Public Employee Press: PEP Talk
State primaries undetermined as COVID-19 impacts voting
By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
The New York Primary that took place on June 23 was unique for many reasons and results are still pending.
As elections go, candidate for US. President Joe Biden swept the contest and won 67.7 percent of Democratic voters’ support. He also leads the polls to beat the incumbent, Pres. Donald J. Trump in November. AFSCME, DC 37’s national union has endorsed Biden.
Due to concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19 at polling sites, months before the June 23 election Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the state Board of Elections to mail out absentee ballots in the wake of the pandemic. Nearly two million ballots were sent to voters across the state.
The union through email and its website, urged members to use mail-in ballots and early voting to support its roster of progressive and labor-friendly candidates.
“DC 37 volunteers made tens of thousands of calls and text messages and launched a social media campaign to support our endorsed candidates,” said DC 37 Political Director Jeremy John.
As PEP talk went to press, all ballots were not counted, and few primary winners were officially called. It remains to be seen whether many or all of the union’s endorsed candidates will go on to the general election in November.
