Pols to assess N.Y. early voting

ALBANY — New York’s early voting experiment will be the focus of a legislative hearing next week.

Lawmakers from both the Senate and Assembly will hear testimony from election officials and advocates offering up analysis on how the state’s firstever early voting period worked out and what can be done to ensure there are no issues ahead of next year’s bigticket contests.

“Knowing that this is a first for our state, we believed it was important to implement it during a lower-scale general election so that we could work out the kinks now,” Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn (inset), the chairman of his chamber’s elections committee, said in a statement Friday. “With this hearing, we have the opportunity to discuss what went right and what went wrong, ensuring that we are fully prepared for the most consequential election of our lifetime in November 2020.”

About 256,000 people chose to cast their vote ahead of Election Day this year, which according to the state Board of

Elections equaled roughly 1.9% percent of registered voters statewide.

In the five boroughs, only 60,110 people, or 1.8% of the city’s 3.25 million active registered voters, took advantage of early voting. The city Board of Elections operated 61 sites for nine days this year, with each location attracting an average of 109 voters per day.

State lawmakers approved almost

$15 million in this year’s budget for electronic poll books used for the first time during early voting. Another $10 million went to counties for operational costs.

While some criticized the relatively low number of early polling places and others griped about security concerns as schools were used to house several sites, most observers said things went well.

Good government groups, including Common Cause New York, hailed the experiment as a victory.

“Early voting was a huge success across New York,”

Common Cause’s Susan Lerner said after the nine-day period ended earlier this month. “Wait times were minimal — or nonexistent — and whatever minor hiccups happened, there was ample time for the Board of Elections to respond. This is how voting should be.”

Next year, with a presidential race, congressional and state legislative contests, turnout is expected to soar and early voting could be a benefit for busy voters. Senate Dems say they want to ensure things run smoothly.

“New Yorkers throughout the state took the opportunity to cast their votes early during this past election,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins (D-Yonkers) said. “We have a responsibility to empower more eligible New York voters to have their voices heard in the halls of power and the rollout of early voting helped demonstrate how we can achieve that goal.”