Olivia Brady Breaks Down NYC Voting: Register, Key Dates & Ballot Guide (13 Languages) + More

Olivia Brady Breaks Down NYC Voting: Register, Key Dates & Ballot Guide (13 Languages) + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
You know, we are always talking about the importance of
exercising your right to vote, but also being an educated
voter in the process. And today we have Olivia Brady
here with me.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
How are you, hi, Angela. Thank you so much for
having us.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm so excited now I have so many questions here
from NYC Votes New York City Votes. You are the
youth programs manager. You've been there for a few years now.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yes, I've been there for about seven years now.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, so you're the expert allegedly. Okay, listen own it. Yes, yes, okay,
So let's talk about NYC Votes and their role in
the New York City elections.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, so, NYC Votes is a really cool city agency.
So we're part of the New York City Campaign Finance Board,
which is a nonpartisan independent agency. So again, our goal
is never to tell you who to vote for. We're
just here to give New Yorkers the resources to be
informed and educated when they go to the polls. Another
thing that I'm really passionate about our office does is

(01:01):
we are required to do outreach to voters who have
typically been underserved or historically left out of the voting process,
which is awesome and so as the Youth programs manager,
my bucket is young people, so we run a paid
program for teens to help them get more engaged in
the process.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
You guys actually have a youth Ambassador program.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yes, yes, so our Youth and Master program is my
pride and joy. We just hired our seventh cohort, so
we'll be working with seventeen high school students who represent
all five boroughs, all different high schools, and they'll be
with us all summer, not only learning about how to vote,
how to get other people involved in the process, but

(01:40):
really approaching civic engagement from a holistic perspective. We're learning
about local history, We're learning about how government works and
how they can exert their power in that process.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
You know, it is a really critical time right now.
People have been talking about this Save Act, which is
not pasted right but it is something that we have
to make sure that we're cognizant of. We're paying attention
to what are some things that we need to know
right now, as far as making sure that we're registered
to vote, making sure we know when to vote, making
sure we know who's on the ballot. Where can we

(02:10):
find all that information?

Speaker 2 (02:11):
So if you forget everything we chatted about today, but
you remember NYC votes dot org, you will be good
to go. It is your one stop shop for any
sort of voting information that you might need, and it's
available in thirteen languages, so it's truly accessible. You can
find who and what is on your ballot on that site.
You can read about not only the candidates through our

(02:32):
voter guide, but what they actually do, like what does
the governor actually do? What does state Assembly and State
Center actually do? Our website will explain that to you
and in your language, which is super important.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, important again involved sometimes we're mad at the wrong
people were like, they're not in charge of search pricing,
that's not even their role. So it is important. Like
you said, what is on the ballot? What are some
dates first? Okay, first, I's start off with who are
we voting for right now? And what are the critical dates?

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Okay, so who are we voting for? It's a long list,
so bear with me. We've got governor, lieutenant governor, state Assembly,
state Senate, and there are many more positions as well.
Everyone should go to NYC votes dot org look up
who is on your ballot so you can really have
a good sense of who you're voting for. The really
important thing to remember is that it's a state election year,

(03:21):
so we're really focused on who's running the state of
New York. In terms of key dates, I'll start backwards
election day, So election day is June twenty third. That
is your absolute last day to vote. You can vote
in person that day. One awesome thing about New York
is that we have early voting.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
So if I always early vote, I need day, I'm
so much easier to get that. I never know what's
going to happen than final deadline day. I'm always like,
if there's an emergency, I want to make sure I
got my vote in Yes.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
And sometimes you get a special sticker if you vote early,
so that's like always a huge motivator for me. I
love my voting stickers and.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Papa Leon Instagram go viral okay, yes.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Tag NYC votes when you post it. So early voting
dates those are going to start on Saturday, June thirteenth,
and the last date to vote early is Sunday, June
twenty first. One key thing to keep in mind is
that your early voting location is usually different than your
election day site, so again everyone's going to go to
NYC votes dot org and they're going to look up
their poll site. They're going to read the voter guide

