14 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 11, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
politics
How and when to vote in Feb. 23 special election
BY CLARISSA SOSIN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e borough is barely coming up for air
aft er the City Council District 24 special
election earlier this week and already it’s
time to think about the next race — the
special election for City Council District
31.
Voters in District 31, which encompasses
Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere,
Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and
Springfi eld Gardens, are set to vote over
the next few weeks on who will serve out
the rest of former City Council member
and now Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards’ term on the New York
City Council.
Nine candidates are vying for the seat
which became vacant in December when
Richards became Queens borough president:
Nancy J. Martinez, Selvena N.
Brooks-Powers, LaToya R. Benjamin,
Latanya Collins, Sherwyn A. James, Nicole
S. Lee, Pesach Osina, Shawn Ruxand and
Manuel Silva.
Th e election will be the city’s second
using ranked-choice voting aft er the city
fi rst tried it out earlier this month in the
special election for City Council District
24 to replace former Councilman Rory
Lancman.
Voters will rank their top fi ve candidates
in order of preference. Th e fi rstchoice
votes will then be tallied and if no
candidate receives more than 50 percent
of the vote, there will be a runoff . Th e candidate
who received the least amount of
fi rst-choice votes will be eliminated, and
the second-choice candidate on the ballots
with the eliminated fi rst choice candidate
will then be counted. Th is will continue
until one candidate has more than
half of the votes.
If this happens in the upcoming special,
it will be the fi rst ranked-choice voting
run off in the city. Th ere was no runoff
in the recent special election because,
according to the unoffi cial preliminary
results, candidate James Gennaro won
nearly 60 percent of the vote in the fi rst
round.
Registered voters in District 31 can vote
in this election by mail with an absentee
ballot or in person during early voting or
on election day.
Absentee ballots must be requested
before Tuesday, Feb. 16, but the New York
City Board of Elections (BOE) recommends
Photo via Getty Images
getting requests in as soon as possible.
Applications must be postmarked by
Feb. 16. Voters can also request absentee
ballots in person up until Monday, Feb.
22, at a BOE offi ce.Click herefor more
information on voting by mail with an
absentee ballot and fi nd the absentee ballot
applicationonline here.
Early voting begins Saturday, Feb. 13,
and goes until Sunday, Feb. 21. Polling
sites for early voting are diff erent than on
election day. To look up early voting sites,
use the city’s poll fi nder website.
And, if you love going to the polls on
election day, hold tight until Tuesday, Feb.
23, when you can vote in person at your
poll site. To look up election sites, use the
city’s poll fi nder website.
Check out the BOE’s voter guide for
more information.
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