Voter Turnout Surged In Astoria, LIC, Dropped In Other Areas

ASTORIA-LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — During the recent 2021 primary election, voter turnout surged in Astoria and Long Island City, while the percentage of voters who went to the polls in some of the borough’s COVID-stricken neighborhoods dropped, according to a new report.

According to data analyzed by The City, the share of registered Democrats in Astoria and Long Island City who voted in this year’s primary election increased by 17.4 and 14.5 percent, respectively, compared to voter turnout in 2013 — the city’s last major primary election. By contrast, voter turnout decreased in some of the borough’s neighborhoods that were hardest-hit by the pandemic, including Corona and southeast Queens, reported The City.

But, weathering the disproportionate effects of the pandemic — including death and economic hardship — is not the only thing that those districts with decreased voter turnout share in common: Most of them also had City Council races where an incumbent was running for reelection.

District 21 in central Queens, as well as District 28 and 31 in southeastern Queens — which had the greatest percentage decrease in voter turnout throughout the borough — all had Democratic primary races with incumbent candidates.

The percentage of voters who cast ballots in District 27 in southeast Queens — a race without an incumbent candidate — also dropped this year, however the percentage of voters who turned out in that race (24.9 percent) is on par with Astoria and Long Island City, according to The City’s analysis.

While elections with incumbent candidates are not guaranteed to have lower turnout (though those variables can be linked), hotly contested races are known to have higher turnout — and the City Council races in Astoria and Long Island City were both high-profile races.

In Astoria’s District 22, Tiffany Cabán was running for a City Council seat shortly after her narrow loss in the 2019 Queens District Attorney race. On Election Night Cabán declared victory in the race with a little under 50 percent of the recorded vote, though the race still hasn’t been called by the media.

Long Island City’s nearby District 26 race was one of the most crowded primaries citywide, with 15 Democrats vying for a single seat.

Also, both of these races might have benefited from what The City dubbed “the AOC effect,” where U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who herself represents parts of northwest Queens — energized progressive voters — many of whom are concentrated in Astoria and Long Island CIty.

For instance, in both the District 22 and 26 races Ocasio-Cortez’s Courage to Change PAC endorsed multiple candidates.

By contrast, Courage to Change only endorsed a candidate in one of the four races where voter turnout dropped; District 21.

However, City Council races weren’t the only contests on this year’s primary election ballot — namely including a hotly contested mayoral race — and incumbency is not the only factor that influences voter turnout, especially in neighborhoods that are overwhelmingly populated by voters of color.

Laura Wood, the city’s chief democracy officer, told The City that “there is an increase in the work of civic engagement that’s happening in the city right now,” including election reforms like early voting, no-excuse absentee voting — an effect of the pandemic — and ranked choice voting.

However, she also noted there could be “more emphasis” put on other aspects of the voting process, like automatic voter registration, which might prompt more eligible voters to show up to the polls.

It needs to be “easier for people to get involved later in the game,” Wood told The City.

Read the full report by The City here.