The polls in Queens are officially closed on Election Day.
Voting sites across the borough have closed Tuesday, June 22, as of 9 p.m., marking the end of the primary elections. According to the city’s Board of Elections (BOE), more than 35,000 Queens residents — approximately 1.6 percent of the borough’s population — took advantage of early voting, which took place from June 12 to 20, representing about 18 percent of all the early votes cast in New York City.
But Queens had the most absentee ballots requested of any borough, with more than 66,000 requested and more than 23,000 completed ahead of Tuesday, according to the BOE.
In-person voter turnout on Tuesday seemed relatively low throughout most of the day in polling sites across the borough. However, a worker at a polling site in Rochdale Village at P.S. 80 was impressed to see their turnout Tuesday morning, telling QNS they didn’t “expect this many people.”
In Astoria, two City Council candidates and a comptroller candidate continued campaigning near the P.S. 122 polling site, saying they were full of energy and ready to continue talking with potential voters.
Many Queens voters shared their thoughts about this year’s election process with QNS. Most seemed to understand the newly implemented ranked-choice voting system.
Nicholas Seotchie, a Bayside resident who cast his vote at Bayside High School Tuesday afternoon, argued that electoral reform has been an ongoing issue in the U.S. and said he supports ranked-choice voting, noting that some states and cities already implemented the system.
“I think I was sufficiently educated on how to use it and the process went smoothly,” Seotchie said.
But there were some Queens voters who were still skeptical about the new process, with others confused about how to use it.
Nikki Breedlove, who voted at the Rochdale Village Community Center, said she thinks ranked-choice voting “disenfranchises” the Black and brown communities.
“Blacks and browns don’t turn out the same way to vote like other areas,” Breedlove said. “Then what happens? We are the ones that suffer and it’s not the other communities and that’s terrible. We do vote, but we don’t vote in primaries and we don’t vote when need to vote and that hurts us.”
But the new voting system has been found to not only benefit those communities in particular, but also elevate candidates who are of color and who are women, according to FairVote.org.
Although official results won’t be finalized until July 12, below you will find the preliminary results from the city’s Board of Elections for Queens borough president and local City Council races as of approximately 8 a.m. Wednesday morning.
For updates on the citywide races, including mayor, comptroller and public advocate, visit PoliticsNY.com.
Queens borough president
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (95.45 percent of precincts reported):
Elizabeth Crowley: 40.20 percent of the vote (62,738 votes)
Donovan Richards (incumbent): 41.53 percent of the vote (64,814 votes)
Jimmy Van Bramer: 17.82 percent of the vote (27,813 votes)
City Council District 19
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (99 percent of precincts reported):
Tony Avella: 37.10 percent of the vote (3,883 votes)
Adriana Aviles: 8.46 percent of the vote (885 votes)
Nabaraj KC: 1.46 percent of the vote (153 votes)
Austin Shafran: 20.03 percent of the vote (2,096 votes)
Richard J. Lee: 29.90 percent of the vote (3,129 votes)
Francis E. Spangenberg: 2.53 percent of the vote (265 votes)
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES (99 percent of the precincts reported):
John-Alexander Sakelos: 45.96 percent of the vote (1,446 votes)
Vickie Paladino: 52.70 percent of the vote (1,658 votes)
City Council District 20
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (97.53 percent of the precincts reported):
Hailing Chen: 15.32 percent of the vote (1,265 votes)
John Choe: 16.56 percent of vote (1,367 votes)
Anthony Miranda: 15.32 percent of the vote (1,265 votes)
Sandra Ung: 24.28 percent of the vote (2,004 votes)
Neng Wang: 1,237 percent of the vote (1,237 votes)
Ming-Kang Low: 0.45 percent of the vote (37 votes)
Dao Yin: 5.14 percent of the vote (424 votes)
Ellen Young: 16.39 percent of the vote (1,378 votes)
City Council District 21
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (82.86 percent of precincts reported):
David Aiken Jr.: 16.43 percent of the vote (844 votes)
Ingrid Gomez: 18.55 percent of the vote (953 votes)
Francisco Moya (incumbent): 52.16 percent of the vote (2,680 votes)
George Onuorah: 6.01 percent of the vote (309 votes)
Talea Wufka: 6.34 percent of the vote (326 votes)
City Council District 22
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (95.45 percent of the precincts reported):
Leonardo Bullaro: 7.29 percent of the vote (1,011 votes)
Tiffany Cabán: 49.32 percent of the vote (6,838 votes)
John J. Ciafone: 9.35 percent of the vote (1,296 votes)
Catherina Gioino: 4.73 percent of the vote (656 votes)
Evie Hantzopoulos: 26.26 percent of the vote (3,641 votes)
Nicholas Velkov: 2.87 percent of the vote (398 votes)
City Council District 23
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (91.92 percent of precincts reported):
Steve Behar: 13.24 percent of the vote (1,625 votes)
Jaslin Kaur: 26.37 percent of the vote (3,327 votes)
Sanjeev Kumar Jindal: 9.34 percent of the vote (1,146 votes)
