early voting

While the presidential race is top of mind for many Capital Region voters, several key races for the New York state legislature are also on Tuesday’s ballot.

With the election just days away, Vermont’s governor and secretary of state are outlining the state’s preparations including the voting process and security preparations.

With just days until the presidential election, municipal clerks across Berkshire County are tallying early voting data.

Late last month, New York’s highest court issued a ruling that should make voting easier. In a 6-1 decision, the state’s Court of Appeals ruled that a new law allowing New York voters to obtain a mail-in ballot (as long as that ballot is cast during the early voting period) was constitutional.

Voters in Massachusetts looking to cast their ballots early for the state primaries can do so starting Saturday through Aug. 30th. That’s the message the Secretary of State took on the road this week, with a stop in Springfield.

New York’s early voting option started up last weekend and will go through this coming Sunday. The General Election will follow on Tuesday, November 7th. The 2023 election is not a “high-visibility election”; most of the races are for offices at the local government level. Of course, those elections matter. Local races include seats on town and city councils, county legislatures, candidates for mayor, town supervisor, town clerk, town justice, and highway superintendent. Often the decisions made by these individuals have a more direct impact on voters’ lives than those made in Albany or even Washington. These elections can often be decided by a small number of voters, so every ballot cast is important.

A record number of vote-by-mail ballots requested for the municipal election

Voting by mail is already underway for the September 12th preliminary election

City Council President Lederman plans to file legislation

Last week, the New York Conservative and Republican parties filed a court challenge to the way New York’s absentee ballot system works. Under the New York Constitution, voters can request an absentee ballot if they are.