Bloomberg-Quinn Opponents Make a Turnout Argument

[img_assist|nid=114|title=Vote here.|desc=Getty Images|link=none|align=left|width=420|height=214]One of the more nuanced arguments against Michael Bloomberg's bid to get the City Council to change the term-limits law goes like this: if more people cast votes in the City Council election than in the two term-limits referendums, the Council has the mandate to change the law.

So Gene Russianoff of NYPIRG crunched the numbers on voter turnout for both referendums and the 2005 City Council election and discovered they were about the same.

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Russianoff says his calculation bolsters the argument that the Council does not have the mandate to ethically overturn term limits.

According to Russianoff's calculations, "An average of 30.9% of registered voters cast ballots in the 51 Council races in 2005, less than the 31% voter participation in the 1993 term limits referenda and the 33.3% in the 1996 term-limits referenda."

Here are more numbers from Russianoff: 

 

Manhattan

1 (Gerson)                        25230/84055 = 30%

2 ( Mendez)                      29986/103,28 = 29%

3  (Quinn)                         32001/109,552 = 29.2%

4  (Garodnick)                  38833/104,683 = 37.1%

5  (Lappin)                        36720/97,863 = 37.5%

6  (Brewer)                        41325/114,341 = 36.1%

7  (Jackson)                      15794/86,486 = 18.2%

8  (Mark-Viverito) 28511/97,623 = 29.2%

9  (Dickens)                      30135/94,794 = 31.8%

10  (Martinez)                   20438/65,234 = 31.3%

The Bronx

Queens

Brooklyn

Staten Island