This week, we asked readers for their thoughts on the recent District 11 and District 15 City Council special elections which took place on March 23, and the use of the new Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) system.

 

“I didn’t know about the special election and now, it’s too late. I wish I would have known because I would have voted in this City Council race. I just thank God that the coronavirus in New York is getting better. I heard about Ranked Choice Voting and I think it’s better to have more choices today.”

Delphine Sanders,

Norwood

 

“Ranked Choice Voting was easy and allowed me to support a few of my top candidates and ensured my voice was heard and had weight. I followed the endorsements by Voters for Animal Rights and, additionally, researched each candidate to inform how I ranked them. I rushed over to my polling place on Election Day before noon, nervous I would hit a crowd. But, upon arriving, I found barely anyone there. Apparently, the morning had been incredibly slow, and I was only among the first few dozen voters on that day. I had been a poll worker at that same location last November and wish there was the same passion and enthusiasm for the turnout for this local election.”

Samantha Lawton,

Mount Hope

 

“I live in Queens and I worked the special election in February, and they used Ranked Choice Voting. It was fairly successful. Some made mistakes, but most voters got it. They publicized the special election as much as they usually do. We had a normal turnout, maybe a little more than a normal special election. Ranked voting is generally easy to understand, but I have mixed feelings about it. As a taxpayer, it saves money by eliminating run-off elections, but as someone who often works the elections, I have less opportunity to make money by not working those run-off elections.”

William Horowitz,

Bellrose, Queens

 

“Several weeks before the special election, I came down with COVID-19, and was hospitalized. I was very worried that I would not be able to vote. My absentee ballot request had fallen in a black hole. A friend required four trips to the Board of Elections. I understand and support the concept behind RCV. I’m not really sure it achieved much in CD 11, but I think we might see a difference if we had greater voter turnout.”

Stephanie Coggins,

Spuyten Duyvil

 

“I obviously know that [Eric] Dinowitz got 40-something percent, but I didn’t see the results of the ranked share process. But I must tell you, I didn’t know how it worked. I understand voting, and I clearly voted correctly in accordance with my choices, but I didn’t understand how the votes are applied until a guy in a meeting this week presented some slides on how it works. I did not think it was complicated going in and choosing in the order that you would choose candidates.”

 

Richard Conley,

Spuyten Duyvil