Nearly 1,000 voters in eastern Queens and northern Nassau County requested the first early mail ballots more than a month ahead of the Feb. 13 special election to replace ex-Rep. George Santos, according to Board of Election data.
Voters in New York’s 3rd Congressional District will choose between former Rep. Tom Suozzi, the Democratic nominee, and Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip, who was tapped by Republicans, in a race that could have national implications as Republicans maintain a razor-thin House majority in the run-up to November’s elections.
The special election to replace Santos, who was booted from the chamber in December, marks the first test of New York’s new early voting law in a congressional contest that experts say could push candidates on both sides of the aisle to promote early voting and urge voters to request mail-in ballots.
“We know that in this cycle both parties are leaning into vote-by-mail systems in states that have those in place,” said Jarret Berg, co-founder and voting rights counsel at VoteEarlyNY, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on voting rights issues.
A month ahead of the Feb. 13 special election, 968 voters requested early mail ballots, with 86% of those ballots requested in Nassau County, which makes up a significantly large share of the district, according to data from the New York City and Nassau County election boards that was analyzed by Gothamist. Although more than 530,000 active voters are registered in the district, turnout for special elections and in non-presidential election years has lagged significantly.
Democrats requested 66% of the early mail ballots requested as of mid-January, according to voter records. And Baby Boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — requested 46% of them. Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2005 — made up the next largest group of voters to request ballots, at 20% of the batch.
In calls, emails and text messages, a handful of voters told Gothamist they requested early mail…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply