Today is Election Day when voters who haven’t already cast their ballot early will choose their candidates for a variety of offices, including: governor, lieutenant governor, member of Congress, state comptroller, state attorney general, US senator, representatives to the State Senate and State Assembly, as well as county clerk, county comptroller and several judgeships.
Because of the Sept. 8 ransomware attack on Suffolk County, the county Board of Elections site will be hosted by the state at https://www.elections.ny.gov/
Informal results will be available at some time after the polls close at 9 p.m. at https://nyenr.elections.ny.gov/
Many people have already voted in the last 10 days, and thousands of other ballots, which have to be postmarked by today, will be coming in from absentee voters. Experts are predicting a long night to determine results. The state board notes, “The unofficial election night results displayed on this web site are based on the unofficial results reported to us by each County Board of Elections and as such, are posted on the web as a convenience to the public. New York State Election Law requires a complete recanvass of all votes cast on Election Day and the canvass of all valid absentee, special, and affidavit (provisional) ballots before any election results can be certified. Once all ballot counting tasks have been completed (usually within 15 days for a primary and within 25 days for a general election), each County Board certifies their respective election results.”
To verify you are registered to vote and where to cast your ballot, go to: https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/
Like many communities around the country, Huntington voters are choosing among several faces new to the area, a result of redistricting that led to changes in congressional and State Senate districts.
The First Congressional District race between Republican Nick LaLota and Democrat Bridget Fleming and the campaign between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican Lee Zeldin are drawing national attention. Two familiar faces, US Rep. Tom Suozzi and State Sen. Jim Gaughran are leaving the stage, Suozzi because he chose to run against Hochul in he Democratic primary but failed, and Gaughran because he was redistricted out of position.
Suffolk voters also have two proposals to consider, one from the state involving environmental issues, and the other to set term limits of county positions to 12 years total.