ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)---New Yorkers are exercising their right to vote early.
"We’ve had over 1.38 million New Yorkers take part in that early voting over those fours days," explained Kathleen McGrath, Director of Public information at the New York State Board of Elections. "For the same 4 days in 2020, the last presidential election, it was just over a million, so turnout is certainly up from 2020."
While Kathleen McGrath said it’s hard to compare anything to 2020 because of the pandemic, she believes more people are getting comfortable with early voting— something the state only started allowing back in 2019.
Erica Smitka, Deputy Director for the League of Women New York State also shares her reasoning as to why she thinks there’s a higher voter turnout so far.
"We’re seeing more Republican voters head to the polls early and folks are just excited to vote," said Smitka.
That excitement could be a reason why some New Yorkers have experienced long wait times at the polls and not just in New York City.
"In the city, obviously, which is pretty typical for an election year, but we are also seeing long wait lines in places like Saratoga County for example and a few other places across the state. We think that our boards of elections are doing a great job. They’re ready, their prepared, they’re getting folks through as fast as they can," said Smitka.
According to McGrath, per state regulation the goal is for no New Yorker to wait longer than a half hour to cast their ballot.
"It’s sometimes very difficult to predict ahead of time what turnout is going to be. The good news is the county boards always have the ability to kind of reassess and change paths in real time to designate an additional site or extend hours if the case is needed."
If there is a long wait time, New Yorkers themselves have some options.
"We do still have several days of early voting left, so you can come back at another time that’s more convenient for you," reminded McGrath. "You still up through Monday, November 4th, have the ability to go to your county board and request an early mail or absentee ballot. They can give it to you right over the counter and then you can return it as long as it’s delivered or post marked by the 5th, that vote will count."
As always, voters can cast their ballot on Election Day itself, which is November 5th.
