Early voting has closed in New York City, with more than a million Big Apple residents casting a ballot.
Polls closed for early voters at 5 p.m. Sunday, after nine days. Just after 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the city’s Board of Elections said that a million early votes had been cast. That represents more than 20% of active registered voters in the five boroughs, according to state voter rolls.
New York legalized early voting in 2019 and put it into effect in time for the 2020 election, but many New Yorkers voted absentee in that race due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, over the past four years, voting early has become an ingrained fixture of the democratic process in the Empire State, even as many voters find themselves facing long lines.
“I think it’s very convenient in the sense that you can take your time now instead of the actual day,” said Marceline Herrera Marsalis, a resident voting at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon. “You know, Election Day is a longer line. It’s convenient, basically.”
Polls will reopen on Tuesday for Election Day, with stations open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.. New Yorkers are voting not only in the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but also in New York’s races for Senate, House, State Senate, State Assembly, and Supreme and Civil Court judges.
On the ballot’s flipside are six proposed referenda.
Ballots may not be fully counted for several days before a winner is declared. Given what occurred after the last presidential election — when Trump’s numerous attempts to remain in power culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot — many New Yorkers aren’t expecting this chaotic election season to actually be over even when all the votes are tallied.
“We know what happened the last time someone didn’t take their loss,” said Harold McCummings, a Prospect Lefferts Gardens resident and Harris voter at SUNY Downstate. “We know what happens with sore losers in this country and the harm they can do.”
Find your Election Day poll site and a sample ballot at https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/
