The early voting period got underway in Queens on Saturday and continues through Sunday, Nov. 3, in the lead-up to the Nov. 5 municipal elections.
The eight days of early voting makes it easier for voters whose professional and family obligations make it difficult to physically get to the polls, as well as reduce waiting times and ease logistical burdens for poll workers. This is the first election in New York state with a period of early voting.
“Too many generations of New Yorkers have been discouraged from exercising their right to vote, and this year we enacted a series of new measures to fix that and help bring our voting laws into the 21st century,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “Early voting is just one of the many steps we’ve taken to break down barriers to democracy, and I encourage New Yorkers to take advantage of this opportunity to skip the lines on Election Day and ensure their voices are heard at the ballot box.”
Voters must use their site as assigned by the Board of Elections. Assigned sites, as well as early voting hours, are also available on the Board of Elections website, here.
State Senator Michael Gianaris sponsored the early voting legislation that Cuomo signed into law in January.
“At a time when voters rights are under assault, we must fight for our democracy because there’s nothing more important than the right to vote,” Gianaris said. “Our new Senate Majority made voter registration easier and access to the ballot box fairer.”
Initially, only seven sites were planned for Queens until Gianaris pushed the city’s Board of Election to expand early voting sites, which are now located at Rochdale Village Community Center in Jamaica; Korean Community Services in Bayside; The Helen Marshall Cultural Center at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens; The York College Academic Core Building in Jamaica; Laguardia Community College in Long Island City; The First Baptist Church of East Elmhurst; Holy Trinity Parish Church in Cambria Heights; the Board of Elections-Queens Voting Machine Facility Annex in Middle Village; Resorts World Casino in Jamaica; the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria; The Arverne YMCA; The Cross Island YMCA in Bellerose; and The Al Oerter Recreation Center and New York Hall of Science, both in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
“I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote by using the tools we passed this year,” Gianaris said.
