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What New York City Voters Need to Know About the June Primary Elections


voting in new york during coronavirus

What voters need to know to vote in June (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


The images of Wisconsin voters standing in line last month starkly illustrated how COVID-19 has triggered a health emergency for our democracy. Here in New York, elections have been postponed or canceled in response to the pandemic. We are taking the first steps towards voting in a new way, via mail-in absentee ballots. With all of these rapid changes, it is no wonder voters are confused about what steps they can take to cast a vote safely and help maintain the health of our democratic system.

In response to these unprecedented circumstances, the Mayor’s DemocracyNYC Initiative and the NYC Votes/Campaign Finance Board have convened a consortium of community-based organizations, good government groups, and advocates to get the word out about voting safely to the hardest-hit communities. Our goal is to make sure voters in these underrepresented communities have the information they need to make use of absentee voting as a safe and effective alternative.

Here is the critical guidance New Yorkers need to safely exercise their right to vote -- and to keep our democracy healthy -- on June 23.

First, all eligible voters may cast a ballot by mail. To do so, city voters must request an absentee ballot by June 16. The Board of Elections will mail voters an absentee ballot application this month with a postage-paid return envelope. But there is no reason to wait. We encourage as many voters as possible to request an application online. Requests can be made online at a new website created by the city’s Board of Elections: nycabsentee.com. The application is now available in Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, and Korean.

Absentee ballots will not be mailed out to all voters; only voters who request an absentee ballot will receive one. Thanks to an executive order from Governor Cuomo, anyone who wants to vote absentee due to the coronavirus pandemic should indicate “temporary illness” as the reason for requesting a ballot.

Voting by mail is a safe and effective way to exercise the right to vote during this public health crisis. Governor Cuomo’s executive order allowing all voters to cast a mail-in ballot means New Yorkers will not face the awful choice between voting and protecting their own health that voters in Wisconsin were forced to make.

As New York contemplates re-opening, in-person voting will be available for the voters who need it. The best way to vote in-person is during the early voting period, June 13-21, when fewer people will be at the poll sites. For the health and safety of everyone, especially poll workers, those who can should vote by mail-in ballot.

The second critical point is that primary elections are happening, whether the Democratic presidential primary is held or not (that matter is currently being decided by the courts). Important primary races for Congress, State Legislature, and municipal offices will be decided on June 23. The vast majority of neighborhoods across the city will have at least one primary contest on that absentee ballot.

To vote in most primary elections, voters must be enrolled in the party holding the primary under rules set by the parties. The state’s look-up tool (voterlookup.elections.ny.gov) is the best way to check whether your voter registration and party affiliation status makes you eligible to vote in a primary.

While the path is clear to vote safely by mail in June, we are concerned that New Yorkers will not have that option in November. Governor Cuomo’s order making the risk of contracting coronavirus a valid excuse for voting absentee will expire after the primary election. These changes should be considered for future elections to allow safe and secure voting in November.

Voters should not have to choose between health and enjoying the privileges of citizenship. In time of crisis, it is critical New Yorkers participate in choosing who will lead our city in the coming months and years of rebuilding. We urge all eligible voters to request a mail-in ballot and be a part of making those critical choices on June 23.

The undersigned civic leaders are launching a nonpartisan outreach campaign this week to guide New York voters through the 2020 elections. New Yorkers can request an absentee ballot for the June primaries online at www.nycabsentee.com. To request a ballot by phone, or for help with voting questions, call the Board of Elections hotline 866-VOTE-NYC (1-866-868-3692).

Name

Title

Organization

Wayne Ho

President & CEO

Chinese-American Planning Council (CEC)

Betsy Gotbaum

Executive Director

Citizens Union

Prof. Ester Fuchs

Director

Columbia University, WhosOntheBallot

Edward Cuesta

Executive Director

Dominicanos USA

Eliana Santos

Director

Dominicanos USA

Laura Ladd Bierman 

Executive Director

League of Women Voters of NYS

Karen Cummings

Community & Govt Affairs Liaison

LiveOnNY

Laura Wood

Senior Advisor & General Counsel

Mayor's DemocracyNYC Initiative

Bitta Mostofi

Commissioner

Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs

John Park

Executive Director

MinKwon Center for Community Action

Amy Loprest

Executive Director

NYC Campaign Finance Board

Dr. Sarah Sayeed

Chair & Executive Director

NYC Civic Engagement Commission

Megan Ahearn

Program Director

NYPIRG

David Estrada

Executive Director

Sunset Park Business Improvement District

Jarret Berg

Co-Founder

VoteEarlyNY

***
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Let’s Thank All Caregivers, Not Just the Most Visible


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Thanking all caregivers is essential amid the pandemic (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


Long-term care is the fastest growing sector within the health-care industry in New York City, and with 1.2 million New Yorkers now over the age of 65, it will only continue to grow in size and importance over the next 10 years.

Nevertheless, this vital health-care workforce remains largely invisible as most paid long-term care services are provided by direct care workers to homebound individuals. Sadly, when it comes to long-term care, out of sight often means out of mind.

It’s time for our direct care workers — including home health aides, personal care attendants, direct support professionals, and certified nursing assistants — to get the respect and support they deserve. As the lowest-paid workers in the health-care system, typically earning just $21,000 a year, they perform strenuous, isolated work, often without benefits or opportunities for advancement.

Predominantly people of color and immigrants, they too have been rising to the challenge as they continue to care for hundreds of thousands of older people and people with disabilities in their homes and in nursing facilities through the COVID-19 pandemic.

These efforts have clearly helped to reduce the surge in hospitals. Yet, unlike doctors and nurses, who have deservedly received public recognition for their sacrifices, direct care workers have largely been left out of the conversation.

Despite these systemic challenges, there have been some signs of progress amid the COVID-19 pandemic. New York City has designated direct care workers as essential workers, is helping to supply them with personal protective equipment, has opened testing centers for these workers, and has made them eligible for hotel rooms should they need to self-isolate. Recently, the city partnered with One Medical to offer COVID-19 testing and telehealth services, and will prioritize 1199SEIU members and essential workers, many of whom work in long-term care.

Before COVID-19 challenged our systems, city government partnered with the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) to convene direct care providers, trade associations, and Local 1199SEIU (which represents approximately 103,000 direct care workers) to better understand and elevate the value of direct care workers in long-term care.

The strategies we developed to address training and recruitment, career pathways, better integration of direct care workers in health-care systems, improved Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates, and expanded rights and resources for the direct care workforce are more important than ever before. There is a lot of work left for us to do and it will not be easy. But in the interim, let’s start with the number one issue identified by both workers and providers: Respect.

As COVID-19 forces the nation to rethink and reform its approach to health care, direct care workers must be included as a critical part of a reimagined health-care system. For now, let us celebrate New York City’s direct care workers, and thank them for their service.

***
J. Phillip Thompson is New York City Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS, is President of The New York Academy of Medicine. On Twitter @NYCMayorsOffice, @DrJudySalerno, & @NYAMNYC.

***
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A Bad Deal at the Municipal Credit Union


cdannydromm council testing

Council Member Dromm, the author (photo: William Alatriste/New York City Council)


As we confront the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, millions of residents face serious financial insecurity, and are worried about how they are going to pay their bills. They are worried about themselves and their loved ones getting sick or not being able to work due to the social distancing regulations in place.

For workers at Municipal Credit Union, the largest credit union in New York, the crisis has only made recent negotiations between management and the union representing them worse. 

Over 500,000 city workers depend on MCU for their banking needs, including mortgages, car loans, and checking and savings accounts. Nearly 400 union MCU workers are working hard to ensure that New Yorkers have access to their finances at this crucial and challenging time, but they are also facing the risk of exposure. They need to be assured protection and treatment should they get sick. Many MCU employees have reported that they are not being supplied with enough masks, forcing them to reuse the ones they do get and putting them at higher risk of contraction. 

While all of this goes on, I understand from the workers that MCU management is now attempting to take away sick days, increase health-care premiums, and raise deductibles. These decisions will cost MCU families thousands of dollars more each year to ensure they have access to health care. It is another attempt in a long line of recent actions by MCU management to weaken employee rights. Recent layoffs without union agreement have also meant that there is even less staff to handle the important work that must be done at this moment. 

Last year when the New York State Department of Financial Services took possession of MCU following massive embezzlement by the CEO, things were supposed to turn around. However, they have only gotten worse for hardworking employees. Following the Department's appointment of the National Credit Union Association as conservator and its appointment of the Consultant Management Team to help operate the credit union through conservatorship, Jackson Lewis, a law firm known for their union-busting tactics, was hired. 

Over the last few months, the union has repeatedly requested the ability to bargain over multiple days, and so far there has been refusal to bargain more than one day a week. There have also been questions about Jackson Lewis’ authority to bargain, and when union representatives asked about this authority, the attorney’s response was that the union should file an unfair labor practice charge. These kinds of tactics are hurting workers everyday, making it more difficult for them to provide the essential services needed.

While MCU employees make sure that New Yorkers can walk into a branch and take out money to pay their bills, high-priced attorneys are making thousands of dollars with the goal of permanently damaging workers’ rights. It is just not right.

We face extraordinarily difficult times, and the hardworking OPEIU members who make up MCU should not have to worry about sick time during this COVID-19 pandemic, or their health-care and jobs. It is time for the NCUA, CMT, and MCU management to do the right thing and put an end to these attempts to slash sick time and increase health-care premiums at a time when these essential workers are needed more than ever.

***
City Council Member Daniel Dromm represents parts of Queens and is the Council’s finance chair. On Twitter @Dromm25.

***
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