12 SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Less primaries mean more for New York voters
For all the talk about how important
it is for all of us to vote,
Queens continues to perform
lousily when it comes to participating
in her democracy, with a reported
13 percent turnout in February’s
public advocate special election
and a similar rate in June’s district
attorney primary.
The pivotal 2020 elections loom
large, though they’re still more than a
year away. It’ll come down to turnout,
as it always does, and if Queens voters
want to change things in their city,
state and country, they need to show
up when the polls are open and make
themselves counted.
As our eyes turn to the competitive
Democratic presidential primary,
New York state has positioned itself
to hold a critical primary on April 28.
The primary date was fi xed through
legislation sponsored by state Senator
Michael Gianaris and signed last week
by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In signing the bill, however, Cuomo
called on the state Legislature to go a
step further and pass legislation moving
up all primary races in New York
state next year — which are currently
EDITORIAL
Voters at the polls in Astoria during the 2018 midterm election. File photo/QNS
set for June — to coincide with the
April presidential primary.
It makes all the sense in the world.
Consolidating the primaries to a
single day will save the taxpayers
tens of millions of dollars. It will also
maximize turnout in the state with
the presidential primary having
top billing.
Right now, there are more than
a dozen Democrats running for
president, and by the time New York’s
primary rolls around, it fi gures that
the fi eld will be whittled down to a
precious few — perhaps three to fi ve.
If recent history is any indicator,
chances are by April 28, 2020,
no one Democrat will have won
enough delegates to secure the
nomination outright.
So we can expect that the New York
primary will be competitive, and the
passionate fan bases for each candidate
will bring their passion to the
primary and spark both interest and
turnout.
That will help candidates down the
primary ballot by giving them the
opportunity to win over more voters
in April who might not necessarily be
as inclined to show up and vote in a
standalone primary in June.
Consolidating the primaries is
another of the many much-needed
steps that New York state can take to
get people to the polls.
This fall, for the fi rst time in our
history, early voting will be available
to New Yorkers who can cast their ballots
up to two weeks ahead of the Nov.
5 general election.
Even more progress can be made
if the state would consider and pass
legislation to enact same-day voter
registration, secure online voting and
even ranked choice voting, in which
voters can select from a fi eld of candidates
in their order of preference.
Let’s not allow this opportunity
to boost New York’s democracy pass
us by!
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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