Linda Lee: 31.20 percent of the vote (3,829 votes)
Debra Markell: 9.87 percent of the vote (1,211 votes)
Harpreet Singh Toor: 4.41 percent of the vote (541 votes)
Koshy O. Thomas: 5.23 percent of the vote (642 votes)
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES (91.92 percent of precincts reported):
Alex Amoroso: 29.42 percent of the vote (399 votes)
James F. Reilly: 66.22 percent of the vote (898 votes)
City Council District 24
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (99 percent of the precincts reported):
Moumita Ahmed: 22.73 percent of the vote (2,406 votes)
James F. Gennaro (incumbent): 59.69 percent of the vote (6,319 votes)
Saifur R. Khan: 8.42 percent of the vote (891 votes)
Mohammad Uddin: 8.76 percent of the vote (927 votes)
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES (99 percent of the precincts reported):
Angelo King: 36.29 percent of the vote (266 votes)
Timothy Rosen: 59.35 percent of the vote (435 votes)
City Council District 25
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (89.13 percent of the precincts reported):
Fatima Baryab: 10.28 percent of the vote (1,057 votes)
Yi Andy Chen: 17.58 percent of the vote (1,808 votes)
Shekar Krishnan: 30.80 percent of the vote (3,167 votes)
Liliana Melo: 7.22 percent of the vote (742 votes)
Manuel F. Perez: 3.69 percent of the vote (379 votes)
Alfonso Quiroz: 10.52 percent of the vote (1,082 votes)
William Salgado: 1.96 percent of the vote (202 votes)
Carolyn Tran: 17.70 percent of the vote (1,820 votes)
City Council District 26
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (96.77 percent of precincts reported):
Amit Bagga: 17.65 percent of the vote (2,693 votes)
Jonathan Bailey: 4.59 percent of the vote (700 votes)
Lorenzo Brea: 2.22 percent of the vote (339 votes)
Julia Forman: 8.05 percent of the vote (1,229 votes)
Glennis Gomez: 3.53 percent of the vote (538 votes)
Badrun Khan: 5.58 percent (867 votes)
Denise Keehan-Smith: 6.83 percent of the vote (1,043 votes)
Hailie Kim: 4.94 percent of the vote (754 votes)
Jesse Laymon: 2.98 percent of the vote (455 votes)
Sultan Maruf: 1.67 percent of the vote (255 votes)
Brent O’Leary: 9.97 percent of the vote (1,522 votes)
Steven Raga: 3.03 percent of the vote (463 votes)
Emily Sharpe: 3.52 percent of the vote (537 votes)
Julie Won: 18.47 percent of the vote (2,818 votes)
Ebony Young: 6.61 percent of the vote (1,009 votes)
City Council District 27
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (99 percent of precincts reported):
Marie Adam-Ovide: 7.54 percent of the vote (1,326 votes)
Kerryanne Burke: 5.41 percent of the vote (952 votes)
Jason Myles Clark: 7.83 percent of the vote (1,378 votes)
Leroy Gadsden: 1.89 percent of the vote (333 votes)
Linda Guillebeaux, Esq.: 0.94 percent of the vote (166 votes)
Rene Hill: 10.15 percent of the vote (1,786 votes)
James Johnson: 11.86 percent of the vote (2,087 votes)
Al-Hassan Kanu: 8.37 percent of the vote (1,472 votes)
Harold C. Miller Jr.: 5.14 percent of the vote (904 votes)
Anthony Rivers: 3.11 percent of the vote (547 votes)
Jermaine Sean Smith: 1.98 percent of the vote (349 votes)
Nantasha Williams: 35.55 percent of the vote (6,254 votes)
City Council District 28
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (99 percent of precincts reported):
Adrienne E. Adams (incumbent): 56.14 percent of the vote (5,907 votes)
Japneet Singh: 19.23 percent of the vote (2,023 votes)
Ruben Wills: 24.18 percent of the vote (2,544 votes)
City Council District 29
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (95.58 percent of precincts reported):
David Aronov: 13.39 percent of the vote (1,806 votes)
Avi Cyperstein: 10.01 percent of the vote (1,350 votes)
Sheryl Fetik: 2.92 percent of the vote (394 votes)
Aleda Gagarin: 20.60 percent of the vote (2,778 votes)
Eliseo Labayen: 4.16 percent of the vote (561 votes)
Lynn Schulman: 22.07 percent of the vote (2,977 votes)
Douglas Shapiro: 7.43 percent of the vote (1,002 votes)
Edwin Wong: 7.76 percent of the vote (1,047 votes)
Donghui Zang: 11.40 percent of the vote (1,537 votes)
City Council District 30
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (98.40 percent of precincts reported):
Juan Ardila: 46.53 percent of the vote (3,868 votes)
Robert Holden (incumbent): 53.04 percent of the vote (4,409 votes)
City Council District 31
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (92 percent of precincts reported):
Selvena Brooks-Powers (incumbent): 68.16 percent of the vote (8,500 votes)
Nicole S. Lee: 12.44 percent of the vote (1,552 votes)
Nancy J. Martinez: 18.54 percent of the vote (2,312 votes)
City Council District 32
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES (98.41 percent of precincts reported):
Kaled A. Alamarie: 6.79 percent of the vote (601 votes)
Bella A. Matias: 7.93 percent of the vote (702 votes)
Michael G. Scala: 34.96 percent of the vote (3,094 votes)
Felicia Singh: 36.23 percent of the vote (3,206 votes)
Shaeleigh Severino: 2.50 percent (221 votes)
Helal A. Sheikh: 9.94 percent of the vote (880 votes)
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES (98.41 percent of precincts reported):
Joann Ariola: 82.08 percent of the vote (2,309 votes)
Stephen A. Sirgiovanni: 16.96 percent of the vote (477 votes)
This story was updated at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 23.
