The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Am I registered? Where do I vote?

Good questions, those. Here's the place to log in your name and address and make sure you're good to go in tomorrow's primary: Registration. From there, you'll find a link that will tell you where to vote. If you think the Man doesn't have your info correct, you can always fill out a provisional ballot. You do NOT need an ID to vote in NYC. (Unlike other more conservative parts of the country that are working hard to suppress voting by the poor and those who have no official state photo IDs (i.e. minorities and/or Democrats), your signature will do the trick. More on these nefarious end-runs around poll tax laws here, despite the fact that the federal bipartisan election commission found almost ZERO evidence of polling place fraud. Their findings here. They found some infinitesimal sporadic evidence of vote-buying (which has nothing to do with IDs) and occasional fraudulent attempts at absentee voting. There you go. Case closed, right? Not to the Supreme Court.

Just a heads up! My polling place changed for this Democratic primary vote - yours may have too. It's not necessarily the place you voted for President last November. So be sure to check before you head out the door. Remember that the polls are open til 9PM and that it is illegal for your workplace to deny you time to vote.




19 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's too bad that, unlike in some "nefarious" parts of the country, you can't vote in primary elections in NY unless you register for a party. For those cranky independents like yours truly, this spells disenfranchisement in a pivotal part of our political process.

(Minor bellyaching from someone miffed he can't vote for Ms. Thomas maƱana)

-Paul G.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

I'm with ya baby. I register as Democrat for just that reason. I'm really more of an abolitionist Whig. It was my wing that brought down the party.

Anonymous said...

Q I just moved here and voted for the first time this morning in the district. Because of you I voted for Thomas. Thank you for all the info and unbiased reporting.

Anonymous said...

When it comes to voting in NY City primaries, voters should register as Democrats.

That way, if, in fact, you want another Rudy or Mike for mayor, you can do your part to ensure your guy faces the weakest of the Democrats.

This year, it's now looking as though that dubious honor will go to Bill de Blasio, who promises to fleece "the rich" like he's a street mugger slashing your pants with a box-cutter as he goes for your wallet.

Anonymous said...

No line at the Caton school as of 9:30am. Go Saundra!
--elizabeth

The Snob said...

Noticed that there was a Republican column on the good, ol' voting machine I used. Does that mean I could have voted in either race, y' think?

Changed my Independent registration to Democrat years ago for the same reasons.

JDB said...

You can only vote for the party line that you are registered for.

babs said...

The Bill De Blasio/mugger analogy is wildly inappropriate - almost as much a Bloomberg calling his campaign "racist." Regardless, as his opponents have pointed out, his promise to raise taxes is pretty meaningless, as that would have to be approved by Albany, which is probably not likely to occur. So rest easy, Anonymous Moneybags, even though the possibility of another Republican Mayor this term is exceedingly remote.

Anonymous said...

Really low turnout in Crown Hts where our Northern side of the Maple block were sent. I'm also hearing from a few different people even those who are on the internet all the time they went to the wrong polling place. AND the NYT website front page is reporting problems with the antique manual voting machines all over.

pb said...

Q, thanks for all you've done to encourage voting, and for sharing information!

Had a bit of an adventure being bounced between polling stations this morning, but eventually got to go in and hear that satisfying THUNK as my votes were recorded. Having lived in places where citizens don't always get that right can really make you value a democracy, even an imperfect one like ours.

Anonymous said...

still showing i am registered to vote at my old address. can i vote via provisional ballot in that case?

Clarkson FlatBed said...

Nah. But you can vote at your old place for other elections, like City-wide. Maybe a trip to the old 'hood will make you realize you've traded up!

Anonymous said...

I voted around 1 this afternoon at the Flatbush Library and was only number 36. So depressing. It's like only a few hundred are going to get to decide on who represents us. Ugh.

Also, I hate the old voting machines. I actually find them more confusing to use than filling in the bubbles, but I am used to scantron sheets so...

Jen

JDB said...

I love the old voting machines. The satisfaction of pulling the lever for your candidate, the excitement of entering behind the curtain. Perhaps we could have just kept the old machines and not spent $100M on e-voting systems that failed immediately.

MadMommaCarmen said...

Just went to vote over at PS92 and Eugene's people were over there still campaigning. For lack of a better description, they were being assholish to people who wouldn't take their flyers. They were *right* in front of the school, just steps from the polling entrance. Certainly this has to be against a lot of rules, no?

AJM said...

Turnout seemed low at Parkside as well. District 20, 4 pm, in the 150's.

Bob Marvin said...

the registration website [https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx] had no match for my name, DOB and address {strange, since I've been registered from my Midwood St. address for nearly 40 years) but I WAS in the book. Voting was uneventful EXCEPT that the machine jammed when I started to vote and they had to do quite a lot of work to unstick the thing. I DID enjoy one more nostalgic chance to flip the levers on that old clunker.

Anonymous said...

Thomas is in the lead! I hope this lead lasts until the last vote is counted.

Anonymous said...

You can only handout campaign stuff for your candidate no more than a set number of feet from the entrance to the polling place. I can't remember the distance, though. It might be around 100 or so feet, but that's just a guess. They should've been reported to the poll workers or the authorities. During the bigger elections signs are posted. One isn't even allowed to wear buttons into the polling place with their candidates name or logo on them.