Today is Election Day and as more voters head to the polls, 1,265 early ballots have already been cast in Franklin and Essex counties. This is less than a fourth of last year’s early voting turnout, when more than 5,200 people across the two counties had cast their ballots before Election Day.

“It hasn’t been a great turnout so far,” Franklin County Republican Election Commissioner Tracy Sparks said. “It’s a local year, so this, unfortunately, is not unusual. … We don’t see huge voter turnout in a local year.”

The first year of early voting was 2019, a local election year. Only 600 early votes were cast that year. The 2020 presidential election saw a massive spike in early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic and prominence of the race: 12,865 people voted early. In 2021, another local election year, 2,030 early votes were cast.

Early voting has ended — this means that all early voting totals are final. However, absentee vote numbers are not final. If an absentee ballot is returned in person before polls close tomorrow, it is valid. Absentee ballots are also valid if they are postmarked no later than Nov. 7, meaning that some valid ballots may be received by the board of elections after Election Day.

The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today in both counties. To find your polling place, visit voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

–

Essex County

–

By Monday, 1,318 votes had been cast across Essex County, accounting for about 5% of the county’s 25,036 active registered voters.

There are contested races in the towns of North Elba, Wilmington and Keene, with four candidates vying for two town council seats in each race. In Wilmington, the town supervisor race is also contested, with two candidates vying to replace current supervisor Roy Holzer, who announced in January that he would not seek another term.

There is also a contested race for Essex County Clerk between Chelsea Merrihew and Stephanie DeZalia.

In St. Armand, Karl Law is running for reelection to the town council and Donna Whitelaw is running to join the council. With two seats open this year, they are both running unopposed.

Between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5, 831 people voted early across the county. North Elba voters are responsible for almost half of those votes, with 401 early votes cast between its six districts. In both Wilmington and Keene, 61 voters cast ballots early.

The county Board of Elections mailed out 799 absentee ballots. As of Monday, the Board of Elections had 487 returned, around 61% of the absentee ballots issued.

In North Elba, 67 of 126 absentee ballots have been returned. In Wilmington, 33 of 46 have been returned, and in Keene, 36 of 52 have been returned.

–

Franklin County

–

Only a fraction of Franklin County’s 26,640 active registered voters have turned out to vote early ahead of Election Day.

“Out of 19 towns we have literally a handful that have any contested races,” Sparks said.

There are contested races in the towns of Malone, Moira, Waverly and Westville and a write-in campaign in Bangor.

But for the rest of the districts, the race for State Supreme Court Justice in the 4th Judicial District between Carl Falotico and Paul Davenport and two ballot propositions on the back of the ballot are the only things their vote will have an impact on.

Sparks said 434 people voted early between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5. This past Sunday was the highest day of early voting out of the nine-day stretch, with 70 ballots cast, she said. Sparks said five people from Harrietstown voted early, as did one person from Tupper Lake.

While Essex County has two early voter polling stations — one in North Elba and one in Elizabethtown — Franklin County has only one early voting polling station in Malone, around an hour away from the south end of the county.

According to Sparks, the county mailed out 705 absentee ballots. As of Monday, her office had 446 returned, around 63% of the absentee ballots issued.

In Harrietstown, Sparks said 19 people have returned absentee ballots out of 71 ballots issued. In Tupper Lake, she said 56 people have returned absentee ballots out of 113 ballots issued.