As the polls closed last night, elected officials ripped into the Board of Elections for what they perceived to be a lack of preparation and an inability to make adjustments. “We’ve had complaints from constituents where districts have changed,” City Councilman David Greenfield said. “In one case, a constituent had been sent to three different polling locations, we confirmed where he had to go and they said ‘sorry you’re not in the books’ and he’d been coming there for 20… [More]

With Election Day rapidly approaching, the devastation from Hurricane Sandy could have residual consequences that may alter the outcome of local and federal elections. With many polling sites still without power and thousands of residents displaced due to flooding and damage to their homes, the New York City Board of Elections has been scrambling to come up with solutions that would allow voters to cast their ballot. With its Lower Manhattan offices incapacitated due to power outages and flooding, the… [More]

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries soundly defeated Charles Barron 72 percent to 28 percent yesterday with broad support throughout Central and East Brooklyn. But he appears to have really clobbered Barron in the southern tier of the district, which includes Coney Island, Seagate, and Brighton Beach,  helping Jeffries run up his bigger-than-expected margin of victory. Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny gushed at the returns from election districts at several poll sites that he was monitoring, where the Jeffries camp reported dominating voting totals of… [More]

* Cynical pols deliver conventional wisdom that voters don’t care about redistricting, but don’t tell that to New York City Council candidate Benjamin Kallos. The East Side aspirant for Councilwoman Jessica Lappin’s seat is holding a fundraiser next month featuring Mark Favors, lead plaintiff in the Favors v. Cuomo lawsuit challenging the state’s method of drawing new lines. It’s a natural issue for Kallos, executive director of Bill Samuels’ New Roosevelt Initiative, though he acknowledged it’s an unusual draw for… [More]

* Brooklyn Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny did nothing yesterday to dispel the strong rumors he is all but certain to run for the City Council seat being vacated by the term-limited Domenic Recchia. He said he expects to have Recchia’s support if he runs, and would likely get strong support in the district. Brook-Krasny is New York’s first Russian-born state lawmaker, and would be the first Russian-born City Council member – both strong selling points in the heavily Russian district that… [More]