Brooklyn led the way in a record-breaking day of early voting on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers cast their ballots for the 2024 general election.
Across New York City, a whopping 140,145 people voted on Oct. 26, the first day of early voting, according to the Board of Elections. That’s more than has ever been recorded on the first day of early voting since it was implemented in 2019.
Brooklyn had the highest number of voters that day, with a total of 40,289 — followed by Manhattan with 38,237, Queens with 31,671, the Bronx with 16,462, and Staten Island with 13,486. The rush continued on Sunday, as an additional 117,702 people cast their ballots across the city. Brooklyn once again came out on top, with 36,744 voters on Oct. 27 for a weekend total of 77,033.
While Brooklyn’s raw numbers were impressive, they represented just about 3% of registered, active voters in the borough. While the overall number of voters elsewhere was lower, about 7% of active voters in Manhattan turned out over the weekend, and 4.9% in Queens.
Still, the numbers were record-breaking – more voters turned out on Saturday than on the first day of early voting in the 2020 general election. Last year, only 86,000 New Yorkers cast their ballots during the entire nine days of early voting.
Turnout may be driven by the contentious presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. While Harris has a comfortable lead in New York City and across the state, polls are much closer nationwide — as of Oct. 28, Harris was just slightly ahead of Trump, per the New York Times.
New Yorkers also have a number of more local choices to make in this election. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is running for reelection, as are a number of incumbent members of the House of Representatives — including Brooklyn’s U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader.
Brooklynites are also voting for a number of state Senate and Assembly races, some judgeships, and six ballot measures — Brooklyn Paper’s voter guide has more details.
Early voting will continue every day until Sunday, Nov. 3. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Voters can find their early voting site and a sample ballot on the BOE website.
