The New York State primaries — elections that might help determine the fate of the city’s subways, schools and housing and maybe even Donald Trump’s presidency — are on Thursday, Sept. 13. That’s right, a Thursday.

The election was initially scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 11, but it was changed amid concerns that the date coincided with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana and the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Primary elections generally suffer from abysmal turnout, but the decision by the Legislature to hold the primaries on a Thursday — rather than another Tuesday — is likely to confuse voters and to lower turnout further, giving a bigger boost to incumbents.

Here are a few ideas to fight back and make these races for governor, attorney general, State Legislature and local judgeships more competitive. Depending on their party registration (and Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one in New York), voters have the chance to weigh in on Democratic, Republican or third-party primaries, and even unaffiliated voters can cast ballots, in the Reform Party primary.

Mayor Bill de Blasio could ramp up get-out-the-vote efforts by allocating more money to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, a nonpartisan agency that sends people to knock on doors and call voters.