Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Early Voting's First Weekend Sees Over 12,000 Voters In NYC
By
Shumita Basu
Published Oct 28, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Shumita Basu / WNYC
By
Shumita Basu
Published Oct 28, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Over 12,000 people in the five boroughs showed up to the polls over the weekend, for New York’s first-ever early voting period.
Many people who turned out at one polling site in Chelsea on Sunday described themselves as regular voters, the kind that would typically drag themselves out on any Election Day Tuesday (no matter how inconvenient). They said they showed up for early voting for the novelty of it.
“I've been hearing about early voting in other states and in other parts of the U.S.,” said Anita Muhammed told Gothamist. “I'm like, New York has 8 million people, how come we don't have early voting?!”
According to the New York City Board of Elections, the first day of early voting, Saturday, October 26th, drew approximately 8,558 people to the polls. And on Sunday, perhaps due to the stormy weather, 3,964 people turned out.
Some people who voted on Saturday told Gothamist their polling sites weren’t running smoothly. Others reported having printer issues when trying to print their customized ballot, a new feature this year (previously, poll workers would manually enter numbers from ballots into ledgers).
One poll worker said the first hour of open polls on Saturday was “somewhat chaotic,” with about 70 poll workers at his site trying to figure out how to use the new iPads and make them sync up to printers. But he said the initial issues were resolved fairly quickly.
Overwhelmingly, voters who responded to Gothamist’s early voting survey reported having a quick and seamless experience. Some described it as a kind of cheat code, a voting “hack” to win you back an hour or two of waiting on line on a typical Tuesday Election Day.
Shumita Basu / WNYC
“It was great. Didn’t have to take off from work, didn’t have to put things aside,” said Michael Raab, who lives near Union Square. He said he stood in an hour-long line to vote in the last presidential election. Casting his vote early, on a Sunday, was very different.
"Except for the fact that I ran into someone I knew, I would've been in and out in five minutes," said Raab.
Early voting continues every day through Sunday, November 3rd; you can find your polling site here. You can alsoshare your thoughts and experiences with us—just fill out this brief survey. Election Day is on November 5th.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that over 21,000 people voted early over the weekend. That was incorrect. We regret the error.
Shumita Basu is a host, producer and reporter in the newsroom. You can follow her on Twitter @shubasu.
Tagged
early voting
election 2019
NYC Board of Elections
Shumita Basu
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
New Yorkers are paying $300 million for natural gas they don't even use
A new study found that nearly 2% of the city's natural gas is leaking into the air and causing climate pollution.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
Because the vote against it was unanimous, here are your early links: Jacket weather, swishing your Guinness, spooky decorations in North Jersey and more.
By
James Ramsay
News
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
Because the vote against it was unanimous, here are your early links: Jacket weather, swishing your Guinness, spooky decorations in North Jersey and more.
By
James Ramsay
Hit-and-run driver arrested trying to flee to Uzbekistan after deadly crash, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say
By
Caroline Lewis
A NYC judge brought his gun into court for an ‘experiment’. Now he’s censured.
By
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .