14 JANUARY 7, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
What you need to know about ranked-choice voting
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Primary and special elections will
never be the same with rankedchoice
voting going into eff ect in
2021.
With primary elections serving
as the deciding factor in Democratheavy
New York City, the change to
voting is going to be important.
Not only will voters in the five
boroughs be dealing with a new a
ballot format that allows them to
rank their top five candidates from
most to least favorite, residents will
have their work cut out for them in
deciding since some districts have
dozens of candidates running..
The district represented by Councilman
Costa Constantinides for example
has up to 12 candidates while
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer’s
district will get to choose from 19
individuals.
WHAT WILL THE BALLOT
LOOK LIKE?
Ballots will allow voters to rank
their choices one through five. However,
if they wish to simply only vote
for one candidate and leave the rest of
the bubbles blank, they can do that.
If none of the candidates get by
with a 50 percent majority, the candidate
with the least first rank votes
is eliminated and second choice votes
on the eliminated ballot are counted
as first rank votes. If a candidate then
passes the 50 percent threshold, they
are named the winner. If not, the
processes repeats until a winner is
determined.
Voters’ ballots will be eliminated
if they choose the same candidate for
File photo/QNS
all five ranks. Additionally, a ballot
will be deemed invalid if a voter
gives multiple candidates their top
rank, according to the city Campaign
Finance Board.
The first election that will use
ranked-choice voting will be on Feb.
2, a special election to fill the void left
by former Councilman Rory Lancman
when he resigned in September to
work for Governor Andrew Cuomo.
WHAT ARE SOME
OBSTACLES TO RANKEDCHOICE
VOTING?
Ranked-choice voting itself was
adopted by voters in 2019 under a
referendum that that was designed
to prevent runoff elections. But
nonetheless, questions of educating
the public on the new system have
been endemic with the City Council
debating in December whether or not
to postpone the rollout until outreach
has been made more effective.
“The idea of ranked-choice voting
was to create a system that didn’t
require a runoff. And some argued
it, you know, would engage people
more. Others said it wouldn’t, but,
you know, the people did vote for it in
a referendum,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
said in early December. “But when
you hear community leaders saying,
look, we’re not getting the education
we need, we have a major election in
six months and people don’t know
how to use this yet, that’s a cause for
real concern.”
After presenting their concerns
about ranked-choice voting in February
2020 some elected officials argued
that with the lack of educational
outreach on the new ballot system
would put New Yorkers who are not
proficient in English at a disadvantage,
and in December, launched a
lawsuit to block the plan.
The state supreme court rejected
the bid to put off ranked-choice
voting.
The Home Depot set to open new store in Maspeth
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Home Depot is opening its fi rst
store in Maspeth on Thursday,
Jan. 7.
The new store will be located at 59-15
Maurice Ave., and will be open from
Mondays through Saturdays from 6
a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
A spokesperson for the home improvement
store said they decided to
open a location in Maspeth because of
the growth they are seeing in the area
as well as the expanse of the customer
base.
The new store will have several
features the chain store is rolling out
as part of their multi-year, $11 billion
investment to enhance the customer
and associate experience.
The new features include an optimized,
more flexible checkout and
customer service area, specialty
showroom, the latest displays and
new storage areas for customers’ Buy
Online Pickup In Store orders.
The Buy Online Pickup In Store orders,
available at all their stores, allows
customers to check whether an item is
available at their local store to purchase
and quickly pick up for a faster, more
socially distant buying experience.
The option has become more prevalent
for The Home Depot as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 118,000-square-foot store will
employ 245 associates, with those
numbers expected to grow. Individuals
interested in applying for work can
visit the store or careers.homedepot.
com.
The Queens location is The Home
Photo courtesy of The Home Depot Depot’s fi rst store opening of 2021.
/WWW.QNS.COM
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