Both Democratic and Republican candidates for Queens DA have blank voter guides

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BOROUGH PRESIDENT MELINDA KATZ, THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR DA (RIGHT), AND DEFENSE ATTORNEY JOE MURRAY, THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE MURRAY; PHOTO COURTESY OF BOROUGH HALL

BOROUGH PRESIDENT MELINDA KATZ, THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR DA (RIGHT), AND DEFENSE ATTORNEY JOE MURRAY, THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE MURRAY; PHOTO COURTESY OF BOROUGH HALL

By Victoria Merlino

Less than one month out from the Queens District Attorney election, both Democratic nominee Melinda Katz and Republican nominee Joseph Murray do not have voter guides up on the New York City Campaign Finance Board website, which could pose a problem for voters looking to know more about the candidates. 

The New York City Campaign Finance Board provides short guides for voters to better understand candidates, usually including a short video, the candidate’s top three issues, a candidate statement and qualifications. Voters are directed to view these guides through Campaign Finance Board’s voter information site voting.nyc.

The majority of candidates running for other positions that will be on the ballot Nov. 5 — namely public advocate and a City Council seat in Brooklyn — have their completed guides up. However, as of press time, both Katz and Murray’s guides are blank. 

Murray told the Eagle that he only recently learned about the voter guide both on the Campaign Finance Board website and on another voter resource website, Ballotpedia, and said that someone on his campaign was working on getting guides up soon.

“Somebody pointed it out to me today,” Murray said. 

A spokesperson for Katz opted not to give a comment for this story. Katz also did not complete a voter guide while running during the Democratic primary for Queens DA. 

Matt Sollars, a spokesperson for the NYC Campaign Finance Board, confirmed to the Eagle that the deadline has passed for getting candidate guides up on the website.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that all voter guides would now be dubbed in sign language to increase the information’s accessibility to deaf New Yorkers.  

“A strong democracy requires an engaged constituency,” de Blasio said in a statement. “We want all New Yorkers to stand up, get involved and vote for the issues they care about most. The new voter guides in American Sign Language will allow more people to do just that.”