Ranked-choice voting is an idea whose time has come. It should be used in all elections, even national ones. Under this system a weak candidate where his/her opponents split their vote among several competing strong candidates will lose. Trump would not have won any primaries using ranked-choice. You are highly unlikely to win if a majority opposes you. Imagine a system that would have stopped Trump. Ranked-choice: yes!
31
This is wrong on so many levels and just an incredibly sneaky way for the city/government/politicians to get their way via an uninformed public. It is actually offensive that these ballot questions are being condensed into five points (containing 19 separate sub-questions) and presented on election day in illegible 7-point font that would take someone 45 minutes to read. In a time when the entire voting process is being scrutinized for corruption- both foreign and domestic- it is laughable that NYC would even think of proposing such ballot questions without first informing its citizens in advance. I subscribe to the NY Times and read it every day and also pay attention to what is generally happening in politics. If this article is the first I am hearing about these ballot questions, then you can bet that most every day New Yorkers who will be voting tomorrow are also going in uninformed. What a scam.
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It’s called politics. 2019 is considered a low turn out, low vote election year. Depending on your perspective, that will help your cause of it won’t. Rest assured, if you do vote it will be noticed by electeds.
4
@Anna I received a mailing with all these ballot questions at least a month ago. I read it and marked it up. They have also been on line. I agree they are too complicated and with many seniors in my district, the seven point font is absolutely ridiculous.
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@Anna Good Point Anna. I had not read up on these ballot questions. Glad i read this article first.
8
All this aside for a moment - I'm the most conflicted about #4 - I agree it feels like a "slush fund" politicians will use not to be accountable, however, I do like that it funds public advocate and borough presidents -- who arguably will keep the mayor from dipping into the slush fund for who knows why. Thoughts?
34
Why are they packing 19 changes into 5 proposals? This makes no sense at all.
I may like the first 2 changes of a proposal but not the other 3 but it's all-or-nothing in these 5 proposals.
I say vote no. We should push to have these changes to the City Charter be individual proposals.
7
@Jerry Ribeiro I agree with you for #2 thru #5, but #1 "Ranked Choice Voting" is a single proposal that will improve the way elections are held in the city.
5
The NYPD tolerates lying among its rank and file because it squashes investigations into false official statements in internal affairs. It’s time the CCRB bring charges when officers lie. The Bronx DA kept a list of 75 officers who it cannot work with because they will lie on the stand. The NYPD won’t clean up itself, so now someone else must do it for them.
44
Early voting started on October 26th and ended on November 3. What about those individuals? NYTimes and many local politicians are a day late and a dollar short on spelling out these specifics for NYer's. Try a better strategy next time.
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@KA
Actually, more than a week late... But everyone registered to vote should have received a mailer several weeks ago with all these issues spelled out and explained. At least we Queens Cry voters did. But yes, the Times should have been more on top of the fact of early voting in making its recommendations.
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@KA
The Times ran an editorial on the proposals more than a week ago. Also many New Yorkers receive a Voting Guide laying out the proposals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/opinion/new-york-ballot-questions-2019.html
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@Barbara ...and elected officials who people pay attention when they start making noise i.e. Atty. General Letitia James; it would have been helpful for many folks if they making noise sooner but, that didn't happen. As was said in the article "Professor Greer said it took her 45 minutes to read the five ballot questions, and the voter guide from the New York City Campaign Finance Board." Despite receiving those voting guides, many folks most likely just did't create the time to dig into the content that thoroughly.
4
Voting "no" on any question that groups multiple things under a single vote simply because forcing a straight up or down vote on a grab-bag of items is a bad idea.
15
It's wrong to combine so much into one ballet measure. When I see that, I think 'they' are using one issue that has a lot of proponents with another that is a bad idea and cannot stand on it's own. Vote No.
12
So many unknowables, particularly with the budget question. And looking at the voting website's information about these proposals shows the summaries here are of ONE aspect of multi-point plans.
Letting the CCRB initiate prosecutions, and double the time from city employment to lobbying? Sure.
I am utterly shrugging my shoulders at the election question -- too many issues packed in!
And it seems like the land use question is such a minor change where rampant building is such a problematic aspect of NY living that it is hardly worth the asking.
10
What a mess. You can like some aspects of a question but not others, but the ballot language that puts multiple actions under one heading is a very poor way to do this.
43
I voted early since I am out of town on the day of the election. These ballot proposals were ridiculous. It took me 45 minutes to read what they were about and to find information about what they were about at home. If you didn't know they are going to be there what are you supposed to do in the voting booth with bad lighting and tiny font to make sure you understand? What voter is going to do that let alone try to read the tiny font in the voting booth? It is ludicrous to put 19 changes in 5 proposals. It should be one change per proposal. At least it would be easier to understand and vote yes or no. Now you have to judge if the one part you like out weighs the other part you don't when you vote. Just vote No.
