New Yorkers went to the polls Saturday morning as early voting in the state began – with the race for the White House taking center stage.
New Yorkers seeking to beat long lines on Election Day, Nov. 5, took advantage of early voting, which runs through Nov. 3. Poll sites opened at 8 a.m. Saturday, and will be open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
By noon, large lines to vote had already formed at some polling sites – including St. Luke Roman Catholic Church in Whitestone, Queens, where roughly 800 voters had already cast ballots and many were openly supporting Republican Donald Trump’s bid to defeat Democrat Kamala Harris and win back the presidency.
“We are voting for Donald Trump because we want to change the way this country has been run,” said Marie Ragonese, 72, who came out with her 75-year-old husband Angelo to vote for the ex-president.
“We need to go back to the way it was, you know…I’ve been very upset over the last four years. It doesn’t get better; it gets worse, and he’s the only person who could figure this out really.”
Theresa Mastro, 73, said she was pleasantly surprised about the large turnout.
“Everybody is voting for Trump,” she said with her arms wide open. “We have to secure the border, and only he can do that.
However, in other parts of the left-leaning Big Apple, many voters planned to back Harris – including Rosa Heyman, 33, and others who showed up to vote early at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Everyone should vote,” said Rosa Heyman, 33.
“That’s the one bare-minimum thing you can do during an election year. It’s really important to vote in this one in particular … The stakes are very high.”
By 10 a.m., large lines to vote had already formed at some polling sites – including Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where roughly 200 gathered at once.
“Everyone should vote,” said Rosa Heyman, 33, who planned to back Democrat Kamala Harris for president over Republican Donald Trump.
“That’s the one bare-minimum thing you can do during an election year. It’s really important to vote in this one in particular … The stakes are very high.
Voters also packed Wadleigh School of Performing and Visual Arts on W 115th St in Harlem, where nine voting booths were set up and many openly gushed they bleed blue and are backing Harris and other lefty candidates.
“I’m excited that we did this early voting, and listen, everyone’s votes count – alright!” said Sparkle Lee, 64, of Harlem.
“You know we don’t need no negative; we need love and happiness, and I know Ms. Harris is gonna do it,” predicted the retired ex-cop who was wearing a purple shirt inscribed “CAT LADIES FOR KAMALA.”
At York College in Queens, a steady stream of voters cast ballots throughout the morning. By 10 a.m., about 300 had already voted, despite some minor technical glitches with printers and ballot scanners.
“The printer was double-printing,” said Mae England, 86, who’s been working polling sites for 30 years. “This had to be corrected.”
With more than 32 million early votes already cast in other states, Trump’s campaign is feeling cautiously optimistic about the Republican nominee’s chances of defeating Harris and winning back the presidency.
Data from an already record-breaking, early voter turnout in some parts of the country show surges in Republican ballots cast in key battleground states compared to previous elections.
Unlike the 2020 election when Trump lost the presidency to Joe Biden after telling supporters not to trust the early-voting process, the ex-president is all in this time around — and urging fellow Republicans to vote early.
And while Democratic-controlled New York isn’t among the seven swing states likely to determine the presidency, there’s still some key issues Empire State residents will get to vote on — despite a vast majority of congressional, state legislative and judicial races on the ballot pitting incumbents against heavy underdogs.
New Yorkers will get to decide on “Proposal 1” – a controversial amendment to the state constitution that supporters claim is needed to permanently protect abortion rights statewide just in case the political winds someday change.
However, opponents of the New York Equal Rights Amendment allege its language is so vague that it could be used to allow illegal immigrants to vote and trans women to play girls sports.
In NYC, voters will also be asked to vote on five other ballot proposals that would modify the City Charter. Mayor Adams has said the ballot measures drafted through a Charter Revision Commission he appointed are aimed at helping streamline government, but critics say they’re designed to weaken the City Council and to boost mayoral control over city governance.
Some of the measures could potentially tie council members up in red tape when trying to pass legislation, including having to first get a fiscal impact report on any bills from the mayor’s budget office before holding a public hearing. Another would expand the Sanitation Department’s authority to clean streets, as well require waste be containerized citywide.
The top New York-based seat up for grabs this Election Day belongs to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who’s a huge favorite to defeat Republican challenger Mike Sapraicone.
Although the Big Apple’s House seats are expected to hold serve, the Empire State will still have a huge say in whether Republicans keep their slim 220-212 control of the House. There’s seven competitive House races in New York, including three on Long Island.
If Democrats take the House back, Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is the frontrunner to become speaker.
Democrats appear in no danger of losing control of the state Legislature, but Republicans have a puncher’s chance of at least ending Democrats’ veto-blocking supermajority in the Senate and Assembly.
For traditional voters who don’t mind waiting until Election Day, the deadline in NYC to register to vote is Saturday, Oct. 26.
