Queens sees lowest percentage of registered voters cast early ballots

Queens had the lowest percentage of early votes cast through the first three days of early voting.  Eagle file photo by David Brand

By Jacob Kaye

Queens voters just like to take their time with things, it seems.

As of Monday, around 18,300 voters in Queens had cast early ballots for the June 22 primary elections, according to the New York City Board of Elections. While that’s enough voters for third most in the city, comparing the ballots cast to the number of active registered voters tells a different story. 

With over 1.2 million active registered voters in the borough, Queens ranks dead last in the number of early votes cast, at around 1.4 percent, during the first three days of the early voting period. 

In Manhattan, around 2.75 percent of registered voters cast their ballots early. The borough also boasts the highest raw number of early votes, with 29,425. 

Brooklyn, which is home to more registered voters than any other borough in the city, has seen about 1.8 percent of its registered voters vote early. 

In Staten Island, home to the fewest number of registered voters, around 1.7 percent have voted early. 

And in the Bronx around 1.5 percent of voters have cast a ballot over a week before Election Day.

There’s still time for Queens to turn it around though – early voting runs through Sunday, June 20. Each of the three days of early voting through Monday have seen more ballots cast than the day prior. 

More than 250,000 people in Queens voted early during the November 2020 general elections, according to the BOE. At the current pace, Queens is expected to see around 48,800 early ballots cast. 

During the 2020 election, there were 18 early voting sites in Queens. This year, an additional early voting site at Queensborough Community College was added to the borough’s list. 

To find out where your early voting site is – remember, it may differ from your Election Day site – head to vote.nyc.