35
@karma
If you go to the supermarket, you bring a shopping list. If you know there's an election, you make up your mind who and what to vote for before you step into the voting booth. Not when you're there.
The Times already covered all these proposals. And a quick internet search would have provided lots more coverage, including links to the BoE website.
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@Andrew Porter
Speak for yourself, Andrew.
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@Andrew Porter
I usually don't bring a shopping list to the supermarket. I am doing homework on the ballot questions. But many voters won't, for various reasons. That's just a fact of life and it's not enough to say, "well, they should have." It's on the people who design the process to take reality into account.
9
yet another political boondoggle....
13
Anything that is opposed by the PBA is almost 100% good for the victims of police violence and brutality, not to mention accountability (something the PBA opposes very publicly).
55
NYT- you didn't include Devin Balkind, the libertarian running for Public Advocate. I hope this was a mistake? Only including the Democrat and Republican nominees contributes to the solidifying of our two party system, which many are frustrated with and are trying to change through ways like ranked voting.
23
@Ali Cain Libertarians are just conservatives by a different name. When the term began it was by rich people that seriously felt that any voting by the public was unfair to the wealthy. They saw taxation and funding of "public commons" as theft of their wealth.
13
Not very helpful to those of us who voted already.
2
With early voting now here, the NYT needs to publish articles like this sooner. The same is true for its candidate endorsements and ballot question recommendations.
57
I already early voted, after reading the Times recommendations for how to vote. Why didn’t you publish this earlier?
11
No,No, No! The City has made a huge mistake in the way these proposals are presented.
Until we have a Mayor and City Council who represent the Majority of New Yorkers I say vote NO!
6
NO, NO, NO, NO! To clarify, I’m not telling anyone how to vote. I’m just incredulous about the boondoggle that out city government can create in the blink of an eye! Just to be clear, I will be voting NO!
6
This would have been helpful at the beginning of early voting, not after it concluded.
65
@L. Susan I just said the same thing to my roommate. Luckily my opinion hasn't changed on any of them, though I'm not a fan of the bundling of issues in one question.
3
This year marks the 50th straight year that I have voted and I have never had a second choice for a candidate. Sometimes, I have even found it hard to have a first choice. I'm afraid that Question 1 if passed will confuse more than it will help. Sorry, but I'll be voting "No" tomorrow on Question 1.
4
@Louis--I tend to agree with you. Often my vote is for the least-offensive choice. I'd be loath to rank my votes for even-more-offensive choices. Yet I've read several articles detailing how ranked-choice voting would be helpful.
So now I've spent hours reading and thinking about this and still don't know how I'm going to vote tomorrow . . . making me wonder how the heck someone who's confronted with this and 4 other issues, all laid out in teeny-tiny type, will be voting tomorrow--if they'll be voting at all.
2
@Louis You would not be forced to vote with a ranking. If you like only one candidate, then just vote for that candidate only. If other listed candidates don't appeal at all, then don't vote with a ranking.
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@Louis
The law doesn't require you to make 5 choices. It offers you the opportunity to rank the candidates.
I personally think it's a great idea. A way to force candidates to appeal to broader constituencies and avoid runoffs.
Even if you don't think you will use it, why deny others the opportunity to do so?
19
This is very helpful, thank you. But what a mess of a democratic process. I suspect that a lot of voters will be thrown off guard by a ballot where stuff is printed in 7-point font.
And yes, the best way to get only a certain type of voters to go to vote is to hold elections on a week day.
This is one of many aberrations in this country that is hard to get used to if you come from another part of the world, like say Europe.
Hey, even putting alternate side parking rule on hold for election day would already make a difference.
24
@Eric a couple of primaries ago, the ballot was also printed in a 7 point font. not only was the print almost invisible, but the lighting was equally poor. fortunately, i carry a small magnifying glass, which made all the difference in the world. i realize the board of elections has many responsibilities, but printing ballots in smaller than a 10 point font, excludes too many of the voting public.
18
Street cleaning rules are always suspended on the general election day. I don’t think it has increased or sustained voter turnout.
8
@vg rosenwald: In NYC poll sites every "privacy booth" has a magnifier and a light. There's also a magnifier at every election-district table, and a large sample ballot posted on a wall nearby. Each poll site also has at least one "ballot-marking device" with a screen on which a voter can see candidates and ballot question greatly enlarged, with a poll worker to explain its working if asked. General lighting in each poll site depends on the location (school gym, church common room, etc.) used.
13