Only a fraction of city electorate voted. What motivated those who did?

Posted September 11, 2013 By The New York World & Columbia Journalism School

With about 1 percent of votes citywide left to count from Tuesday’s primary, 646,774 votes for New York City mayor have been tallied from Democrats, and another 56,763 from Republicans. It sounds like a lot. But in fact just 20 percent of registered Democrats turned out to vote, and only 11 percent of Republicans.

What motivated the dedicated few who did turn out to the polls? Columbia Journalism School students surveyed New York City voters outside polling sites during the primary election on Sept. 10, 2013, and asked them: “What is the #1 reason you came to the polls today?” Here’s what voters said.

Reported by Adrian Bonenberger, Pierre Bienaimé, Ahmed Aboul Enein, Andrea Hilbert, Annie P. Waldman, Aparna Alluri, Clayton Erwin, Caelainn Barr, Ruth Michaelson, Cecile Schilis-Gallego, Chen Wu, Charlotte Greenfield, Charlotte Keith, Daniel Drepper, Julien Gathelier, Charlotte Phillips, Maya Srikrishnan, Hope King, James Grebey, Jen Huizen, Jessica Philipps, Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein, John Ismay, Jonetta Badillo, Julia Harte, John Ismay, Julie Cerullo, Nick Nehamas, Kali Kotoski, Sara O’Brien, Laura Rosenfeld, Lingxi Kong, Lucia De Stefani, Sarah Jorgensen, Maddie Cummings, Jamie Lisanti, Margot Haddad, Jame Grebey, Matt Collette, Melissa Hirsch, Mike Mott, Johannes Musial, Nick Smith, Niina Heikkinen, Lucia De Stefani, Olivia Crellin, Rishi Iyengar, Steven Rosenbaum, Ruth Michaelson, Surane Weerasinghe, Ye Ming, Thomas Shomaker, Yasmeen Al-Shawwa, Raymond Yeldidong Bayor, Freja Dam, Kurumi Fukushima, Patricia Marielle Guerra, Priyanka Gupta, Benjamin James Hulac, Felice Leon, Micah Luxen, Sumithra Naidoo, Natalie Rahhal, Malcolm Tyler and
Natalie Weiner.

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<h1>Only a fraction of city electorate voted. What motivated those who did?</h1><p>With about 1 percent of votes citywide left to count from Tuesday’s primary, 646,774 votes for New York City mayor have been tallied from Democrats, and another 56,763 from Republicans. It sounds like a lot. But in fact just 20 percent of registered Democrats turned out to vote, and only 11 percent of Republicans.</p>
<p>What motivated the dedicated few who did turn out to the polls? Columbia Journalism School students surveyed New York City voters outside polling sites during the primary election on Sept. 10, 2013, and asked them: “What is the #1 reason you came to the polls today?” Here’s what voters said.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://thenewyorkworld.com/public/2013/09/nyw-prmary-quotes/index.php" height="270" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<p><em>Reported by Adrian Bonenberger, Pierre Bienaimé, Ahmed Aboul Enein, Andrea Hilbert, Annie P. Waldman, Aparna Alluri, Clayton Erwin, Caelainn Barr, Ruth Michaelson, Cecile Schilis-Gallego, Chen Wu, Charlotte Greenfield, Charlotte Keith, Daniel Drepper, Julien Gathelier, Charlotte Phillips, Maya Srikrishnan, Hope King, James Grebey, Jen Huizen, Jessica Philipps, Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein, John Ismay, Jonetta Badillo, Julia Harte, John Ismay, Julie Cerullo, Nick Nehamas, Kali Kotoski, Sara O’Brien, Laura Rosenfeld, Lingxi Kong, Lucia De Stefani, Sarah Jorgensen, Maddie Cummings, Jamie Lisanti, Margot Haddad, Jame Grebey, Matt Collette, Melissa Hirsch, Mike Mott, Johannes Musial, Nick Smith, Niina Heikkinen, Lucia De Stefani, Olivia Crellin, Rishi Iyengar, Steven Rosenbaum, Ruth Michaelson, Surane Weerasinghe, Ye Ming, Thomas Shomaker, Yasmeen Al-Shawwa, </em><em>Raymond Yeldidong Bayor, Freja Dam, Kurumi Fukushima, Patricia Marielle Guerra, Priyanka Gupta, Benjamin James Hulac, Felice Leon, Micah Luxen, </em><em>Sumithra Naidoo, Natalie Rahhal, Malcolm Tyler and</em><em><br />
Natalie Weiner.</em></p>

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