A 90-year-old Chinese woman endured the scorching sun, pushing her wheelchair to Flushing Public School 20 to vote. Despite being a registered voter, she had not chosen a party affiliation, thus was unable to vote in the primary election. Eventually, she obtained a voter registration form at the polling station, filled in the party affiliation, ensuring she could vote in the primary next time.
The elderly Chinese woman, named Yin Jing, resides on Parsons Boulevard, just two blocks away from the polling station at School 20. She made her way alone, relying on a walker to cast her vote. However, the staff discovered that she couldn’t vote that day because she hadn’t registered with a party.
Her friend, Yang Ailun, assisted her in completing the voter registration form, specifying the party she wished to join, enabling her to participate in the party’s primary election next time.
Yin Jing told the reporter that she had come to the U.S. in 1980 but only cast her vote during the previous presidential election. She was eager to support Councilman Kim Dae-sik this time, only to realize she hadn’t completed the party registration process.
While general elections do not require a party affiliation to vote, primary elections do. It is necessary to join a party to participate in the primary elections.
The Chinese language translator at the polling station informed the reporter that on that day, there were cases where people arrived to vote without being registered voters or chose to vote despite having registered as non-affiliated voters.
Yang Ailun, who had previously served as the president of the Chinese American Voters Association for two terms, mentioned in an interview on June 25th that there were often non-affiliated voters showing up at the primary elections. She noted encountering several such cases that day. New York is a major Democratic state, with Democratic elections prevailing in the primaries. Therefore, those eager to participate more actively in voting and not miss out on primary elections are advised to join the Democratic Party, thus increasing their voting opportunities.