This is it, Bushwick.
There are four days until the midterm elections, and it’s time to pull out all the stops to make sure that the eligible voters in your life get out and vote.
Gothamist just released a handy “Does Your Block Vote?” map that makes it super easy to figure out whether your neighbors showed up to the polls in the last gubernatorial midterm election, which took place in 2014. According to the map, most blocks in Bushwick received either a D, F, or F- for voter participation, so there’s plenty of room for improvement.
In 2016, which was a general election year, Bushwick’s voter turnout was about average. According to Data2Go, 52.3 percent of eligible Bushwick voters showed up to the polls, which was the same rate of voter turnout citywide. The average rate for Brooklyn was slightly lower, coming in closer to about 50 percent.
Tuesday’s elections are expected to bring increased voter turnout nationwide, but the bar isn’t all that high. Almost three times as many people voted in New York City’s 2018 Democratic primary compared with the same election in 2014. Even though this shattered voter turnout records, it still means that only a meager 27 percent of registered Democrats actually voted.
The good news is that we all have the power to make this one of the most engaged elections in recent history, so get out and vote! And, do what you can to make sure your neighbors, friends, and relatives do, too. Hang up signs in your building. Bribe your neighbors with promises of baked goods and leftover Halloween candy. And, most importantly, don’t be afraid to be (slightly) annoying in the name of democracy.
So that’s your fast fact of the week, Bushwick! Have a question about the neighborhood that you want us to try and answer using data? Leave a comment below!
Cover image courtesy of Heather Mount