EARLY VOTING BRINGS OUT THE CROWDS

 

• In Monroe, Ontario, Genesee, and Livingston County, all are reporting larger than ever crowds interested in early voting. In Livingston County voters vote at the Livingston County Board of Elections on the first floor of the county building on Court St. Thursday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Victor, and the Geneva Housing Authority Building at 41 Lewis Street, Geneva.

Remaining early voting Remaining early voting days are as follows, at the locations mentioned above , in Ontario and Livingston County. However, on  election day, voters in both counties will vote at their polling places in their towns.

For Livingston County, remaining early voting hours are

Thursday, October 29: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Friday, October 30: 8:00 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, October 31: 9:00a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

 

For Ontario County, remaining early voting hours are

• Thursday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In Genesee County, early voting takes place in County Building 2 at 3837 West Main St.  Remaining available hours to vote early are Thursday, October 29,  9 a.m.-5 p.m; Friday, October 30, 9 a.m-5pm; Saturday, October 31, 12 p.m.-5 p..m; Sunday, November 1, noon-5pm.

Monroe County has several sites for early voting, with hours and locations found at https://www.monroecounty.gov/elections-earlyvoting.

Ontario County reported long lines at early voting at all sites,  At 5:30 p.m.  on Wednesday, Livingston County had over 793 voters by closing time, with a large crowd in line to vote within the final hour.  About 50 people lined the driveway outside, and another 50  people were lined up inside, going through security, signing in, and then  checking registry on the first floor board of elections office and then voting.

Livingston County sheriff deputies were on hand to escort people with their absentee ballots and mail in ballots, already filled out, to the front of the line where they were collected. They also reminded people to bring umbrellas and masks from cars, and to leave pocket knives and other banned items in the cars, so they would not be found when people went through security and the metal detector. The mood of the crowd was somber but friendly, as people stood in line six feet or less apart, for over an hour, as they waited to vote. The same had happened on the previous days, although the good weather and night hours of Wednesday seemed to bring out more of a crowd than the earlier early voting days. Tallies of voters for Saturday-Wednesday in Livingston County were  293, 374, 719, 529, and 793, respectively.

It took about an hour and 15 minutes from the time one got in line outside to the actual voting process in the board of elections office, where you were required to give name, address, and birth date, sign the register, and vote on paper ballots which were generated on the spot for each voter.  After sitting down to fill them out, voters were to put them through the electronic voting machines to have their vote recorded. Actual name look-up and voting took most people four minutes or less.

Genesee and Livingston County are using the new Apple pad system, where voters sign on a pad, rather than signing the big books used in previous elections to compare signatures. The pads are connected to the county’s  own systems through wifi, but are not on the internet, making them more secure than previously and allowing election workers to note number of voters in real time, quickly counting and reporting the votes.