Nov 8, 2024
Unite New York, a nonprofit, nonpartisan movement focused on engaging and empowering voters on important issues of reform, released a statement on the 2024 election and detailed analysis, as well as key takeaways from Election Day.
Unite NY’s Executive Director Timothy Dunn made the following statement about this year’s Election Day:
“There are plenty of lessons to be learned from this year’s election, and it actually started before so-called Election Day. Early voting saw an increase of nearly half a million votes compared to 2020. New Yorkers want to vote on their own time and early voting meets that need. We need our state lawmakers to recognize that to boost voter turnout and engagement, we need to make important changes to the voting process. That includes more ballot initiatives like we saw on this year’s ballot. Proposal 1, along with the presidential election are two of the reasons why 64% of voters turned out to the poll. And while that number was higher than 2022, voter turnout in 2024 was actually lower than 2020. If New York wants to get serious about ending voter apathy, we need give people a reason to go to the polls and that starts with important reforms like term limits, rank choice voting, and perhaps most importantly, allowing all voters to participate in primaries. We look forward to partnering with our state lawmakers willing to embrace these reforms and improving democracy in New York.”
Here are some additional key data points from this year’s election and attached you will find detailed analysis of voter turnout based on publicly available information from the New York State Board of Elections.
- In 2024: 800,000 fewer votes were cast for President in New York compared to 2020
- Kamala Harris won New York State by a margin of 54.64-43.27 (11%), despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 2-1.
- Prop 1 was approved by a margin of 56.58-34.94 (22%)
- Few races were competitive:
-
- Just 3 (of 26) House Races were decided by less than 5% of the vote. The most expensive house primary in history in June resulted in a near 40% win for the democratic nominee.
- Just 2 (of 63) State Senate races were decided by less than 5% of the vote, with nearly 1/3 uncontested (19 of 63 with no opponents) and the 2/3 with competition saw an average margin of victory of 24%.
- Only 11 (of 150) Assembly races were decided by less than 5% of the vote, with more than 1/3 uncontested (57 out of 150 with no opponents) and the 2/3 with competition seeing an average margin of victory of 27%
- More competitive elections entice more people to cast their vote
- Nearly 40% of ballots cast for President featured undervotes down the ballot, with lower participation rates In 95 of the 249 down-ballot House and State Legislature races.
About Unite NY
Unite NY is a movement focused on engaging and empowering voters on important issues of reform that will allow for more voices and more choices and ultimately, more democracy. The membership organization seeks a more fair, open, and representative democracy that results in the voice of voters being heard by evolving the electoral system so that officials put what more voters want ahead of party interests. Learn more at UniteNY.org.
