Early voting has been strong in New York’s primaries.
According to the New York State Board of Elections’ unofficial count of early votes ahead of today’s primary elections, more than 103,000 early ballots were cast outside of New York City.
That’s more than 10,000 additional early votes than in 2022’s June midterm-year primary and almost double the early turnout from 2024’s June primary.
“Voters will vote when campaigns come out and make the case that it is important for them to do so and provide that information,” said Bob Turner.
Skidmore Political Science Professor Bob Turner isn’t all that surprised by the high-levels of participation.
“In the North Country area, we have a very competitive Congressional race to succeed Elise Stefanik. As well as a competitive state senate race to nominate a Democratic challenger to Jim Tedisco. There’s a lot of money being spent. There’s a lot of mailers, door-knockers and social media commentary. So, voters have a lot of information about the races,” said Turner.
Republican state Assemblyman Robert Smullen is facing Amsterdam businessman Anthony Constantino for the GOP line for New York’s 21st Congressional District seat, currently held by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Lisbon dairy farmer Blake Gendebien and Lake Placid restaurant owner Stuart Amoriell are vying for the Democratic nomination.
Elsewhere in the district, Democrats Patrick Nelson and Sarah Rogerson are competing for the Democratic line to challenge state Sen. Jim Tedisco in the 44th State Senate District.
Constantino and Smullen have traded barbs along the campaign trail, and early voter turnout within NY-21 appears to be high.
New York League of Women Voters Executive Director Erica Smitka says – no matter what’s motivating voters – it’s always better to see more people voting.
“Honestly, given New York State’s historic voter turnout numbers, I think a little bit of vitriol isn’t too bad. It’s a hotly contested race in NY-21, we also have a number of hotly contested races in the city and Westchester area. New York state is going to play a key role in determining what Congress is going to look like next year,” said Smitka.
Republican Congressman Mike Lawler is running unopposed on the GOP side in New York’s 17th Congressional District, but five Democrats are in line to face off against him in November – Effie Phillips-Staley will appear on the Working Families Party line regardless of tonight’s results.
Smitka says outside of turnout, her organization is hard at work keeping local and state elections as transparent as possible.
“We are working on the election protection hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE. But we will be working throughout election season to keep an eye on things. Whether that’s looking at misinformation that is spreading unknowingly on social media platforms or whether it’s disinformation that’s spreading about a candidate about how to get out and vote,” said Smitka.
As high as the turnout is now, Turner notes there’s always going to be a difference between primary and general election voters.
“We’re kidding ourselves if we somehow think that those voters are going to be representative of the general electorate. They are going to be more politically engaged – the people who chose to follow politics and vote in elections during the summer are different from our normal voters,” said Turner.
Polls are open through 9 p.m.
