas are distributed and what will be for lunch for children in schools. Therefore, perhaps, these elections are even more important than the presidential ones.

Primary vs. General Election: What's the Difference?

The primary elections will take place on June 27. That is, the townspeople will not yet choose a specific candidate - they will decide which candidate from which party will receive the right to run in the general elections. Since the primaries are partisan, only voters registered with one of the parties can vote for them. June 17 is the last day to register to vote in the primary. In New York, this can be done online - on the website www.vote.nyc.

You only need to register to vote once, that is, if you did it in the previous elections, you do not need to do it again, since your data is already in the database. After registering, you will receive a notice from the Electoral Commission stating the location of your polling station where you must vote.

This year's general election will take place on 7 November. Everyone can already vote on them if they:

• are US citizens 18 years of age or older;
• are residents of New York (to register for the first time, you will need to show your driving license or a DMV-issued ID);
• are not in prison for a felony;
• not declared incompetent.

The deadline for registering to participate in the general elections is October 28.

On the subject: How to vote in New York City elections if you have difficulty with English

You can also vote by mail. To do this, you need to send an email with your email address to: [email protected], including in the subject line the name of the area in which you live, or call the toll-free number 1-866-VOTE-NYC. A registration form can be obtained from your local post office, library, or DMV.

Problems with English? Take an interpreter with you!

If you find it difficult to read English, the polling stations will provide you with an interpreter. For now, the city will help you with translations for Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Cantonese, Chinese), French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Urdu, and Yiddish. However, you should check to see if a translation into your language will be available in your area.

In addition, you can take an interpreter with you to the elections.

“It could be a family member, a child, a grandparent, a neighbor, anyone other than your boss or union representative. Exclusively because they can influence you during the voting. But otherwise, anyone can become a translator. This is your right and this is the law. Unfortunately, many people do not know about this law.”, - tells Citizens Engagement Commission Chief Democracy Officer Kathleen Daniel.

Why voting is important

New York is currently experiencing what is being called a “crisis of democracy.” People are not interested in politics, they don't go to vote, they don't know the names of their local deputies. To somehow change this, a special Commission on civic engagement (Civic Engagement Commission - CEC) and the organization Democracy NYC were created in the city a few years ago. And although the number of voters has grown from 2013 million to 3,3 million since 4,6, it is still very small.

“In 2021, we managed to achieve good results for the first time. In the primary elections for mayor and city council candidates, we received 26,5% voter activation. But let's think about it: everyone was once a student, and if you could get 100 points on an exam, and got 26,5, would you be happy with such a result? No, you would feel like you failed. And that's what's happening now Kathleen Daniel explains. You may not be interested in politics. I respect it. But politics will still come to you! The rubbish removed or not removed on your block that attracts rats depends on who you voted for, right?”

She recalls that in elections even a few votes can be decisive: “A few years ago, we had a district attorney candidate who won by just 600 votes. I'm sure most of you have more friends on social media! And then there was the Brooklyn City Council election, where the person who won the seat won by 11 votes! Only 11! So every vote counts and your vote has super power in local elections!”