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Elections

THEY VOTED: More than 93,000 New Yorkers cast ballots on first day of early voting

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People vote in the 2020 election at the Barclays Center.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

They came. They saw. They voted early.

Thousands of New Yorkers assembled long lines at 88 sites across the five boroughs on Saturday to cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election on the first day of early voting.

Lines ran for blocks in many places on Oct. 24 as voters of ages, colors and creeds gathered to make their voices heard in the all-important election between the Republican incumbent ticket of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence against the Democratic duo of former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris.

Not long after polls closed at 4 p.m. Saturday, the city’s Board of Elections announced that 93,830 New Yorkers had voted that day — far exceeding the 60,110 early voters during the entire 2019 fall election cycle, in which few competitive races were on the ballot.

On average, each early voting site on Oct. 24 had about 1,066 voters show up between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. — or about 178 voters per hour of operation.

Brooklyn had the most early voters in the city on Saturday, with 29,411, followed by Manhattan with 19,877; Queens with 19,223; the Bronx with 14,928; and Staten Island with 10,391.

Saturday marked the first time New Yorkers got a chance to vote early in a presidential election. They join the more than 50 million Americans who have already cast votes in the race in other states where early voting is available. 

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Manhattan early voting sites were anything but a “ghost town” on Saturday. At the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, residents of the neighborhood as well as Little Italy and Greenwich Village gathered on a line that snaked four blocks around the house of worship to cast their ballots.

Voters began gathering at the entrance as early as 7 a.m. Saturday morning. The line moved after the polls opened, and voters relished the opportunity to finally make their voice heard in the election.

Reed Hays of Greenwich Village was the first person on line to get into St. Anthony of Padua for early voting.

Reed Hays of Greenwich Village, first one in line, at 7 a.m. Saturday.Photo by Tequila Minsky

Actress Edie Falco was also there too; she’s playing Hillary Clinton in a television production called “Impeachment.”

Village neighbor, Edie Falco, behind that NEW YORK mask! waiting line.Photo by Tequila Minsky
Actress Edie Falco was among those on the early voting line that stretched north from Prince Street to Houston Street on Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Tequila Minsky
The line stretching down Thompson Street.Photo by Tequila Minsky
Early voting, by 9:15 am. the line stretched from Sullivan St. to Thompson St.Photo by Tequila Minsky
Privacy booths where voters mark their ballots at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua in SoHo on Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Tequila Minsky
Poll worker Diane Cohen gives out “I Voted Early” stickers.Photo by Tequila Minsky

There were plenty of lines to get into polling sites across Brooklyn, including at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. Voters lined up for more than a block to get into the arena and cast their ballots.

From downtown to Bay Ridge to Cypress Hills, the voters came in droves — waiting it out for the opportunity to make their voices heard.

“This is the most important election of my lifetime,” said one voter at the Barclays, Jacob Silver. 

Another voter, James Lawson, put the importance of the election bluntly: “Our future is at stake here.”

“This election is critical for everything from the environment to schooling,” Lawson said. “We must right the ship.”

Harriett Smith, meanwhile, expressed optimism in the Biden campaign.

“I believe Biden will win, there is power in voting,” Smith said. “Look at this turnout here and across the city.” 

Friends embrace in a hug while waiting to cast their vote outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
People cast their ballots inside the Barclays Center.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The long queue at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on the first day of early voting, Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The voting booths at the Barclays Center on Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
People wait outside the Brooklyn Musum to vote in early voting of the 2020 election on Oct. 24, 2020.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

https://twitter.com/squintsNY/status/1320001065954271233

The Brooklyn United Marching Band kept the queue in a good mood at the Barclays Center, treating voters to an impromptu performance.

Queens also saw huge turnout at their early polling places on the first day of early voting. The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria and Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens had hundreds of people waiting throughout the morning to cast their ballots.

The long lines could also be seen at polling places in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March and April. 

https://twitter.com/issabellaLC/status/1320040449705496578

https://twitter.com/hellawashed/status/1320030014428139520

More of the same could be seen in the Bronx, where voters came out in droves to make their voices heard in the 2020 election.

 

If you have early voting pictures to share with us, please tweet at us @amNewYork. 

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