Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris at the polls (photo: @SenGianaris)

In the final days of the 2023 session, the State Legislature passed a last-minute bill to bring a new form of universal mail-in voting to New York, relying on a novel interpretation of the state constitution that has so far required an "excuse" for absentee voting.

The "New York Early Mail Voter Act" would bring New York as close as possible to universal, no-excuse absentee voting (or its equivalent) without amending the state

Mayor Adams at the polls (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

In the last municipal election in 2021, only one out of every four registered voters cast ballots for mayor and other city offices, a major drop-off from the 2020 presidential election and little more than half the turnout seen in the 2022 state and congressional elections. The poor showing was the latest in a decades-long trend of dropping voter participation in local elections, in both the party primaries and general contests.

On Wednesday, the New York City Council will hold an oversight hearing examining ways to

Brooklyn Young Democrats getting organized (photo: @BKYoungDems)

Last month, progressive and reform-minded Democrats celebrated two major wins in the Midwest. In Chicago, progressive Brandon Johnson beat several more conservative candidates in a hotly-contested mayoral election. In Wisconsin, Janet Protasiewicz beat out conservative Dan Kelly in a race for State Supreme Court, giving the court a liberal majority that could overturn the state's abortion ban and end the use of gerrymandered legislative maps.

In carving a path to victory,

Lester Chang, left (photo: Chang campaign website)

Though Democrats maintained supermajorities in the State Senate and Assembly after the midterm elections, they lost ground in several communities across the state and ceded several seats to the Republican Party in the State Legislature and in Congress.

One of the most notable Republican flips came in Assembly District 49, an Asian-majority district in Southern Brooklyn which covers parts of Bay Ridge and Borough Park and much of Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. There, 36-year Democratic incumbent Peter Abbate Jr. narrowly lost to Republican Lester Chang,

Gov. Hochul votes (photo: @KathyHochul)

Approximately 5.7 million New Yorkers across the state cast ballots in one of the closest races for governor in over two decades, according to unofficial 2022 election data. Some votes, especially final absentee ballots, are still being counted.

That amounts to roughly 43% of New York's 13.1 million registered voters, a lower turnout than in the 2018 gubernatorial election, when a surge of electoral enthusiasm driven by opposition to the Trump presidency and other factors pushed turnout to 48%.

In 2018, Democrats cruised to victories in

The New York State Capitol (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

November 3, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Understanding the Numbers Game in the Governor's Race

Bruce Gyory, a political scientist and strategist, joined the show to lay out key numbers in the race for Governor; break down racial, ethnic, regional, and other demographic trends; and explain paths to victory for Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the

Voter registration (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

New York State added over 400,000 voters to the rolls since the last gubernatorial election in 2018, a 3% increase in total enrollment, according to the latest data released by the State Board of Elections on Tuesday.

The 424,000 net additional voters since 2018 bring the total to 13.1 million registered voters statewide, roughly the number of those eligible to vote in this month’s major 2022 elections for Governor and other statewide positions, seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the State Legislature, and other

Organizing New Yorkers (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

It’s fall in New York, which means pumpkin spice lattes when it’s still too hot, our football teams are terrible, and election season is essentially over. Well, let’s take a beat on that last one for a second. While it may be true that most of our races are decided in the Democratic primary, there’s a lot at stake in 2022 – from who occupies the Governor’s Mansion to what we value as a state.

Candidates aren’t the only thing on the ballot this year. Who you vote

Voters at the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The August primary election for congressional and State Senate races in New York saw significantly low voter turnout, barely topping single digits in many districts across the state. It was the predictable outcome of an unprecedented election that resulted from a tumultuous redistricting process that unfolded this year, all adding to New York’s voter turnout crisis. Despite many competitive races, several of which were narrowly decided, New Yorkers again showed little enthusiasm to cast their ballots.

The party primaries,

Voters in the West Village (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's office)

In this week’s late August primary, the second primary this summer in New York, voter turnout barely cracked ten percent in New York City. Thefirstprimary of the summer, in June, saw turnout drop by nearly half from four years ago. At the same

Voter turnout back down (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Voter turnout in New York City and State declined dramatically – by nearly half – from the 2018 Democratic primary for governor to the one that closed on Tuesday. 

In the race for the party's nomination, Governor Kathy Hochul won – by a wide margin – with close to the same number of votes Cynthia Nixon received in 2018 when she lost the Democratic nomination to incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo by a wide margin. The turnout this month was closer to

Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Approximately 23% of registered voters turned out for the 2021 New York City general election. This appallingly low number actually understates the extent of the challenge to political legitimacy because the outcome of all but a few races for City Council and Borough President were determined in the Democratic primary in June. In that election, approximately 25% of registered voters cast a ballot.

