On June 25th, the primary election day within the party, voter turnout was relatively low in the Flushing district. The Democratic primary for the 40th District State Assembly between three Asian candidates — the incumbent State Assemblyman Jin Duoxi, challenger Chen Yi, and Yin Dao — took place, with a noticeable competition between Jin Duoxi and Chen Yi.
Outside the polling station at Public School 20 in Flushing, the campaign teams of the two candidates were vigorously distributing flyers and canvassing, engaging in confrontational interactions.
Public School P.S. 20 is a major polling station in Flushing, but voter turnout was not high. According to station workers, by around 2 pm, a total of 150 people had come to vote. A Chinese interpreter stated that among those, 92 Chinese-speaking voters required translation services, exceeding 60% of the total voters at that time, not counting Chinese voters who did not need translation.
The Chinese interpreter noted that common voting issues on that day included voters arriving without voter registration, voters registered but not affiliated with a party, or voters going to the wrong polling station.
Incumbent State Assemblyman Jin Duoxi and challenger Chen Yi issued statements the day before condemning each other’s campaign volunteers for harassment, both filing police reports. At 1:30 pm on June 25th, as Jin Duoxi appeared outside P.S. 20 polling station, Chen Yi’s campaign volunteers loudly shouted slogans in support of Chen Yi, attempting to gain a momentum advantage.
However, Jin Duoxi paid little attention to it. In an interview, he expressed confidence in winning, saying, “I am very confident in winning the election. Tonight, I will surely win big. The people of Flushing do not want someone who only wants to move here for their own interests, not caring about Flushing residents, viewing Flushing merely as a place to make money. The voters clearly see the difference between these candidates and those who are fully dedicated to Flushing’s development. I understand my constituents, and they support me.”
Jin Duoxi mentioned that he and his team were also monitoring if there were any fraudulent activities by the opponent, “Two years ago, on the last day of the election, which is election day, hundreds and thousands of absentee ballots were cast. So until 9 pm tonight, we will monitor the situation from today. So far, we have only seen normal absentee ballots, without any suspicious fraudulent activities. We will continue to monitor until 9 pm.”
Chen Yi, Jin Duoxi’s opponent, stated in an interview that he woke up around 3 am to prepare, visited several polling stations early in the morning, and listened to the voices of many voters, “Understanding the issues that the community cares about, and hearing the reasons why voters support me.”