Elections Commissioners Question Costs of Early Voting

Low early voter turnout for the June primary has some elections commissioners questioning whether the cost of keeping polls open for nine days is worth the money.

Edward G. McDonough, the Democratic elections commissioner for Rensselaer County, where 1,424 people voted early, said staffing multiple polling sites for a primary election, with "extended hours, times and the cost ... it isn't worth it."    
 
This year also is unusual because there are two primaries in New York after the Court of Appeals threw out new political boundaries that had been established by Democrats in the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in February. Court rulings resulted in new congressional boundaries and also affected state Senate races with both of those primary elections moved to Aug. 23.

Even with the primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, and state Assembly candidates taking place last month as scheduled, it resulted in even fewer voters showing up at the polls. Advocates, however, say the increase in access will be a major boost to participation, and that it’s far too early to scale back the program because of episodes of low early turnout.

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