Early Voting in NYC
Polling Site: Clara Barton High School (901 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225) – Assembly District 57. Photo by Diane Bezucha.
Oct. 31, 2019
First the first time ever, New York City offered residents the opportunity to vote early. And so far it has been a success, according to voters and poll workers at one Brooklyn site.
Photo by Diane Bezucha.
Cynthia Robinson, 55, works for the city’s Medicaid office. She decided to vote early because she was curious about the process and wanted to see if it would work better than standing on line.
“It was easy, they looked up my name, there was another person that asked me my address to verify it was me, and just asked me to sign. It was easy and smooth. No issues.”
Robinson said she will definitely be voting early again in the future and encourages other NYC residents to do the same.
“I think we all should. It will cut down on the lines for the people that have to go on the actual election day.”
Roslyn Tate, 50, is an early voting site coordinator in Brooklyn. She says the new process has been great and has seen a strong turnout.
Photo by Diane Bezucha.
“We’ll cross over 700 people at this site for the week today. The technology is WAY better than previously.”
The new system uses iPads—a poll worker enters a voter’s name in one iPad, which communicates with a second iPad, which then prints a customized ballot based on your address.
As seamless as the system has been so far, this is not the system voters will use if they vote on the actual election day. While the city apparently has the technology to allow people to vote at any site in town, they’re not ready to make the leap.
When not working the polls, Tate is working another kind of pole, as a burlesque dancer under the name Chicava Honey Child
Photo by Diane Bezucha.
Beverly Arno, 83 (left) and John Foy, 80 (right) working the early voting polls at Brooklyn’s Clara Barton High School. Both Arno and Foy are retired civil servants who enjoy staying active in the election process. Arno worked for the federal government and Foy worked for the city, but now works at a local funeral home.
Photo by Diane Bezucha.