Over the last month I have received more than 100 fliers in the mail and what seemed like an equal number of calls regarding New York City primary elections. In the five mail delivery days before the primary, I counted 38 fliers, which I had saved for recycling. This does not take into account the endless TV commercials.
I recently read that most of the young people who move to New York do not bother to register to vote, and only 10 percent of New Yorkers vote in primaries. Most of them are women, older, affluent or educated and candidates are persistent in their efforts to contact these dependable voters. We are inundated with junk mail and phone calls.
This turns us off and does not do a thing to help candidates get elected. If we are interested enough to vote, we have probably already investigated the candidates and made our decisions. After a while, I do not answer the phone and throw all the fliers in the trash. I cannot convey how annoying this is.
The huge amount of money being spent nationwide makes me wonder what a political office actually offers to those who are focused on getting elected. There must be many unknown rewards and perks because it is doubtful they all have altruistic reasons for running.
We need to put limits on election spending. Just think of the good that could be done with the billions of dollars wasted on campaigning in the city and across the nation.
Linda Imhauser
Whitestone