(04:21):
and make sure that you have the resources you need
to make a plan ahead of time. Don't procrastinate, make
sure you know what you're doing, where you're going, and
who you're voting for.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
It's always a thing for me and my boyfriend like voting.
We go vote, We go vote together all the time,
and we always are like, Okay, what time are we
going to go? We are we gonna do da da
da da da. But it's actually really fun. And then
we always go out to e f day.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yes, Oh my gosh, I do the same thing with
my fiance. That's always like our little fun voting date.
And something too that my students do is they're often
bridging the gap between civic knowledge between them and their families.
So they're often even if they're not old enough to
vote right. Because we're working with high schoolers, they're often
the ones who are like helping their parents do the research.
A lot of my students are first generation, so they

(05:04):
have parents that are naturalized citizens and didn't grow up
with the same type of civic education that we get
in New York City. So again just in terms of
like making voting a fun community event, like go with
your family, go with your friends, get your sticker, get
a snack afterwards, make it a little dick.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
And the other thing is to be prepared. And like
you said, if you go to NYC boas dot org,
you can find out what's on the ballots, so when
you go, you can just kind of run it through.
Is it ranked choice voting this time around?

Speaker 2 (05:32):
We are not using rank choice voting?

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (05:34):
We only use rank choice voting for special and primary
elections for local offices in New York City. So we're
at a state election yeer, not a local election. Yeer?

Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, good to Usie, I didn't even know that. Now,
how can we and we can go there also to
find out if we're registered.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, okay, literally everything you need is on NYC boots
dot org. And again it's in thirteen languages. Yes.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
What about non citizens? We know we've heard things about
and there's a lot of propagandas, so we want to
make sure we know what's true and what's not. If
you're not a citizen, are you eligible to vote?

Speaker 2 (06:07):
Only US citizens are eligible to vote at elections. So
if you have any questions about your eligibility, again, you
can go to NYC votes dot org to double check.
But you have to be eighteen and a US citizen
in order to vote. But one of the cool things
is if you are a teen, if you are sixteen
or older and you're a citizen, you can actually preregister
to vote. So that's another great way for teens to

(06:29):
get involved. The process for getting pre registered is exactly
the same as getting registered. It just means that you
can't vote until you're eighteen, but you're filling that paperwork
out now and getting it out of the way.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Okay, be early, be prepared. Yes, what are some of
the trends that you see with the youth when it
comes to voting, because we heart you know. I feel
like it's always talked about how important it is for
them to become involved, but how hard it is sometimes
for candidates to reach the younger voters because sometimes there
are some obstacles for them even understanding how they can

(07:01):
renchit to vote when they can vote what they need.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, I think that's why one of the programs that
our office runs, the NYC Foods Youth Ambassador program. It's
so important because in order to really make that cultural
shift and getting young people to vote, they don't need
to hear it from me or their families or their teachers.
They need to hear it from their peers.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Right.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
So part of what we really do with this Ambassador
program is training up the next generation of civic leaders
and making sure that they can be the ones who
are telling their friends, Hey, you really should get preregistered
to vote. Let me tell you why. The other piece
of this is that, in my experience, a lot of
people are not really taking the time to level with
young people and say, like, what's on your mind, Like

(07:42):
what are some of the issues you're seeing in your community,
and really explaining to them, bridging that gap between like
they're on the ground knowledge of like I have problems
in my school and my bus doesn't come on time,
you know, my rent is too high, and explaining to
them how government can impact those issues.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Right.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
So, one of the things I really do with my
students is talking about the budget. So we're talking about
the state budget this year because we're in a state election.
You know, my young people, they work, they pay taxes,
and they should be able to you know, have a
say in how those resources get allocated, whether it's through
voting when they turn eighteen or helping to get their
community involved.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
What would you say to the people who are like,
voting doesn't really matter, They've already decided what's going to happen.
There's people who feel like elections are fixed. There's people
who feel like, you know what, whoever's gonna win is
gonna win. What does my one little vote matter anyway?

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yes, I would say voting is one tool and your
toolkit to build the world you want to see. And
part of voting is being consistent. It's showing up every
year so that elected officials are seeing because they look
at the data on who votes. Right, elected officials do
and they tailor their policies on their platforms to really
cater to audiences who are turning out to vote. Right.

(08:55):
So when you and your community are consistently turning out
to vote, it's just one part of like really building
that world that you want to see and being engaged
in your community.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Right, is who you vote for public information?

Speaker 2 (09:08):
No, it is not.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Because I remember seeing some things. They like this person voted.
You know about celebrities and they'll talk about or what
about if you voted at all?

Speaker 2 (09:16):
So whether or not you voted is public information, but
who you vote for that is always private. Nobody knows
who you vote for. Okay, that is secure and safe information.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, well, good enough. I want to ask you lastly, Olivia,
why is it that you do this work? Why is
this important to you?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Thank you for that question. I remember when I was
growing up, my parents always took me to the PULL
site with them, and I just remember them instilling that
importance of you know, really making your voice heard, being
involved and as an adult, you know, being able to
be a mentor for my students and really helping them
see that they have power, that their voice matters. Our

(09:56):
teens are so frustrated right now, and being able to
pay that with you know, city resources and give them
decision making power and really help them feel like they
actually can make an impact in their community. It just
it's the greatest privilege of my life. I'm so lucky
to be here every day.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
I love that, you know what I want to ask too.
I was just talking about this. How could people volunteer
to like work at the polls? Can that get done? Yes?

Speaker 2 (10:24):
So if people are interested in being poll workers. That's
actually a paid position. You can go. Yeah, so you
actually have to go to the Board of Elections website
to find more about that. Our office does not administer elections.
We just provide the resources and information the Board of Elections.
They're the people who count the votes, run the poll sites,
all of that. So if you're interested in being a

(10:44):
poll worker, you know it's paid. It's a pretty.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Good Okay, Listen, I could use some extra cash and
also do my civic duty as well. Yeah, all right, well,
I appreciate you so much for coming through. And Randy,
we are having an NYC Votes party at coffee at
list People Dune June seventh. June seventh, we are locked in.
We're having a day party from twelve to four, So

(11:07):
come on out and meet the people from NYC Votes,
but also just have a good time because I think
it is important for us to all have these conversations
to make sure we know what's at risk, what we
can influence, because we do have the power to be
able to do that. And so the worst thing you
can do is not be involved.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Absolutely, yeah, and whether it's you know, even if you
are not eligible to vote, you know, people who are right,
encourage them to learn about what's on the ballot, help
them fill in the gaps between. You know, like I
don't know how to fill out my form, you can
always send them to NYC votes dot org. Another way
of supporting. And again, something I see my students do
all the time is every New Yorker has the right

(11:44):
to vote in their language, which is really key information.
And so you know, if you speak another language, you
can be an interpreter for someone that you care about
in your life. Again, you can take an interpreter to
the pool site with you. It just can't be a
union rap for your employer. But that's another great way
to get involved, even if you're not eligible.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
All right, good to know. What if you go and
go to NYC boats dot org and then see that
you're not registered or there's an issue.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
All you have to do again, I'm so glad you
brought this up, because everybody should be checking their voter
registration before every election. Even if you're someone who has
never missed an election, you gotta check it every time.
Every time you move, you've got to update. All you
have to do is fill out the form again. You
can do it online in less than five minutes. It
is super easy, straightforward and intuitive.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Okay, all right, well, no reason not to do it.
If you're listening right now, make sure you NYC. Make
sure you go to nyc boats dot org. Make sure
that you are registered to vote. Make sure you see
all the information I know who the candidates are, and
do your part