Since registered Democrats constitute roughly 70% of all registered

Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

With the New York City general election results certified Tuesday, Democratic Mayor-elect Eric Adams’ tally finished at 754,000 votes, leaving him with close to 66% of the vote-share compared to Republican Curtis Sliwa’s 27%, or 312,000 total votes.

In total, the New York City Board of Elections counted the ballots of about 1,150,000 New Yorkers, bringing the turnout rate to 20.5% of the 5.6 million registered voters across the five boroughs. That included 85,000 absentee voters and 7,000

A Hispanic heritage celebration at City Hall (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

On this episode of the Latino Vote podcast from Gotham Gazette and hosted by Eli Valentin, the topic is legislative redistricting and Latino representation, and the guests are Lucia Gomez, Political Director at the NYC Central Labor Council; Dr. Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Director of Public Policy and Media Relations at the Centro for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College; and Frederick Velez Burgos, National Director of Civic Engagement at the Hispanic

Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Voter turnout in the 2021 New York City general election was slightly lower than the already-depressed 2017 and 2013 elections.

Every four years, all of city government is on the ballot, including Mayor, other citywide offices, borough president positions, and the entire 51-seat City Council. This election was the first time since 2013 that most of those positions, including Mayor, were open due to term limits.

This year, just under 20% of the 5.6 million registered New York City voters cast

Voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Four years ago I participated in a forum on the theme of Latino politics and voting participation in New York hosted by the Rev. Ray Rivera of the Latino Pastoral Action Center in the Bronx. The forum was based largely on two columns I had recently written here at Gotham Gazette — “Latinos and the 2017 New York City Elections”and ...

New York City voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Nearly 1 million New York City voters cast ballots in the mayoral primaries last month, according to unofficial results released by the New York City Board of Elections, marking the city's most participated-in local election in decades. While still low by historical standards, the turnout dwarfed the 2013 primaries -- the last mayoral race to have both Democratic and Republican primaries and no incumbent running -- by roughly 245,000 votes.

Combined Democratic and

Student voter registration (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office))

As New York City heads into the final stretch of the 2021 local primary elections, candidates will be working overtime for votes. If history serves as a guide, turnout will be low. While so much effort goes into registering people to vote and getting them to the polls, we should focus more on indirect measures that can have larger impacts. This includes shifting the local election

Dominican Day Parade (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

In the coming months, leading up to the all-important June New York City primary elections, I will be writing a series of columns for Gotham Gazette exploring how the Latino vote can impact City Council races across the city. The series — Latino Vote ‘21 — will also highlight some opportunities that may increase Latino political representation and will at times touch on citywide or boroughwide races.

This series is, I believe, the first of its kind in a publication like Gotham

Voters in 2020 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Despite concerns about how the coronavirus pandemic may affect voter turnout, more than 2.97 million New York City voters cast a ballot in the 2020 general election, an increase of about 7.5% or 210,000 more votes than were cast in the city in the last presidential election, in 2016.

By election night, more than 2.25 million New York City residents had voted in person, 1.1 million of whom cast a ballot in the nine days of early voting before Election Day. As expected, absentee voting

Voters at the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

UPDATE as of November 15: Voter Turnout in New York City Jumped 7.5% from 2016 to 2020

***
Original article from November 3:

While final results and tallies are still unknown, it appears that the 2020 election has seen an increase in voter turnout in New York, as it has across the

Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, left, & Rep. Max Rose face off in NY-11

Voting in the 2020 general election is set to come to a conclusion on Tuesday, November 3, Election Day. The full, official results won't be known for weeks.

The eyes of the world are on the presidential race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, and it's unclear when a winner may be declared.

Though it's unlikely Trump can pull off an upset and beat Biden in New York, voters here have been going to the polls in large numbers, just

Early voting at a poll site can be a breeze (photo: @BOENYC)

As election administrators across the state prepare themselves for a second, larger wave of mass absentee voting this fall, officials and voting advocates are encouraging as many voters as possible to take advantage of the state's in-person early voting option as an alternative to crowded Election Day poll sites and the uncertainty of casting a ballot by mail.

Early voting, first launched statewide in 2019, will be offered this fall from October 24 through November 1 and gives all

Voter registration (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

A bill that would have made it possible for many thousands of New York City residents to register to vote online, which passed the State Senate but stalled in the Assembly earlier this year, is unlikely to pass before the general election registration deadline and would be too late to be implemented even if it did, officials say.

The legislation, first introduced in the summer of 2019, would allow the New York City Campaign Finance Board to open the online voter registration portal it created

Voters cast many absentee ballots (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Over a month after the June primary, the New York State Board of Elections has certified the results, which show a relatively large voter turnout aided in part by the pandemic-induced expansion of absentee balloting. Almost all of the primaries in New York City were among Democrats, including a number of hotly-contested races for the House of Representatives, both houses of the State Legislature, Queens Borough President, and more.

The elections saw several