NY Officials Urge Early Voting, Vow to Shield Voters

With early voting set to open in New York, elected officials and voting rights advocates gathered at the Brooklyn Museum, one of the city’s early voting sites, to urge residents to cast ballots before Election Day on Nov. 3 and to assure them that their rights remain protected, according to a report by the Brooklyn Paper.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, said hundreds of trained volunteers with the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition will be deployed across the state during early voting and on Election Day. They will observe the process, answer questions and work to ensure every voter can cast a ballot and have it counted. Digital poll monitors will also watch social media to help voters in real time and flag misinformation. “If your vote wasn’t so important, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to mess with it,” Lerner said, encouraging voters to make a plan and bring a friend or family member.

Attorney General Letitia James urged eligible New Yorkers to participate, pointing to parts of Brooklyn where turnout has been “dismal” in the past. Her office has spent months preparing for potential problems with mail-in ballots, voter ID or affidavit ballots, access to polling sites and confusion over where to vote. It is also ready to respond to reports of misinformation and intimidation, including people asking voters for identification and the possible presence of law enforcement agencies such as ICE or the FBI at polling places. “We are prepared for any scenario,” James said, adding that her office has contacted social media CEOs and their counsel about misinformation online.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie reminded voters that federal and state law bars anyone from intimidating, obstructing, deceiving or preventing people from voting. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, speaking to voters frustrated that the change they voted for has not materialized, described the ballot as a “tool in the toolbox.”

Dr. Debbie Almontaser of Emgage Action Metro New York, which advocates for Muslim American communities, said many Muslim Americans are afraid to go to the ballot box, citing what she called Islamophobic rhetoric following President Donald Trump’s attack on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. She urged New Yorkers to show solidarity by inviting Muslim neighbors to travel to polling sites together. Emgage will provide culturally mindful voter protection services with Common Cause during the final three days of early voting and on Election Day.

The practical details, as laid out by the advocates: early voting runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, and Election Day is Nov. 3. Voters can cast ballots in person early, on Election Day or by mail. Mail ballots can be requested by Oct. 24 or picked up in person at a county board of elections by Nov. 2. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 24.

Advocates stressed that New York does not require a photo ID to vote, and no one may demand identification or proof of citizenship, follow voters into the booth or block them from voting. No one may stand within three feet of a voter filling out a ballot, and anyone in line when polls close can still vote. People on probation or parole, as well as those released from prison, can vote, though they may need to re-register.

Voters who experience or witness misconduct should tell a poll worker and call the national Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE. They can also reach the Attorney General’s Election Protection Hotline at 866-390-2992 or file a complaint online between Oct. 24 and Nov. 4.