Live Election Day updates

Officials: More than 150,000 LIers voted this morning  

Long Islanders are casting ballots by the thousands Tuesday and officials have reported no early problems as the nation decides the historic race for U.S. president. 

Between 6 a.m., when polls first opened on Long Island, and 8 a.m, about 49,000 voters cast ballots in Nassau County — made up of 18,345 Republicans, 17,920 Democrats and 11,683 blank, or no party listed —  according to a Nassau elections commissioner, James Scheuerman.

He said there were lines at some polling sites, but no problems beyond what is typical every election.

There are 1,009,105 registered voters in Nassau.

Since 6 a.m. in Suffolk, there have been more than 110,000 votes cast, a Suffolk commissioner, Betty Manzella, said at 9:45 a.m. No party breakdown was available.

She said more than 289,000 early votes were cast. There are 1,086,373 registered voters in the county.

More than half a million Long Islanders cast their ballots during the nine-day stretch of early voting in federal, state and local elections, with Nassau and Suffolk among the state's top three active counties, according to election officials.

A total of 574,169 ballots were cast in person during the nine-day stretch of early voting, according to both counties' elections boards. Nassau saw 284,742 voters and Suffolk had 289,427 voters.

More Democrats voted in Nassau; more Republicans voted in Suffolk, according to the figures.

Election Day voting across the country going mostly smoothly

Election Day voting unfolded largely smoothly across the nation Tuesday but with scattered reports of extreme weather, ballot printing errors and technical problems causing delays.

Most of the hiccups occurring by mid-day were “largely expected routine and planned-for events,” said Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a press briefing. She said the agency was not currently tracking any national, significant incidents impacting election security.

In swing-state Pennsylvania, early reports that Republican poll watchers were not allowed into some polling sites were soon resolved. A software malfunction was affecting ballot scanning machines in the state's Cambria County, but no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted, county and state officials said.

A technical malfunction in Champaign County, Illinois, and challenges with e-pollbooks in Louisville, Kentucky, also delayed voting, but those issues were soon fixed and voting was back up and running.

In Missouri, flooding made one St. Louis area polling site hard to reach and knocked out power to another, requiring poll workers to turn to a generator to continue election operations. Still, in various states affected by rain, voters were enthusiastically huddling under umbrellas as they lined up to cast their ballots.

“We’ll be like post office workers: in rain or snow or sleet,” voter Mary Roszkowski said after she cast her ballot in windy Racine, Wisconsin, wiping raindrops off her face.

In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said there were some reported bomb threats to polling places, but all were deemed non-credible and authorities were investigating.

Helping voting run relatively smoothly on Election Day was the fact that tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Those included record numbers of voters in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner.

As of Monday, Associated Press tracking of advance voting nationwide showed roughly 82 million ballots already cast — slightly more than half the total number of votes in the presidential election four years earlier.

How to watch NewsdayTV for live results when polls close

NewsdayTV will bring you live election coverage tonight starting at 9, including:

• Predictions and real-time results featuring our interactive touchscreen map
• Live reports from GOP and Democratic headquarters in Nassau and Suffolk
• Complete analysis from Newsday's political team
• Live news from D.C. and Albany

Watch our Election Night coverage on your big-screen TV from a smart streaming device, including on Roku, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, YouTube and Fire TV.

Or you can always stream on your desktop or mobile device by visiting newsday.com/tv or downloading the Newsday app.

More ways to get live results from Newsday

• Track results using our interactive Voters Guide.
• Follow Newsday on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok. And join our WhatsApp channel.
• Sign-up for mobile app, email and text alerts.

Get all of your election news

• Up-to-the minute coverage at Newsday.com.
• The latest version of the newspaper at Newsday.com/eedition.

Congressional candidates meet with voters, cast ballots

Candidates running for Congress were seen greeting constituents and at polling places across Long Island Tuesday.

Republican Anthony D’Esposito, who is running for re-election in the 4th Congressional District, cast his ballot at the South Shore Jewish Center in Island Park.

Democrat John Avlon, running in the race for the 1st Congressional District seat, was seen with his family voting in Sag Harbor. He seeks to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Nicholas LaLota.

Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino, seeking his third term, met with voters at the Massapequa Diner. He is facing Democrat Rob Lubin in the 2nd Congressional District.

Republican Michael LiPetri, spoke with commuters at the Mineola LIRR station. LiPetri is challenging Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in the 3rd Congressional District.

How Trump and Harris are spending Election Day

Donald Trump cast his vote Tuesday at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida, despite previously saying he would vote early. He arrived to the polling site with his wife, Melania.

