Capital Region voters face long lines at the polls.
Those in line ready to be done with election cycle
The place to be Saturday? Undoubtedly, a polling place.
Even before Capital Region polling places opened at 9 a.m., masked crowds were lining up on the first day of early voting statewide. Through the day — polls closed at 2 p.m. — the 16 voting sites in the four-county Capital Region were jam-packed.
In the first hour, lines could be seen at the Albany County Board of Elections office at South Pearl Street, Albany; along Route 7 at the Brunswick Town Office Building and at the Pine Grove United Methodist Church on Central Avenue in Colonie. Reports were that 200 or more people were waiting at the Saratoga County Board of Elections in Ballston Spa during a cool and overcast mid-autumn day.
No doubt the Trump-biden presidential race spurred turnout, but there are also state Legislature and three local congressional races on the ballot. Saratoga Springs has another charter change referendum on the ballot this fall.
Voter Keith Lewis of Ballston Spa said he arrived at 8:45 a.m. to find a line of about 135-plus voters at the Saratoga County site. It took about two hours to get to vote. “But people were happy and joking with each other no matter who they’re supporting,” he said.
In an email to the Times Union, a voter in Delmar said parking and traffic was “a nightmare.” Another Delmar voter, in an email, said she was concerned about a man wearing a “Poll Protector” sign watching people. The Board of Elections said the person was a volunteer representing a non-profit citizens group who was standing in the parking lot and not breaking any rules.
Pat Bulgaro congratulated Albany County, noting that the Delmar polling place was extremely well organized,
“totally sanitized,” with drivers licenses scanned to produce a ballot in less than a minute.
“We arrived at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Delmar about 20 minutes before the polls opened to find a line the equivalent of about 5 city blocks long,” Bulgaro said. “It took approximately one and one-half hours to reach the polling site. As we left we found the crowd to be larger than when we arrived ... the parking lot (was) filled and cars parked on roadways up and down.”
Marianne Schultz of Albany got to vote at about 1:30 p.m. at the Board of Elections offices on South Pearl Street after waiting an hour and a half in line in a cold wind. She observed a mix of people, all committed to voting.
The highlight: A man leaving the building who said, excitedly, “I am almost 61 years old and this is the first time I have voted!”
“The crowd waiting in line cheered and clapped for him. He was beaming.
Worth the wait just for that moment,” Schultz said.
Many voters on Saturday expressed a sense of anxiety about the election, particularly the presidential race. New York state, and Albany County, are expected to go for Democrat Joe Biden, and comments from voters reflected that sentiment. But social media posts showed that in parts of New York and in the country there were
Trump parades and gatherings.
At Pine Grove United Methodist Church, the line to vote looped around the building, and toward the end of that line was Marleen Fields, 46, and her daughter Markia, 30, both wearing a jacket and mask as cold winds blew. They said they felt determined to vote in what feels like the most important election of their lifetimes.
“We want to get Trump out of there. It’s that simple,” Marleen said.
“Right, and I know how hard we worked to get our right to vote,” Markia added.
They believed you couldn’t complain about the state of the country if
you didn’t vote, and so they braced the long line. Up ahead was Jorge Barlin, who had arrived 15 minutes before the Fields family and was reading a magazine to pass time.
Barlin, 74, was born in the Philippines and became a naturalized citizen in 1989. Ever since, he’s made sure to vote in elections.
“I immigrated to this country. I’ve been through a lot of hardships,” he said. “I went through so much to get here … to become a citizen.”
Up ahead of him was Colleen Quinn, 80, who had walked several blocks to vote for candidates she believed would ensure a better future for her grandchildren.
Schenectady County said close to 3,000 voted, of about 99,000 active registered voters. Saratoga County had at least 1,300 out of about 156,000 active voters. Numbers weren’t immediately available from Albany or Rensselaer counties.
Voting opportunities will continue every day until Sunday, Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 when all regular polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.