By Kelsey Durham and Juan Soto
A heated race between two congressional candidates failed to draw much voter turnout in northeast Queens during Tuesday’s primary as Grant Lally and Stephen Labate faced off for a chance to challenge U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Melville) on the Republican ticket in November.
The city Board of Elections opened polling locations in Little Neck, Douglaston, Whitestone and Bay Terrace — the only four Queens neighborhoods in the district — but BOE volunteers running the sites said they spent much of the day looking for ways to pass the time. As of 4 p.m., site coordinators at PS 169 at 18-25 212 St. in Bay Terrace said a total of 37 people had come out to vote since the polls opened at 6 a.m.
“We had people come in today who didn’t even know who was running or what race this was,” said Sylvia Johnson, a BOE coordinator who has been working the primaries for the past five years. “We even had registered Democrats come in asking whether or not they had to vote.”
One polling place in Douglaston, PS 98 on 235th Street, was decorated with several signs reading “Vote Here” in multiple languages, but many of the building’s doors seemed to be locked in the afternoon and the few voters who did show up were confused about how to get inside.
In the southeastern part of the borough, where a Democratic primary was taking place between U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and challenger Joseph Marthone, voters who went to the windowless polling station in the basement of Queens Central Library in Jamaica said coming out to vote was very important to them.
“The same way I have rights, I have duties,” said Amanda, a Jamaica resident for the past 25 years, who did not give her last name. “Our politicians decide our future.”
But with all the media attention focused on the hotly contested Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) and Adriano Espaillat congressional primary in northern Manhattan, Amanda thought for a moment that she was participating in that election across the river in another borough.
The Meeks and Marthone primary had drawn just 25 voters between 6 a.m., when the polls opened in the library, and 10 a.m., poll workers said.
“It’s important to vote,” said voter Ahmad, who said he always comes out to vote on Election Days. “It’s important for our human rights, our civil rights and to have fair politics,” he added.
The polls close at 9 p.m. and BOE officials said they expected to have results within an hour afterwards.
