NYC Council Member Accuses Opponent Of Intimidating Voters

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A New York City Council Member accused her opponent of intimidating and harassing voters in September's primary elections, just one day before the results of the tight race are expected to be certified.

Incumbent Council Member Margaret Chin released a statement on Monday accusing her opponent, political newcomer Christopher Marte, of intimidating and harassing voters on Sept. 12, New York City's primary election day. Chin found herself in a surprisingly tight race on election night, when initial polling results showed the two-term incumbent with a lead of just 200 votes. A subsequent tally of absentee and affidavit ballots nudge Chin's lead slightly, increasing it 224 votes more than Marte, according to her campaign. The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to be certified on Tuesday. Marte and Chin are running to represent District 1, which includes Tribeca, the Lower East Side, Soho and part of Greenwich Village.

In advance of Tuesday's anticipated close to the primary, Chin's campaign slammed the 28-year-old Marte, accusing him of intimidating elderly Chinese American voters on primary day.

"I cannot ignore the voter intimidation and harassment by the Marte campaign, which specifically targeted elderly Chinese American voters at several poll sites," Chin said in a statement. "I am calling on the New York City Board of Elections to investigate these incidents, as well as other irregularities at polling sites throughout my district."

A spokesman for Chin's campaign added on Tuesday that the campaign heard "many reports from our observers and volunteers of the Marte campaign shouting at people, and suggesting physical violence at the polling sites. During Margaret's post-election visits to senior centers, many seniors told Margaret directly that they had been harassed themselves and felt discouraged from voting."

Marte's campaign denied intimidating or harassing any voters.

"The negative statements we made about what has been going on in our community for the past 8 years have always been factual," Marte's campaign said in response to Chin's statement. "We will not turn to the Councilmember's tactics of this sort of slanderous speech."

Chin also faulted Marte for reportedly using a Planned Parenthood logo on campaign mailers, which she called a "fraudulent use" of the logo to "indicate an endorsement." (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Chin was endorsed for re-election by Planned Parenthood NYC Votes.

Separately, both candidates scored 100 percent on a questionnaire covering issues related to women's health. The questionnaire, distributed by Planned Parenthood's NYC Action Food, doesn't endorse candidates, but does provide the questionnaire results as a guide for votes, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said. She confirmed that Marte received a 100 percent rating on the quiz, as did Chin.

"Mr. Marte did receive a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood of New York City Action Fund and was sent a PPNYC Action Fund logo," the spokeswoman said. "Candidates can include the PPNYC Action Fund rating in their campaign materials."

A spokeswoman for the city's Board of Election did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Patch.

This post has been updated with comment from Planned Parenthood and additional comment from Chin's campaign.

Image credit: Slaven Vlasic / Stringer / Getty Images Entertainment