20 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 27, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Primary results
Photo: Jenna Bagcal
WHERE WERE YOU?
Extremely low turnout mars Queens DA primary election
Th is story was written by Jenna
Bagcal, Mark Hallum, Jacob Kaye and
Max Parrott, with a foreword by Robert
Pozarycki
Th e polls in the Queens district attorney
primary — the fi rst time the offi ce
has been seriously contested in nearly 30
years — offi cially opened at 6 a.m. on June
25, with working machines, stacks of ballots,
rolls of “I Voted” stickers and cops
and Board of Elections workers ready to
help move the democratic process along.
Th e only thing missing appeared to be
voters.
QNS reporters visited polling sites across
Queens throughout the morning, which
began with torrential rain that gave way at
about 9 a.m. and eventually cleared during
the aft ernoon. Here’s some of what we heard
from those who did show up at the polls.
Millennials turn out in
Jackson Heights
Th ough the turnout in Jackson Heights
was sleepy, polling workers say it’s above
average for a citywide election in the
neighborhood.
“Surprisingly, people have been trickling
in. Because it’s one of these small
offi ces, plus the weather,” said Hernando
Pachon, the polling coordinator at the
Renaissance Charter School.
While three of the neighborhood’s polling
sites had all processed about 200 to
300 votes as of midday, polling coordinators
at Renaissance and P.S. 69 and 212,
all said that the turnout came as a steady
trickle without any large crowds in the
morning.
Polling coordinator at P.S. 212 Kenneth
Jakowitz said that he thought the slight
bump in attendance for a city election
was due to an increase in competition in
the race over the last few weeks. Shirley
Th ompson, a poll worker at the site,
added, “I can tell you I’ve seen more
young voters that I’ve usually seen here.”
‘Elections matter’ in
Flushing & Bayside
Historically, local elections produce low
voter turnout, but that didn’t stop northeast
Queens voters from getting the word
out about the June 25 Democratic primary
for Queens District Attorney.
Voters at I.S. 25 in Flushing and Bayside
High School said that they reinforced the
importance of voting for a new DA, a
position that the late Richard A. Brown
held for 28 years.
“Elections matter. If 2016 taught us anything,
elections matter. Most importantly
at the local level,” said voter Olivia Walsh.
Voter Michelle Fields said that she
turned to social media to get the word
out.
“Th at’s a part of my commitment,
my civic duty and also my position in
this community to increase community
engagement,” Fields said. “Not only
did I do it just by friends and word of
mouth, but I did it on social media platforms
as well.”
Queens Village felt ignored
Th e polling site at P.S. 34 may be in the
Assembly district that had the highest
turnout for Governor Andrew Cuomo in
last September’s primary, but the race for
Queens district attorney on June 25 did
not have the draw for voters in Queens
Village.
With less than 200 total ballots submitted
as of 12:30 p.m., which most poll sites
Rows of voting stations in Bayside
/WWW.QNS.COM
