Exclusive | NYCs political witches will cast spells for cast ballots at Village Halloween Parade

They’re spreading a little hocus POTUS.Witches Vote will be taking their broomsticks to the 51st annual Village Halloween Parade hoping to “cast spells for cast ballots.”The “coven of voting witches” was founded by Mari Gustafson, the self-proclaimed Witch of Wall Street, who said that Oct.31 is the perfect time to deliver their political message ahead of Election Day — “that voting can be fun.”“I think elections make people nervous and a little sad and I wish they didn’t feel that way,” she told The Post.“Witches believe in the alchemy of democracy and that every vote is magical.

In 2020, I voted dressed as a witch.”Gustafson launched her group in 2022.She predicts that 20 to 50 New Yorkers will show up to march in the parade with Witches Vote, including “really crazy creative women, a lot of art teachers and people who work in animation.”Men will also join in on the black magic.“You can be a male witch, you could be a warlock, you could be a wizard,” she explained.

“We’re open to all genders.”This year, 70,000 people are expected to march in the Halloween Parade, which runs along Sixth Avenue from Spring Street to 15th Street, and another million will watch from the sidelines, Jeanne Fleming, the parade’s artistic and producing director, told The Post.Four million will also tune in on television, since it is broadcast on NY1.The theme of this year’s parade is “Meow!” and is billed as celebrating “the inner Cat Lady in everyone,” a reference to the remark Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance made in 2021.Gustafson said she and her costumed crew, whom she called “the OG Cat Ladies,” will fit right in.

“I have two cats and I have never been married,” she said.Gustafson, a native of Denver, Colo., plans to wear a huge cat head to the parade....