Robert Auerbach of Lake Placid begins his voter check-in before casting a ballot at the Mirror Lake Beach House in Lake Placid on Tuesday, Oct. 29 during early voting. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

LAKE PLACID — Elections officials are reporting a “very strong” early voter turnout so far this cycle in Essex and Franklin counties.

Between the start of early voting last Saturday and the end of poll hours on Wednesday, 2,637 early in-person ballots have been cast in Essex County, according to Jennifer Fifield, who serves as a deputy commissioner for the Essex County Board of Elections.

Franklin County reports 1,794 early in-person ballots have been cast during that same time, according to Bridget Furman, who serves as a deputy commissioner for the Franklin County Board of Elections.

These numbers for the two counties do not include any mail-in ballots that have been received so far by the boards.

“Our first day alone, we probably tripled any past high watermark in terms of a single-day early vote turnout,” Fifield said.

Anyone considering voting in New York must already be registered. The state’s voter registration deadline was Saturday, Oct. 26. Early in-person voting is open through Sunday. Early voting is one of several ways people can cast their ballot in New York. People can vote in person on Election Day, which is Tuesday. Polls are open in New York from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. People can also vote by mail.

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New laws

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In January 2019, the state enacted a set of election law changes. Among them was the addition of a statewide mandated early voting period of nine days before the election — including two full weekends. Individual counties have some flexibility as to the hours and number of locations — given large differences in population. For example, Essex County has two early voting locations — Lake Placid and Lewis — while Franklin County has one in Malone.

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Voting by mail

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New York did not have an early voting period before 2019, although voters could still request absentee ballots ahead of the election, provided they had a valid excuse to not vote in-person on election day. The new set of laws also did away with the need to provide an excuse to receive a vote by mail. In other words, any legally registered voter could request a vote by mail without needing to give elections officials a reason why they could not vote in person.

Voters can still request an absentee ballot using the same framework as before the 2019 law — where they provide an excuse for not being able to vote in person on Election Day. The end result — a ballot delivered to the voter through the mail — is functionally the same, according to Fifield, as are the deadlines, which passed last Saturday.

Voters can still submit an application and, if approved, pick up a ballot to be mailed in, although they — or a designated person — must go to their county’s board of elections office during operating hours through Monday, Nov. 4, and do so in-person. The hours are listed below.

¯ Essex County, 7551 Court St., Elizabethtown: Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon; Sunday, closed; Monday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

¯ Franklin County, 355 W. Main St., Room 161, Malone: Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mail ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 5, or hand-delivered to — the voter’s county boards of elections office by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off at any election day in-person polling location in the voter’s county by 9 p.m. Tuesday, or either of the county’s early voting location(s) during their polling hours.

If a voter requests a mail ballot — whether with the new no-excuse or traditional absentee with an excuse, — they are not longer permitted by vote by machine on election day or during the early voting period. Previously, voters who requested absentee ballots could vote by machine, and one vote would be invalidated.

Now, if an absentee ballot is requested, the voter is required to vote using that method. They could still vote by affidavit on Election Day. These affidavit ballots would not be fed into the machine at the poll site. They go through a verification process and are scanned later at the board of election offices.

Elections officials urge people voting by mail to complete their ballot and send it in ahead of the deadline. Postal collection times vary by location, and are often earlier on election day than the close of polls at 9 p.m. — meaning that a voter might drop their ballot in a United States Postal Service mail collection box on later on Election Day, and it would not be picked up and postmarked until the next day, which is past the deadline and the ballot would not be counted.

“We try to recommend to voters that they mail as soon as possible,” said Fifield.

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Strong early turnout

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Essex County turnout already exceeded the total number of early in-person votes cast during 2022 — 1,457 — and, the previous presidential election in 2020 — 2,518 — with nearly half of the early in-person voting period to go. Early voting ends on Sunday.

