Huge Lines At Polls As NYC Votes In 2018 Midterm Elections

NEW YORK — New Yorkers packed public schools and formed massive lines as they cast ballots in Tuesday's midterm elections. Reports from polling places indicated unusually high turnout in the five boroughs for this year's races for governor, U.S. Congress and state Legislature.

Lines in some places stretched around the buildings where voting booths were set up, even in neighborhoods with no contested elections. Voters waiting outside PS 163 on the Upper West Side lined a full block between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, a video posted to Twitter shows.

Dozens of voters reported problems with the ballot-scanning machines at their poll sites, which some said contributed to the long waits. Every single scanner was broken at PS 29 in Cobble Hill, where the line was "worse than Trader Joe's," Bahij Chancey wrote on Twitter.

"My frustration at polling both was getting the machine to accept my ballot," Joseph Vigna tweeted. "People at polling station couldn’t physically help me. They only could instruct me how to put it in the machine."

The machines weren't the only problems at the polls. Some voters said their polling places opened late, while a lack of ballot sleeves created issues at others.

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Voters packed into PS 264 in Bay Ridge, the home of heated races for the House of Representatives, state Senate and state Assembly. But only two hours after polls had opened, two out of the five machines to scan ballots were jammed because of improper ballot tearing and awaiting crews to fix them, according to two poll workers.

The technical difficulties led to a backup of morning voters who queued to fill out and cast their ballots in lines that snaked inside of the elementary school’s gym. One woman feared she'd be late to her job as a secretary in a Marine Park dentist's office, but said showing up to work a little late was aggravating but worth it to vote.

“This matters too much, especially here in Bay Ridge,” said Michelle O’Hara, 38, who said she counts herself as an independent but was swayed to vote Democrat across the board. “If I’m a little late to work so be it.”

“I want people in office who will really fight for us and the things that matter to the community, not just do whatever their party wants,” said O’Hara, who said she was particularly inspired to vote for Democrat Max Rose over Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan after hearing him speak on the radio.

The large turnout is unusual for a year in which New Yorkers are deciding who represents them in Albany and Washington without a presidential election at the top of the ticket. Just 29 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2014 midterms, the third-worst rate in the nation, according to a Nonprofit VOTE report from the following year.

One Bay Ridge voter said he voted for the Democrat Andrew Gounardes in part because he was dissatisfied with how his rival, GOP state Sen. Martin Golden, has responded to a string of controversies in recent months.

“There were a few weeks where it felt like every other day I picked up the paper he was dealing with something, from speeding to saying something inappropriate,” said Robert Morris, who has lived in Bay Ridge for five years. “At a certain point, you have to say to yourself, is he really the best guy for the job?”

Andie Springer and Alex LoRe voted at PS 217 in Ditmas Park and said they'd never seen such high turnout in the neighborhood where they've lived for four years.

Springer, 34, said she cast her ballot because "it’s been made clear how apathetic everyone is."

"We’re seeing first hands what that means," said LoRe, 31. "... Kids are being kept in cages, tax cuts for the rich, the encouragement of hate crimes."

Susan Avery braved the rainy weather to cast her ballot on the Upper East Side because she always votes, she said, even though many local races aren't expected to be close this year.

"I want to make my voice heard," said Avery, a retired judge. "If I don't vote I have no right to complain."

Patch editors Caroline Spivack, Kathleen Culliton and Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.

(Lead image: Voters wait to cast ballots outside PS 20 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Photo courtesy of Claire Hackett)