Election Day is upon us, and thousands of Queens residents have already cast their votes in the historic presidential contest between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The polls opened at 6 a.m. at sites across the “World’s Borough,” and by most accounts, turnout is tremendous. People lined up to cast their votes in the presidential race and other contests down ballot. Activity was brisk at St. Margaret Parish Hall in Middle Village and at St. Sebastian Catholic War Veterans Post 878 in Woodside, where a line of voters extended out the door.
While voting is going on rather smoothly across much of the borough, there have been some issue in a select number of places. Chappell Ellison mentioned on Twitter that, as of 1:03 p.m., the wait time at P.S. 78 in Long Island City was in excess of 2 hours. City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer responded that he was aware of problems at the polling place and that the city’s Board of Elections has been notified.
“I know. I just checked in there after hearing of the problems at the site. We need @BOENYC to get over there! Please stay and vote!” Van Bramer tweeted to Ellison.
Another Twitter user, Rachel Haot, noted that 4 of 5 ballot scanning machines at her polling place in Belle Harbor were down. She and other voters had to place their ballots in a locked emergency ballot box to be tabulated later once the machines were up and running again.
Another voter at St. Margaret told QNS that both of the site’s scanners were down when she went to cast her vote at about 1:20 p.m. this afternoon. She waited a few minutes for the poll workers to clear a paper jam in one of the machines and bring it back on line, after which she was able to scan her ballot.
Throughout the day, QNS will provide updates on polling activity across the borough. We welcome those of you who experience problems while voting, such as broken machines or if your name was dropped off the registration rolls, to report them by email to editorial[at]qns.com or share them on our Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #QNSvotes.
Polling places will remain open until 9 p.m.; as long as you are on line to vote by 9 p.m., you will have a chance to cast a ballot.
After the polls close, QNS will provide reports on the returns, including special coverage of a number of key races for state legislative seats. We will also be updating our Twitter feed after 9 p.m. with results.
Stay tuned to QNS all day today as Queens voters speak out at the polls!
