A Nail-Biter of an Election Cycle Draws to a Close as New York City’s Early Voting Period Begins
With just 10 days left until Election Day, New Yorkers flocked to polling places on the first day of the city’s early voting period that ends November 3.
Izaan Masud, a 19 year-old political science major at NYU, cast his first-ever vote in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood, saying “every election feels pivotal, but this one feels even more so, given the fact that there is a very real chance that Donald Trump could win this thing.”
The final New York Times/Siena College poll prior to the November 5 election day showed Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris both polling at 48 percent of the popular vote. This doesn’t bode well for Harris, as Democrats have historically led in the popular vote even when they lose the electoral college.
Painter Edie Nadelhaft outside of 50 Madison Street in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood after casting her early vote.
“I’m very upset that because people don’t think [Harris] is the perfect candidate, they feel like they can sit this one out. To me, that’s the epitome of privilege,” said painter Edie Nadelhaft, 62, a Philadelphia native who has lived in New York since 1988.
“When people all over this country and world have fought for the right to vote, you don’t get to sit out.”
While New York State’s electorate has voted blue in the last 9 elections, the Democrat advantage has diminished in the State’s major metropolis since last election, the Times/Siena poll shows. Though Harris still leads 66 percent to Trump’s 27 in New York City, the Democrats’ narrowed lead is a case study for the divide across the country.
“There’s a bit of a cognitive dissonance I feel in voting for Harris,” said Masud, 19, of his voting choice, who he said is not his ideal Democratic candidate.
“Either way, I know she’s going to win the state. But I’d rather vote for the status quo, for a bit of stability, than for the alternative — which is Project 2025.”
Democrats have warned constituents about Project 2025’s proposed massive expansion of federal power and extreme right-wing policies penned by over 100 organizations, some of which included former Trump administration officials. Trump’s campaign has distanced itself from the 900-page conservative plan, and the former president claims he “knows nothing about it.”
First-time voter Izaan Masud shows an equation he learned in political science class that seeks to explain whether or not a member of the electorate will vote. Masud says voters, whether they realize it or not, weigh the probability of their vote mattering in an election and how much effort it takes to cast a vote.
Though the New York state election polls have shown a small shift in local attitudes, the presidential race will likely be decided in the seven battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Recent polls in these states reflect a dead heat between Trump and Harris.
Debbie-Ann Solomon, an immigrant from Jamaica who lives in a shelter around the corner from the Two Bridges’ 50 Madison Street Coalition for the Homeless facility-turned polling place, has been following the election closely and says wishes she could vote this year.
“My family from Saint-Ann’s, where Ms. Harris’ dad is from. That girl know poorness, she know suffering. Mr. Trump—he is wicked. Kamala to the world, man,” said Solomon, 54, who is awaiting asylum status in New York City.
