ITHACA, NY – Election day is nearly upon us. Tomorrow, people will be hitting their polling places to cast their vote for the next president of the United States and a variety of state, county and local elections.
Several races, including the races for President, Senate, House of Representatives and New York State Assembly will be the same across all ballots for Tompkins voters. For some areas, the ballot that each voter sees on election day will vary depending on where they live.
Below you’ll find a preview of what you’ll be seeing on the ballot, based on where you’re voting. But before we get to that that, here’s a few other frequently asked questions about the voting process:
What do I need to do to vote?
First of all, you need to be registered — and if you aren’t already, the deadline is already passed in New York.
Assuming you’ve done that, if you’ve voted before in New York, you shouldn’t need anything other than your name to be able to vote. However, if for some reason the board of elections wasn’t able to verify your identity when you registered to vote, you may be required to show photo ID at the polling place.
Where do I vote?
There are actually a lot of voting locations depending on which district of your city or town you live in. Click on the links below to see the polling locations in each municipality, courtesy of the Tompkins Board of Elections.
City of Ithaca || Town of Caroline || Town of Danby || Town of Dryden || Town of Enfield
Town of Groton || Town of Ithaca || Town of Lansing || Town of Newfield || Town of Ulysses
How do I vote?
The Tompkins Board of Elections once again has a helpful guide that shows you how to use the voting machine. Follow this link to check it out.
Sample ballots
Several ballots don’t include any local races, and just cover the national, state and county-wide elections. The City of Ithaca and Newfield all have ballots that will look like this:
The ballots for Danby and Groton are identical except for a change in the state senate race. Since Danby and Groton are part of a different state senate district, the candidate choices are different — instead of Tom O’Mara vs. Leslie Danks Burke, the race is between Republican incumbent James Seward and Democratic Challenger Jermain Bagnall-Graham. See below:
The other regions offer only minor changes, with many uncontested races. Below, we’ll be showing additional sample ballots only for areas with additional contested races.
Dryden adds a three-way race for two Councilperson seats, with two incumbent Democrats Dan Lamb and Kathy Servoss and Deana Madigan battling over the two seats.
Enfield adds one contested race for a Councilperson seat, with Beth McGee and William Connors running for the spot. The incumbent for the spot did not run for reelection.
Lansing adds a contested race for Town Clerk between Democrat Tammy Morse and Republican Debbie Munson.It’s also the only town in Tompkins that votes as part of the 54th State Senate district, so its State Senate candidates are different from the rest of the County, with a three-way race between Democrat Kenan Baldrige, Republican and Pamela Helming and Reform Party candidate Floyd Rayburn. Republican Mike Nozzolio, who previously held the seat, did not run for reelection.
It’s also the only town in Tompkins that votes as part of the 54th State Senate district, so its State Senate candidates are different from the rest of the County, with a three-way race between Democrat Kenan Baldrige, Republican and Pamela Helming and Reform Party candidate Floyd Rayburn. Republican Mike Nozzolio, who previously held the seat, did not run for reelection.
The other areas all add some uncontested races: The Town of Ithaca has an uncontested race for Town Justice, Ulysses has two uncontested races for Town Justice and Highway Superindentent.
Ulysses also includes two propositions regarding whether or not to change the Town Clerk and Highway Superintendent Positions into appointed, rather than elected positions.
For some more details on the actual races, check our coverage below: