[Spotted on Avenue C and Seventh Street]
As you may have heard... the midterm elections are today... and in NYC, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Board of Elections has this site for you to find your polling location.
Aside from all the various races — WNYC has a guide to the candidates here — there are three ballot measures for NYC voters:
Proposal 1: Campaign Finance
This proposal would lower the amount that a candidate for city office may accept from a contributor to their campaign, increase the amount of public funds available to participating candidates, and make public funds available earlier. Candidates in the 2021 election would have the choice of whether or not to have the new limits apply to them.
Proposal 2: Civic Engagement Commission
This proposal would create a Civic Engagement Commission that would centralize civic engagement initiatives, create a citywide participatory budgeting program, assist community boards, and provide language interpreters throughout the city on Election Day.
Proposal 3: Community Boards
This proposal would change how community boards throughout the city are run, by imposing term limits on appointees, changing the application and appointment process for community board members, and require the Civic Engagement Commission (if Question 2 is approved) to provide resources to community boards.
Term limits for Community Boards is of particular interest... Curbed has an explainer here looking at the argument for and against term limits. (FWIW: The Orchard Street Block Association is for term limits.)
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UPDATED 11/7: All three ballot measures were approved by voters.
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For inspiration, longtime New Yorker contributor Roger Angell is 98 and legally blind, and he's voting today. Read his latest essay here.
And lastly... there are numerous voting-related deals today ... including a free day pass from Citi Bike (if you download the app) ... or 10-percent off (with an I Voted sticker) at Academy Records on 12th Street and Limited To One Record Store on 10th Street... or a free coffee at Black Seed Bagels on First Avenue... at the UCB Theatre on Avenue A, you can show your I Voted sticker to their box office staff to get in for free to any show tonight (subject to venue capacity)...