FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 16, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Elections
Photos by Dean Moses
Board of Elections workers began counting absentee ballots on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. With a large amount of ballots to count, fi nal election results won’t likely be clear until weeks after in-person voting.
BOE continues absentee ballot count
in Queens with several races on the line
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
New York City Board of Elections workers
are continuing to count absentee ballots
from last month’s Democratic primary
election aft er starting to do so on
Wednesday, July 8, inside the Helen
Marshall Center in Queens Borough Hall.
Th e performance and entertainment
space in Queens Borough Hall was transformed
into a makeshift ballot counting
operation, replete with social distancing
measures aimed to keep the dozens
of ballot counters safe from the threat of
COVID-19. With nearly 90,000 ballots
to count, fi nal results are likely at least a
week away.
According to the Board of Elections,
around 50 percent of the 175,863 absentee
ballots requested in Queens were returned
in time to be counted.
But of those returned, around a quarter
were deemed invalid, according to Board
of Elections data provided by the progressive
PAC, Th e New Reformers.
Absentee ballots can be rejected for
myriad reasons, including errand marks
on the ballot, missing signatures, or a
missing postmark. Voters submitting
their ballot absentee were also asked by
the Board of Elections to place their ballots
in not one, but two envelopes, both of
which needed to be sealed. If these directions
were not followed, the ballot could
be thrown out.
“Th e issue is that ballots can be rejected
for any ridiculous number of arcane reasons,”
said Benjamin Rosenblatt, the president
of Tidal Wave Strategies, a political
consulting fi rm. “Th e way the law and the
Board of Elections works is that it works
against the voters and works in favor of
rejecting ballots over accepting ballots.”
According to Th e New Reformers, nearly
22,000 ballots were rejected in Queens.
Th e Board of Elections did not respond
to QNS’ request for comment before press
time. Th e absentee ballot count in Queens
began with Assembly Districts 23, 24
and 25. In addition to those districts, the
Board of Elections had counted absentee
ballots in Assembly Districts 26, 27,
28, 29, 30, 31 and 32, as of Wednesday,
July 15.
Results of the elections within the
counted districts have not yet been made
available online.
In some state Assembly races, like
the District 36 race between incumbent
Aravella Simotas and challenger Zohran
Mamdani, there are nearly 10,000 votes
still to be counted. In other races, like in
District 39, where incumbent Catalina
Cruz holds a commanding lead over her
challenger, there are less than 3,000 votes
left to count.
Th e race for Queens borough president
was one of the most notable races on
the ballot last month. While Councilman
Donovan Richards currently leads the
contest with about 37 percent of the vote
— a 10-point lead over his closest challenger,
Elizabeth Crowley — the results
from the race won’t likely be known until
the last day of counting.
Th ere are a handful of other close races
that could change drastically aft er the
absentee ballots are all accounted for.
In the 12th Congressional District,
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney holds
a narrow lead over challenger Suraj Patel
aft er June’s in-person voting. Th e incumbent
received a little over 41 percent of
the vote, while Patel received nearly 40
percent of the votes counted. With 9,713
votes left to count, Maloney’s lead could
begin to dissipate.
In the 31st Assembly District, Khaleel
Anderson holds a slim lead over his fi ve
opponents. Anderson received 38 percent
of the vote; Richard David received
nearly 28 percent; Lisa George garnered
18 percent of the votes; Shea
Uzoigwe got 7 percent of the vote; and
Derrick Defl orimonte and Tavie Blakley
received less than 5 percent of the vote
each.
In one of the closest races in the borough,
Mamdani holds about a 600 vote
lead over Simotas in Assembly District 36.
With nearly 10,000 votes left to count, the
outcome of the race is far from decided.
In Queens, votes will be counted from 9
a.m. until 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 9
a.m. until 4 p.m. on the weekends.
Check back with QNS.com for results of
the Queens Democratic primary races.
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