He had spent the very early hours of Election Day in Michigan, where he wrapped up a late-night rally in Grand Rapids. The Republican candidate is scheduled to hold a campaign watch party in Palm Beach on Tuesday night.

Harris plans to attend an election night party at Howard University in Washington, a historically Black university where she graduated with a degree in economics and political science in 1986 and was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Aside from Howard, she has no public schedule announced for Election Day.

Harris said Sunday that she had “just filled out” her mail-in ballot and it was “on its way to California.”

See where each candidate stands on the issues that matter to voters.

A divided LI electorate turns out to vote

The tight presidential race has not only divided the voting electorate across the country and on Long Island, but even some local households.

At Barack Obama Elementary School in Hempstead Tuesday, the steady stream of voters casting their ballots at the polling site around 9 a.m. included Crystal Joseph, 43, of Hempstead, and her husband, Duane Joseph, 41.

Crystal Joseph said she cast her vote for Kamala Harris. Her husband voted for Trump.

“I’m pro-life but that’s not my business,” Crystal Joseph said. “We don’t enforce racial and religious beliefs on others, we respect everybody.”

She said “seeing a tangible plan” and “actual policy” from a candidate was a main factor in her vote for Harris.

Duane Joseph cited Trump's stance on immigration and the economy as his motivations for voting for the GOP presidential candidate.

Latoya Matthews, also of Hempstead, cast her vote at the school named after the country's first black president. She said “my rights as a female” motivated her to vote for Harris.  "... And definitely to vote out Donald Trump."

But at another polling place also in Hempstead, Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School, Oneidy Diaz, 25, said immigration and the economy were the primary issues that pushed her to vote for Trump.

“My parents are immigrants themselves, but they did it the legal way,” Diaz said. “I was [a] Democrat since 2016, when I turned 18, but I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore.'”

A mother of a 5-year-old, she said she hopes there is stability overseas and no foreign conflicts during the next presidency.

Get more reactions from LI voters speaking with Newsday reporters at various polling places in Nassau and Suffolk.

What you need to know to cast your vote

It's Election Day.

If you want to see which candidates are on your ballot, learn about where they stand on the issues or just organize your ballot before heading to the polls, click here to check out Newsday's Voters Guide.

Voting underway on Long Island

Election Day voting is underway as Long Islanders cast ballots for president, a U.S. Senator, Congress members, state legislators, local judges and some town board positions, as well as to help decide a statewide proposition that would protect abortion rights.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 9 p.m.

In both Nassau and Suffolk, eager voters arrived to their polling sites before sunrise, waiting for the doors to open at 6 a.m.

At least 25 people were lined up at Birchwood Inter School in South Huntington, many donning jackets, coats, and thermoses in hand to stand in low 50s temperatures as the sun began to rise.

Robert Verrastro, 80, of Melville, arrived at the school at 5:30 a.m. to cast his vote for Donald Trump, describing the candidate as the better “of the two."

Teacher Lauren Mendelsohn, 43, and her husband, Brian Mendelsohn, 46, both of Melville, was one of the many professionals voting before a workday. She described her voting experience as "excellent and easy."

By 6:40 a.m. the lines became non-existent outside the school after the first wave of people had finished voting.

Ari and Lee Meller, both 32, said they voted within four minutes.

“They run it really well here,” said Ari Meller, a school social worker.

The married couple said they voted Democrat across the board.

“I'm hoping that we end up with a candidate who cares about reproductive rights and women's rights,” said Ari Meller.

In Cedarhurst, a line of about 20 voters stretched out the front doors of Lawrence High School as polls opened at 6 a.m. The line moved quickly and the process inside was smooth, voters said.

David Campbell, 57, of Cedarhurst, said he didn’t want to “get stuck waiting in line” and decided to cast his vote ahead of the morning rush hour.

Josh Klein, 32, of Woodmere, was among the first people to vote at the site Tuesday morning,

He portrayed the current administration as “weak” on foreign policy and said he voted for Trump.

Get more reactions from voters leaving the polls.

The last day of voting is here. Polls close at 9 p.m. … and then the waiting begins. https://t.co/Vh8HHDCsCd

— Carl MacGowan (@CarlMacGowan) November 5, 2024

Election officials say a big turnout is expected following record early voting since Oct. 26 and a weather forecast that calls for an usually warm and sunny day.

Voters can find their polling site through the state Board of Elections portal at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Gen Z voters discuss being eligible to vote for the first time