2012 Elections
Confusion in Parkchester, Other Bronx Sites
City Limits |
“They never notified us. This is about losing our votes. People are getting discouraged,”
“They never notified us. This is about losing our votes. People are getting discouraged,”
The shoreline neighborhood is pocket of conservatism in the heavily Democratic Bronx. A majority of the voters here voted for McCain in
the 2008 election.
William Gensert has a national following as a conservative blogger opposed to President Obama. In his deeply Democratic neighborhood, however, he avoids talking politics.
The seaside community is one of the few areas of the Bronx where John McCain prevailed in 2008. A survey of voters found both admiration and disdain for President Obama’s time in office.
The presidential contest isn’t the only story this campaign season: Concern about voter disenfranchisement is another. One group will be employing a specially designed app to prevent any miscarriage in the Bronx.
With voter registration drives, phone banks and an election-night party, the Bronx Young Democrats are trying not just to win votes for President Obama, but to get young citizens engaged in the process.
Their immigrant enclave in the Parkchester section is heavily Democratic, but a few voters are wondering if the slow economy is reason to consider a vote for Mitt Romney.
At Bronx Community College, some students took on candidates’ roles for a debate, and teachers are seeing a mixture of apathy and interest among other voters on campus.
The Bronx went solidly for the Democrat in 2008 and likely will back him by a large margin this year. But according to one Democratic pol, that doesn’t mean people are satisfied with the president, especially when it comes to his “urban agenda.”
This is the first presidential election for the new optical scan voting machines, and they’ll be put to the test in the Bronx, where in 2010 nearly a third of votes were lost because of incorrect marking.