Early voting on Long Island: More than 500,000 ballots cast

Record numbers of Long Islanders continued to cast ballots on the penultimate day of early voting Saturday in an election highlighted by a presidential race.

From Mount Sinai to Hempstead, a steady stream of voters lined up early Saturday morning — some arriving well before polls opened.

By the end of the day, more than a half-million voters — 501,040 — had cast their ballots Islandwide in the early voting period, which began Oct. 26, according to Board of Elections commissioners in Nassau and Suffolk.

Early voting concludes Sunday and Election Day is Tuesday.

Waiting periods Saturday varied by location and time of day as some voters breezed in and out of polling sites while others waited an hour or longer. Many voters said they didn’t want to risk Election Day crowds and preferred the convenience of early voting, even if it still required waiting.

The economy,  abortion rights and immigration continue to be key issues for Long Islanders.

At the Dix Hills Fire Department, the line of voters stretched more than 100 deep when polls opened at 10 a.m.

Lily Paradise, of Dix Hills, said she arrived with her husband at 8 a.m. thinking voting began at 9.

"We sat in the car until 9:15," she said, adding she was the third person on line.

Parking quickly became a challenge as the lot reached capacity, forcing drivers to find alternate spots on nearby streets. Inside the polling site, voters described a smooth process.

“It was a piece of cake inside,” Evonne Arnold, of Commack, said. “Run very smoothly.”

Brittney Nelson, of Dix Hills, also arrived around 8:30 a.m. and realized she was too early. She circled back about 45 minutes later.

Voting began an hour earlier across Nassau County. At the Elmont Public Library, more than 40 voters lined up before the site opened.

Terrence Ward, 54, of Franklin Square, was third on the line and cast his ballot in minutes.

Ward said he wanted to avoid the possibility that he would be busy on Election Day and couldn’t vote. The economy and border control were his main motivating factors.

Jimmy Allen, 70, of Elmont, said he wanted to avoid the "madhouse" he predicted would happen at polling sites on Tuesday.

More than 300,000 Islandwide had already cast an in-person ballot as of Thursday morning, a record high, Newsday earlier reported. That figure has jumped since then.

In Nassau, a total of 31,905 voted Saturday. Among them: 12,978 Democrats and 9,908 Republicans, according to Nassau Democratic Elections Commissioner James Scheuerman. A total of 247,322 in the county had voted early with a day to go in the period, Scheuerman said.

The New York State Board of Elections says Nassau has about 1.1 million registered voters.

In Suffolk on Saturday, 31,726 voted. Among them: 10,832 Republicans and 10,720 Democrats, according to Republican county Board of Elections Commissioner Betty Manzella. In Suffolk, a total of 253,718 have voted early. The county has about 1.15 million registered voters, according to the state Board of Elections.

At the Hempstead Recreational Center, Alesha Hardwick, 41, a public school teacher from Hempstead, said it was her "civic duty" to vote. The economy, women’s rights and reproductive health were the issues that led to her vote Saturday.

More than 130 people stood in line outside Rose Caracappa Senior Center in Mount Sinai just before 12:30 p.m. and voters said the wait was about an hour.

Marie Napolitano, 81, of Ridge, avoided the wait as election workers allowed her to bypass the line due to her age, she said.

Her daughter, Lucy Napolitano-Lane of Centereach, said she had planned to wait for Election Day to vote but her mom insisted on voting early.

"You never know what happens, you can get sick," Napolitano said. "And I wouldn’t miss it for the world."

At Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville, the voting line was considerably shorter around 2 p.m. compared to the same time a week earlier on the first day of early voting.

Jacqueline Minter, of Coram, recalled waiting on a much longer line on a rainy day in 2020 for early voting at the same location.

"I was just praying it would be good today," she said after voting.

By midday in Garden City, there was a wait of about 20 minutes to vote at St. Paul’s Recreation Center.

Nearby soccer games caused some of the parking lot to fill up. Voters were seen parking on the grass adjacent to the center before heading inside.

Ivan Karlovic, 29, of Garden City, said the line at the site moved "relatively quick." 

On Sunday, early voting sites in Nassau will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In Suffolk, early voting sites will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

With Vera Chinese and Bart Jones

For more information on how to vote and to view candidate profiles, go to newsday.com/votersguide.