Over the last few days I have noticed a few diaries on Dkos and a few articles in the news regarding incorrect absentee ballots being mailed to voters in Brooklyn that has been causing a bit of a panic. Because I am a poll worker on Long Island, this has inspired me to write a diary explaining the voting process in NYS. Please follow me below the fold to find out why this is not a reason to panic. But first a word from our sponsor . . .
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In NYS, there are technically 4 ways to vote: 1) mail-in absentee ballot; 2) filling out an absentee ballot at your county Board of Elections office; 3) in-person early voting and 4) in-person election day voting. The first two methods are currently underway. The major changes this year are all related to mail-in absentee ballots. Anyone can request a mail-in vote by checking the temporary illness box on the absentee ballot request form. Additionally, if you do not want to mail your ballot back to the BOE, you may drop off your ballot at any early voting location in your county during the early voting period or at your regular voting location on election day. As always, you can vote at your normal polling precinct on Nov 3rd from 6am to 9pm.
In-person early voting begins on Oct 24 and ends on Nov 1. During in-person early voting, you can go to any early voting polling location in your county or the county Board of Elections office and cast your ballot. This year if you live in Manhattan or Brooklyn you can vote at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center respectively. For information on early and absentee voting, see this website. Hours and locations are set by each county, so see your county's BOE website for that information.
Now to address the issue regarding the incorrect ballots that have been mailed out. NY does not begin counting any absentee ballots until after the polls close on election day. It is only then that absentee ballots are begun to be counted. Those ballots are first checked against the in-person voter rolls to see if that person has cast a ballot during the early voting period or on election day. If they have voted in person, their absentee ballot is set aside and not counted. Thus, even if you have mail in a vote, you can in person early or on election day if you feel that your absentee ballot will not arrive in time or not be counted for any reason. You do not need a reason for why you are changing. This paragraph from the NYS BOE website is key:
You Can Still Vote in Person if You Request an Absentee Ballot
Even if you request or cast and return an absentee ballot, you may still go to the polls and vote in person. The Election Law recognizes that plans change. The Board of Elections is required to check the poll book before canvassing any absentee ballot. If the voter comes to the poll site, on Election Day or during early voting and votes in person, the absentee ballot is set aside and not counted.
I want to stress this. YOU ARE NOT VOTING TWICE! Even if you have mailed back your absentee ballot, only your in-person ballot will be counted! If you think your absentee ballot is incorrect and you don’t think you can get a replacement or you mailed it back and don’t think if will be counted for whatever reason, VOTE IN PERSON! Again, any absentee ballot will be destroyed and not counted if you vote in person.
To get more in the weeds on this, when you go in to a polling place to vote, the poll book screen will show us workers that you had requested an absentee ballot. We would click your name and that will override the absentee ballot and we would process you in as normal and hand you a new paper ballot that you would fill out and put into the scanner.
This information needs to be shared with anyone who lives in NY especially first-time voters. If we didn’t have a tin-pot dictator trying to get people to illegally vote twice, this information would not be controversial. Unfortunately, we don’t have that today.
Now onto the Tops!
TOP COMMENTS from October 1, 2020
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From belinda ridgewood: [ed note: comment is out of rec time but deserved to be included]
In Aldous J. Pennyfarthing's diary about GOP conspiracy theorists imagining they saw Joe Biden wearing a "wire" in the debate, madtownpopulist definitely figured out the real top-secret conspiracy that was going on!
From your alarmed diarist:
ToddBC starts the requisite thread after it was revealed that one of Susan Collins’ donors has been arrested for fraud.
Danarchist comes up with the zinger of the day in reply to DocGonzo’s comment in Joan McCarter’s diary on Schumer’s move to force a vote on the ACA Supreme Court case.
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