By Virginia Villa
The New York Primary today is the focal point of the current presidential campaign as it has the potential to make or break the remaining candidates. Both Democratic candidates have strong ties to the empire state; Senator Bernie Sanders was born and raised in Brooklyn while Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served as New York’s first female United States Senator from 2001 to 2009. On the Republican side, Donald Trump too was born and raised in New York and runs the majority of his business out of New York City.
Many of the candidates have been using the term “New York values” in attempt to either dissuade New Yorkers from voting for their opponents or to garner great support in the state they have close ties to. While ties to New York may be seem like a good thing, it does have one key drawback. The candidate or candidates with ties to New York who lose the primary will face incredible difficult recovering from such a loss, or may not be able to recover at all.
In past years, New York has not been given very much attention during the primaries and caucuses in comparison to states like New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, and Ohio. The newfound limelight is motivating many New Yorkers who normally might not vote in the primary election to cast their ballots as they begin to understand the impact their vote will have on what is to come later down the line.
The last poll closes in New York at 6:00 PM EST, so Americans may have an idea of the winners and losers long before the night is over. The early closing time, however, has lead to controversial among constituents who believe it to be unfair, as they do not have enough time to make it to the polls as residents of some other states. There have also been issues with broken ballot machines at various locations in New York, causing delays in the voting process and making it more difficult to get in as many votes as possible. Additionally, the process for registering to vote in New York has come under attack as two of Donald Trump’s children failed to register in time for the primary and are thus unable to vote for their own father. In New York, registration applications need to be received a few weeks ahead of the primary election, otherwise the applicant will not be eligible to vote.