Choe: "I'll Take Pledge to Keep Our Community Safe, Will You?"

City Council candidate John Choe has pledged not to challenge his fellow candidates’ petitions in the upcoming election in District 20, which encompasses Flushing and neighboring communities in north central Queens. Petitioning is scheduled to start Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

“Campaigns are forced to gather three or four times the required number of signatures to ensure they could survive a legal challenge that could push their candidates off the ballot,” Choe explained. “The more signatures we go out to collect, the more in-person contact we have with our neighbors that could spread disease. Protecting my community’s health is important to me, so I pledge not to challenge the ballot petitions of anyone running in the upcoming City elections, and I ask them to do the same.”

New York State requires candidates to collect signatures on a paper petition in order to get on the ballot. Traditionally, hundreds of campaign volunteers approach people in crowded subway stations and bus stops and in front of supermarkets and schools to gather signatures. Choe believes this will result in too many in-person contacts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which many health experts deem unsafe.

“We demand the Governor cancel petitioning requirements in this year’s elections if we are to avoid undue risks to public health related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Alfred Rankins, President of the Concerned African-Americans of Flushing. “If petitioning is still required, we urge other candidates to follow John Choe’s lead and pledge not to challenge each other’s petitions. Public health should be the number one priority.”

“Some petitioners interact with dozens of people daily. Just try multiplying that by the dozens of petitioners for each of the candidates in District 20 and the three weeks we have to collect signatures.” Choe said. There are crowded campaigns for all 51 City Council seats, plus campaigns for Borough Presidents, District Attorneys, Mayor, Comptroller and Public Advocate, he noted. Furthermore, challenging petitions forces candidates, their lawyers and Board of Election officials into close contact, which is also unsafe. “This could turn into a super-spreader event.”


“With the spread of the virus in our community finally getting under control, why would the government require a petitioning process this year? It is too dangerous and irresponsible to spread the coronavirus at the cost of an election," said James Chen, CEO of Blink Marketing. "We all still have to be careful, that's why it's important for candidates to take this pledge and keep the community safe."

In an effort to prioritize our community's safety and keep campaign workers healthy, Choe is calling on the other candidates in the District 20 election to join him in his pledge to not challenge their fellow candidates’ petitions. “The COVID-19 pandemic has already exposed too many inequalities in our community. We all have a responsibility to keep our family, friends, and neighbors safe and healthy,” Choe said. “Please, candidates, take the pledge!”


"Gathering signatures to get on the ballot is too dangerous during a pandemic. For the sake of the community, officials should suspend the petitioning requirement this year," said Youngsoo Choi of the New York Korean American Cancel Rent Alliance. "Temporarily ending petitioning would be safer, but if it can't be done, I hope everyone takes this pledge. The community's safety should be the number one priority.”

Choe said his campaign will also minimize risk to the public while petitioning by avoiding crowds, wearing protective masks and frequently sanitizing their hands and equipment.

John Choe is the executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce and former Chief of Staff to John Liu. If elected, Choe would be the first Korean-American in the City Council. Choe has secured the support and endorsement of a diverse group of community leaders, including: Chief Little Fox of the Matinecock Nation; Dr. Jack Eichenbaum, Queens Borough Historian; Rev. Wilfredo Benitez, former Rector of historic Saint George's Church; Maureen Regan, President of the Queensboro Hill Civic Association; Youngsoo Choi of the Korean American Alliance of Cancel Rent and Tax Relief; Rabbi Michael Weisser, former Spiritual Leader of the Free Synagogue; Sheldon Minnus of Victory United; and, union members and community activists in the Working Families Party (WFP), 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers, Make the Road New York, Community Voices Heard, Queens United Independent Progressives (QUIP), and the New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN).