Students conduct exit polls on South Shore

Wednesday, November 09,2005
By TEVAH PLATT - ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

They were too young to cast their votes, but Tottenville High School's Young Democrats participated in the democratic process yesterday by conducting unofficial exit polls outside five South Shore voting sites.

A one-page survey completed by 150 Islanders asked for whom they voted and why.

"Trying to help the community begins with understanding what the community needs," said Ahmed Kokon, 17, the club's president.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, the Young Democrats' numbers showed Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Councilman Andrew Lanza winning by significant margins. But a tight race for the borough presidency had 54 percent of those polled in favor of Democratic challenger John Luisi, with 46 percent backing James Molinaro.

"People who voted for Bloomberg said he was the most qualified for the position," Kokon said. "Luisi's supporters said he was positive, and represented people like them."

The pollsters found that overdevelopment and transportation were the most salient local issues on voters' minds as they cast their ballots, while the mayoral race may have hinged on school reform and "commercial issues that might help or hurt New York City," Kokon said.

While 89 percent of those surveyed opposed NASCAR's establishment on Staten Island, citizens were split evenly on having Wal-Mart in the borough.

"A lot of people voted only for mayor, because they didn't know enough about local politics, or couldn't get to know the candidates as much as they would have liked," said Kokon.

Club members designed the survey together and chose a sampling of voting sites in politically diverse communities.

"A lot of people asked why we were there if we were too young to vote," said Kokon, adding that some officials at PS 4 in Arden Heights, and Elks Lodge, Greenridge, thinking the teens didn't belong there, asked them to leave.

But the Young Democrats, identifying themselves as a government class, persisted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. yesterday. They were fueled by candy, Kokon said.

"Teens need a voice and you have to start somewhere. We want to be the future leaders," said Kokon, who favors lowering the voting age to 16, beginning with local elections, and believes teens would have strongly favored Luisi. "I feel frustrated about not being able to vote. Age doesn't make you 'smart enough.' You vote if you care."