The streets were crowded in Brooklyn Heights on Tuesday, but the voting stations were virtually empty. No one seemed to know it was Election Day—a chance to elect six judges to the Brooklyn Supreme Court.
“There’s no information on who’s on the ballot, or what’s going on,” said Stephany Sanger, who had come to Borough Hall to vote. “People who always vote will come out, but people who don’t know what’s going on won’t come.”
Poll watchers expected a low turn out, “Some things, like the Occupy Wall Street protests, are taking precedence over the elections,” said Elizabeth Tretter, polling coordinator at Borough Hall.
But Michael Dimeglio, coordinator at the St. Ann’s church polling station, said there was a simpler explanation for the low turn out. The polls had been open since 6 a.m., but 12 hours later, only about 60 people had come to his polling station.
“It’s just a formality,” he said. “If you’re smart enough, you know there’s no need to go to this election. Looking at the ballot it’s like Survivor, they’re just going to vote one guy off the island. I can tell you right now who’s going to win.”
Out of the eight names on the ballot for the Brooklyn Supreme Court, voters are asked to pick six. The judges were listed by party affiliation. But, six of those candidates appeared as both Democrats and Republicans: Rachel Adams, Betsy Barros, Johnny Baynes, David Friedman, Lawrence Knipel and Carl Landicino. This made them virtual shoo-ins, said Dimeglio. Renata Landskind and Paul Atanasio, on the other hand, appeared only on the Conservative line.
“We aren’t giving the public much of a choice,” said Tom Predhome, who sat on the judiciary screening panel that vetted each candidate. The real election happened in the primaries, he said, “It’s more competitive.”
Even those working the polling stations admitted that there was very little information about the candidates available, “I saw two candidates who were contesting the Westchester elections on T.V. the other day, but I didn’t see anyone from Brooklyn,” said poll worker Grace Shannon. “They just didn’t advertise them enough this year, there was nothing on the news and nothing in the paper.”
Still, those who voted did so for a variety of reasons.
“Most of the people who came in to vote today are older retirees, very few are in the working zone,” said Dimeglio. “Older people are more conscious of values and citizenship, so they’re more likely to turn out to vote.”
Others came to the polls because they believe it’s their civic duty, “I believe in our franchise, we are supposed to be doing this,” said Sanger, who said that she would vote along party lines.
Even though the turnout was low and the results seemingly inevitable, both Dimeglio and Tretter said the election was not an empty exercise, “This is testing the strengths and weaknesses of the employees for next year,” Dimeglio said. To him, the day was merely a dress rehearsal for the presidential election next year.
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