04.18 What’s the deal with low voter turnout?
Breakdown NYC's 2021 voter turnout, All of the Above TV, y feliz cumple Selena
There have been FOUR Special Elections for City Council seats in 2021; each averaging just under 7000 voters! City Council District 15 in the Bronx had the lowest voter turnout. With 93,211 registered voters in the district, CD-15 only had 3976 voters participate in the March special election, or just 4.3% of registered voters.
Generally, Presidential elections see the highest voter turnout in the mid 50% range. Midterms & Primaries see turnout in the low 20% range. Special elections? Je$us take the wheel!
In the case of CD-15, which has a population of 167,995, only 2.3% of the residents determined who represents the district in the city council. (This is that cheesy moment when we tell you how much your vote matters)
In 2012, for Obama’s second Presidential term, NYC saw a 59% voter turnout.
In 2013, the year we elected Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYC saw a 24% voter turnout.
We’re in a similar moment, where a sweeping citywide election—voting on ALL major city seats—follows a Presidential election, which begs the question: can we turn this out?
What’s the deal with low voter turnout?
Is it voter fatigue? Is it a lack of civic engagement education? Is it a lack of available info? Not excited about the candidates? Voter suppression? All of the above?
What could flip the script and motivate people to vote?
One thing that might help is to be a neighbor and check in with your friends and family, the folks on your block, and make sure they know that the primary is coming up because a lot of people don’t know and it’s not their fault. Early voting is June 12-20 and election day is June 22. Let’s level up this June!
Thanks to a reader’s comment, we’re now using a Sans Serif font for easier readability! If there’s anything you wanna put on our radar, don’t be shy to drop us a note. More below including a Dianne Morales block party, 420, and All of the Above TV.
ON THE RADAR
PULL UP: Sunday 04.18 5pm: Dianne Morales Traveling Block Party in Crown Heights!
Meet #TeamDianne and hang out for the music and the grill!
@ St. John Park, Troy Ave & Bergen; Details here!
WATCH: Tuesday 04.20 10am: City Council Hearing on Amplifying BIPOC and Queer Voices in the Arts (Virtual room 2)
PULL UP: Tuesday 04.20 4:20pm: A Celebration of Marijuana Legalization in NY. @163 East 111th Street in Manhattan; Details here!
Celebrate and learn what legalization means for NYS and for our community.
Hear from the advocates/defenders who've been fighting for marijuana legalization the right way for years.
ACTION: Thursday 04.22 5:30pm: NYC Votes Ranked Choice Voting Train the Trainer Seminar
Learn all about Ranked Choice Voting so you can teach your friends! Sign Up!
ACTION: Thursday 04.22 6pm: League of Women Voters Voter Registration Training
Learn how to register NYers to vote! Sign up!
ACTION: Thursdays (starting 04.29) 7pm: Persist Brooklyn Media and Democracy Working Group
Join the “Media and Democracy” working group to better understand and respond to the factors that influence public opinion, voters and democracy. Sign up!
CULTURAL WORK
Feliz cumple to Selena Quintanilla (1971-1995), who would’ve been 50 years old this year. Selena was a multifaceted performer who sang, danced and stole the hearts of the chicana/o/x/e community. She designed clothes and pursued acting, and overcame not being Mexican or American enough for anyone, but just right for everyone. Anything for Selenasssss <3
WATCH: All of the Above TV (above). A show with a sense of humor answering today’s most pressing questions around climate change and social justice. Every episode plants 1,000 trees with Ecosia, divest from fossil fuel and invests in sustainability literacy with Slow Factory. Created by Sophia Li and Céline Semaan. Happy Earth Day, fam!
READ: A letter to PBS from Viewers Like Us, by Beyond Inclusion. An open letter to the president of PBS in response to her public response to Grace Lee’s essay for the Ford Foundation’s Creative Futures series. Beyond Inclusion is a BIPOC-led collective of non-fiction makers, executives, and field builders. Important convo about documentarians and authorship!
OPEN CALL: NYU’s Latinx Project Art in Residence and Curatorial Project proposals for 2022-23 are open and due May 15. Check it out!
SOFT POWER VOTE
A decade of Voting in NYC: 21% of registered voters did not cast a single ballot for 10 years.
The first election with early voting in NYC was in 2019 and had only 1.14% of voters take advantage. In the 2020 presidential election, over 1.1 million people voted early. What changed?
What will the electorate look like in the 2021 Dem Mayoral Primary?
There are 620,000 more registered voters this year than when Mayor de Blasio first won in 2013.
How Democrats Found Thousands Of New Voters And Flipped Georgia's Senate Seats
"We were able to make more than 25 million voter contact attempts just in the runoff election alone, including 1 million door knocks in the final four days of the election."
“The New Georgia Project's stated goal has been to register and engage low-propensity young voters and voters of color…”
Are we knocking on enough doors in NYC?
Important Dates
05.28 Last Day to Postmark Voter Registration/Last Day To Register In-Person
06.02 Last Day for BOE to Receive Voter Registration Through Mail
06.02 Last Day for BOE to Receive Change of Address
06.15 Last Day to Apply for Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.21 Last Day to Apply In-Person for Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.22 Last Day to Postmark/Deliver to BOE Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.12 - 06.20 Early Voting for Primary
06.22 Primary Election Day
Soft Power Vote SPV Community Folder is still a thing!
Wanna put something on our radar? Drop a comment or email us at softpowervote@gmail.com.