At the New York City Board of Elections warehouse in Manhattan, voting machines stood at the ready Friday.
But this year, a wrinkle in the usual routine: some machines will go into use more than a week early to comply with a new state law allowing early voting.
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"Easy or not easy, it was legislatively mandated," New York City Board of Elections Executive Director Mike Ryan said. "So, we have to follow the law. And we're doing that."
Early voting was approved by the legislature in January, one of the first reforms the newly all-Democratic legislature passed to bring New York's arcane voting laws up to speed with other states.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in an interview on NY1 that he will vote Saturday when polls open for early voting, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would as well.
"To everyone listening, this is another example of elections do matter. We got a Democratic state Senate, and one of the first things they did was they reformed our voting laws to bring them into the 21st Century," de Blasio said on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday. "New York had literally been one of the worst states in the nation in terms of how hard it was to vote."
61 early voting sites will be open throughout the five boroughs until the day before Election Day, although voters will likely be at different locations than their usual poll site.
The borough-by-borough breakdown:
- 11 in the Bronx
- 18 in Brooklyn
- 9 in Manhattan
- 14 in Queens
- 9 on Staten Island
You can check your location by going to the Board of Elections website or visiting our Elections Guide.
"Saturday at 10 a.m. will be the commencement of early voting," Ryan said. "That will run for nine consecutive days, ending a week from Sunday."
State lawmakers held a rally in Inwood, urging people to take advantage of the opportunity, which they hope will increase participation.
"We are here to celebrate this historic occasion, but also to make a call to our community to come out and vote, to make sure that their voices are heard in the democratic process that is voting," Democratic Manhattan Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa said.
The two biggest races in the city are for Public Advocate, and Queens district attorney. There are also five ballot questions.
The next likely time most New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote early is in April, in the run-up to the presidential primary.
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