Polls are open across New York on Tuesday, Election Day, from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. And if you ever wondered if your vote matters, this is one of those (very) low-turnout elections where your vote could make all the difference.
Across the five boroughs, New York City voters will elect all 51 City Council members, along with district attorneys in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island and roughly two dozen judicial elections. Voters will also be asked to weigh in on two statewide ballot questions.
After nine days of early voting — spanning from Oct. 28 through Nov. 5 — the New York City Board of Elections reported 85,957 people cast their ballots during that time. By comparison, after early voting in 2022 when candidates for governor, congress and state legislative races were all on the ballot, 432,634 voters turned out to vote during the early voting window. That’s roughly five times more people casting their ballots last year.
Still, there is time to boost those numbers in this election and send a message to elected leaders that their constituents are paying attention to the work they’re doing.
Even when a candidate is running in an uncontested race, you always have the option to write in someone else if you don’t want to vote for who is on the ballot.
While City Council members are normally elected to four-year terms, incumbents in these races were elected in 2021. The full Council is up for election again this year because of the decennial redistricting process, which adjusts the district lines based on the latest census figures.
Some of the changes to the Council map set the stage for a handful of very competitive races, especially in south Brooklyn and Queens. The redistricting process also created a new district in Brooklyn, where voters will elect a member for the first time in this election. More on those races below.
There’s a lot of moving pieces to keep tabs on. Here’s what else you need to know when you go out to vote, when to expect results and…
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