10 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 29, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Election 2020
Over 40,000 voters turn out
Photos by Dean Moses
BY JACOB KAYE & DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
More than 40,270 Queens residents cast
their ballots for the 2020 election season
this past weekend, the fi rst two days of
early voting in New York City.
Th e 18 early voting sites in Queens were
marked by long lines and a general mistrust
of voting by mail. But at the same
time, the lines, which oft en saw wait times
upwards of two hours, were packed with
enthusiastic voters, excited to practice
their most fundamental civic duty during
the historic fi rst weekend of early voting.
“We see it as our duty to vote,” said
Betty Vasquez-Stevens, a voter casting her
ballot at Queens College told QNS. “We
have that right and we wanted to exercise
that right.”
Vasquez-Stevens and her husband,
James Stevens, have made a tradition of
bringing their sons to the polls, hoping
to get them involved in political life at an
early age. Practicing the right to vote, they
said, has never been more important.
Expecting others to feel the same way,
the Vasquez-Stevens family thought early
voting would be a good way to avoid the
crowds on Nov. 3, the day of the general
election.
“We wanted to get it in early and not
just wait for the maddens of actual election
day,” Stevens said. “We wanted to get
it over with but we did not expect these
lines.”
Th e family arrived at Queens College at
11:15 a.m., on Sunday, Oct. 25. It wasn’t
until 2:45 p.m., that they had cast their
ballot.
Wait times at early voting sites across
Queens were similar both days of the
weekend. On Saturday, Oct. 24, approximately
19,200 Queens residents cast a ballot.
Th e next day, a little over 21,000 voters
went to the polls early.
“It was fun to do, but the wait wasn’t
that fun,” said Haram Asim, a voter at
Queens College who was casting her ballot
for the fi rst time. “Th e wait was about
three hours. I didn’t expect to be waiting
that long. I thought early voting meant
quicker voting.”
Th ough the lines were long, many voters
felt voting in-person at an early vot
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