According to the announcement from the New York City Board of Elections, in the two days before early voting (October 25th and 26th), voters turned out in great numbers with a total of 164,190 voters casting their ballots across the five boroughs of New York City. This marked a new high, with the number of voters being five times higher than the early voting period for the previous mayoral election in 2021, which saw 31,176 voters.
During the two days of early voting, Brooklyn and Manhattan saw the highest voter turnout, with 49,432 voters in Brooklyn and 49,191 voters in Manhattan. Queens followed in third place with 38,791 voters, followed by the Bronx with 14,225 voters and Staten Island with 12,551 voters.
In the Chinese community of Flushing, at the early voting site of the Boy Scout Troop 41 Club, not only non-Asian voters but also many Chinese voters came out to cast their votes. By noon on the first day, within three hours of opening at 9 a.m., 172 people had already voted, with polling station staff noting that the turnout was reasonably good.
Some Chinese voters interviewed on the first day of early voting mentioned that they had cast their votes for three mayoral candidates, including Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, with more leaning towards Sliwa.
Mr. Shi, a resident of Flushing for over twenty years, mentioned that due to the deteriorating public safety situation, he chose to vote for the Republican candidate, stating, “I was robbed two months ago and when I went to the police station to report it, they said I came the next day, so they wouldn’t take the case, maybe intentionally lowering the crime rate. I’m very disappointed.” When asked about concerns that voting for the Republican Party in New York City might be a wasted vote, Mr. Shi responded, “I don’t think that way, I vote with my conscience.”
Mr. Mai, a Democrat, stated he voted for the Republican candidate because in recent years he had seen that “the promises made by the Democratic Party were not fulfilled.”
A 23-year-old Chinese man expressed that despite his family’s opposition, he voted for Mamdani, stating, “Mamdani is a young fresh face, energized, pushing for improvements in public transportation, and the policies he has proposed will benefit the residents of New York City.”
A middle-aged Chinese man named Jimmy said he voted for Cuomo, expressing, “I feel that New York City cannot become a communist city. Although I am not satisfied with any of the three candidates, I have to make a choice. I chose Cuomo because he clearly states his support for capitalism.”
A Chinese woman mentioned that she did not make a selection on the six ballot proposals on the back of the ballot because she did not understand them and had not researched them, so she preferred to abstain from selecting Yes or No.
Early voting continues until November 2, with the general election day on November 4 (Tuesday, with voting hours from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.). To find a polling station, you can visit the website of the New York City Board of Elections (findmypollsite.vote.nyc).