Attention Mets fans: Primary Day in New York City is June 24 — not June 23.
You could be forgiven for getting your dates confused — since the wrong day was displayed on an electronic billboard at Citi Field during at least four baseball games.
The city’s Campaign Finance Board was responsible for the error. The agency oversees local campaigns and also has a voter outreach arm known as NYC Votes.
Timothy Hunter, a spokesperson for NYC Votes, said officials learned of the error after Gothamist alerted them to it Tuesday morning. He said the agency reached out to the stadium to correct the error immediately, which is a good thing since the Mets hosted the Chicago White Sox again Tuesday night (Mets won 6-4).
“NYC Votes is committed to sharing trustworthy election information with all New Yorkers,” Hunter said. “We take seriously any errors in our marketing and outreach materials and immediately corrected the stadium banner error after learning about it today.”
The screwball move looks even worse because a separate NYC Votes ad displaying the correct date ran on a different Citi Field e-billboard. A photo from Monday’s game captures the absurdity, with two NYC Votes ads near each other reminding voters about Primary Day — with two different dates.
June 23 is, in fact, the only day you CAN NOT vote, since it is the day after polls close for early voting, which runs June 14. Polls reopen for Primary Day, which – to reiterate – is June 24.
NYC Votes acknowledged that the information was displayed incorrectly from May 23 to May 26. That includes a three-game series against super-slugger Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers. (The Mets won that series, by the way).
Assuming the ad only ran incorrectly at Citi Field on those dates, at least 160,000 people could have seen the wrong election information. That’s a conservative estimate, relying on Monday’s attendance at a game against the lowly White Sox.
Among those in attendance for one of those games was Meg Cramer, a Mets fan from Queens and — full disclosure — former producer at WNYC.
“It was just such a dumb mistake,” Cramer said. “It's only the most important piece of information in the ad, right? It's like, what is the day that you can vote?”
NYC Votes currently has a $10 million contract with Fenton Communications LLC for “Multi-Channel Media Buying & Creative Services,” according to CheckbookNYC.
Jennifer Hahn, a spokesperson for Fenton, said the firm is proud of its partnership with the Campaign Finance Board and NYC Votes to educate millions of eligible voters in the city.
“The mistake you referenced has been corrected, and we are focused on continuing this vital awareness campaign,” Hahn said.
She said accurate voter information will be served up through various channels including on WNYC’s airwaves, Univision, and through sponsored ice cream trucks across all five boroughs.
NYC Votes is mailing old-school postcards to more than 3 million voters with primary election information. NYC Votes’ spokesperson said it also has a total of 250 digital ads that have reached more than 12 million devices.
Hopefully all of those ads contain the correct primary election date: June 24.
Ballot Box
This week we're wondering: Two candidates for New York City comptroller, Justin Brannan and Mark Levine, will debate each other for the first time Thursday on PIX11 at 7 p.m. Gothamist and WNYC will be covering. Who are you ranking first?
Last week we asked: Does Cuomo's reluctance to share a stage with rival candidates matter to you?
Here’s how you voted:
“It reeks of entitlement. He seems to be coasting on his name recognition and doesn't feel like he has to earn our votes.”
- Kate, Brooklyn
“Yes, it matters. His absence is reminiscent of the current president skipping his party’s primary debates. When a candidate refuses to share the stage, it raises questions about their leadership style and willingness to be held accountable. Voters deserve to see candidates engage directly, defend their policies, and respond to challenges—not just deliver rehearsed talking points in controlled settings.”
- Christine, Brooklyn
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