Norwood News

In the heavily Democratic Bronx, City Council elections are determined in the primaries, where only a small percentage of registered voters actually turn out to cast their ballots. This year, despite two compelling council races – in the 11th and 14th districts – looks to be more of the same.

“Frequently, turnout for City Council races depend on the races at the top of the ticket,” said Neil Rosenstein, an election specialist for the New York Public Interest Research Group. “[This year] it will depend on how much interest is in the races for mayor and comptroller.”

Comptroller Bill Thompson is expected to easily defeat Councilman Tony Avella in the Democratic primary for mayor and the battle for comptroller is crowded but uninspiring.

“When there is not a high profile race, it is difficult to get voters out there,” said Arthur Heller, the campaign manager for Councilman Oliver Koppell, the incumbent seeking reelection in District 11.

On top of that, voters have lost faith in the voting process. Rosenstein said that because the City Council voted to extend term limits to three terms, essentially ignoring two voter referendums that called for two-term limits, “the [voting] interest in the public dropped tremendously.” Rosenstein said that he “would be very surprised if turnout matched what there was four years ago.”

In Council District 11, which includes parts of Norwood, Bedford Park, Woodlawn and Riverdale, only 11,049 people (around 16 percent of registered voters) cast a vote in the primary election for City Council in 2005. In the general election, 24,171 people (around 26 percent of registered voters) cast their votes.

There was no Democratic primary election for Council District 14 in 2005, which covers parts of Fordham, Kingsbridge, University Heights and Mt. Hope, but only 12,744 people voted in the general election. Today, there are 73,711 registered voters in District 14. Assuming the number of voters was the same in 2005 (registered voter numbers from that year were not available), only 17 percent of the number of registered voters actually voted in the past Council election.

Not everyone is pessimistic about this year’s potential numbers. “We are looking for [turnout] to be more,” said Ariel Ferreira, a consultant for Yudelka Tapia, a candidate in the 14th District race. “After Obama’s movement, the election has inspired so many people to come out and vote.”