Urgent! Long Island's Early Voting Window Slams Shut This Sunday

Early voting on Long Island concluded Sunday at 6 p.m., following a seven-day period during which approximately 287,000 ballots were cast, according to unofficial data from the New York State Board of Elections. Voters had additional opportunities to cast their ballots on Saturday until 6 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. in Nassau County and 10 a.m. in Suffolk County. Registered voters were able to locate early voting sites through the state's online election portal. The early voting period commenced across Long Island on October 24.

As of Friday at 8 p.m., a total of 286,908 early ballots had been cast by Long Islanders. This total included roughly 148,000 ballots from Nassau County and an additional 139,000 from Suffolk County.

In Nassau County, Democrats consistently outnumbered Republicans in early voting, a trend observed since at least Monday. By noon on Saturday, Nassau Democrats had cast approximately 66,000 early ballots, constituting about 42% of the total tally for the county. Republicans, meanwhile, had cast slightly more than 56,000 votes, accounting for 36% of the early ballots. Voters not affiliated with a specific party cast around 20% of the total votes in Nassau County, with two smaller parties making up the remainder. Suffolk County election officials did not provide a breakdown of early votes by party affiliation.

For those who did not participate in early voting, Election Day is scheduled for Tuesday, offering another opportunity to cast a ballot. The outcome of the elections will determine whether Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul retains her position or is unseated by Republican Bruce Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive. The election ticket also features federal congressional races, alongside various state and local contests.