Essex County residents can cast their ballot — no matter where in the county they live — in either Lake Placid or Lewis. Fifield said that by the end of Wednesday, 1,573 votes had been cast at the Lake Placid location — the Mirror Lake Beach House at 31 Parkside Dr. — and 1,064 ballots had been cast at the Lewis location — the Essex County Public Safety Building at 702 Stowersville Road.

Franklin County has one early voting location for residents: the Franklin County Courthouse at 355 W. Main St. in Malone.

Early voting in Essex and Franklin counties is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.

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On the ground

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Jean Mussen, an Essex County Board of Elections staff member working at the Lake Placid early voting location, said Tuesday she had worked over 30 elections throughout her career and she has never seen such strong early in-person voter turnout. Early voting in New York state began in 2019.

“It’s been a steady stream of people each day here at the beach house,” she said. “We had one couple who made a day out of it. They came from a good distance away within Essex County and said they were going to spend some time enjoying Lake Placid (Saturday) afternoon after voting.”

Mussen added that the beach house provided a bonus for those casting a ballot.

“It’s such a pretty backdrop,” she said. “A lot of people have ventured onto the deck to get a selfie in front of or a picture of Mirror Lake after they vote.”

She said there have been no mechanical or logistical issues that she is aware of with the counting machines accepting ballots.

“So far, so good,” she said. “It’s been very smooth.”

Paula Politi, of Lake Placid, was enjoying helping people sign in to vote on Tuesday.

“It’s great,” she said. “I’ve run into so many people, not just here in Lake Placid, but coming from all over Essex County, who I haven’t seen in quite a while. It’s been fun catching up.”

Furman added that in Franklin County, turnout has been “positive,” both in numbers and disposition.

“It’s been high turnout and people’s attitudes have been positive, which are very nice things to have,” she said.

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Election Day voting

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In the town of Brighton, voting takes place at the Brighton Town Hall, 12 county Route 31, Paul Smiths.

In the town of Franklin, voting takes place at the Franklin Town Hall, 7 Cold Brook Road, Vermontville.

In the town of Harriestown, all election districts vote at Harriestown Hall, located at 39 Main St., in Saranac Lake.

In the town of Jay, in-person voting in election districts 1 and 2 is at the Jay Town Office, 11 School Lane, AuSable Forks.

In the town of Keene, the polling place is the Keene Valley Fire Hall, 15 Market St., for both districts.

In the town of North Elba, voting takes place at the Shipman Youth Center, 61 Cummings Road, Lake Placid, for districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the North Elba Town House, 193 River St., Saranac Lake, for district 2.

In the town of St. Armand, voting occurs at the St. Armand Town Hall, located at 1702 state Route 3, Bloomingdale.

In the town of Santa Clara, voting takes place at the Santa Clara Town Hall, located at 5359 state Route 30, Santa Clara.

In the town of Tupper Lake, for residents both living inside and outside of the village of Tupper Lake, voting takes place at the Holy Ghost Parish Center, located at 40 Marion St.

In Wilmington, voting takes place at the Wilmington Community Center, 7 Community Circle, Wilmington.

If voters are unsure of, or wish to confirm their early and/or Election Day voting location, they can do so at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov or by calling their county’s or the state board of elections.

¯ Franklin County, 518-481-1455; Essex County, 518-873-3474; New York state, 518-474-1953

Digging into the data

Essex and Franklin counties have been keeping track of the early vote numbers. None of the results are released until after polls close on Election Day. However, officials are able to provide numbers of how many people have voted each day, and what their political party affiliations are.

People’s political party affiliation — if they are registered with a party — is publically available information. Voters’ ultimate ballot markings — who they vote for — is always secret. When voting results are tallied, no names or party affiliations are ever attached to the ballots they cast.

The numbers below are unofficial and have not been officially certified, which boards of elections do only after all of the legal votes for the election are tallied.

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Essex County numbers

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The partisan breakdown, or party which the voters are affiliated with, of the 2,637 ballots cast in-person in Essex County, according to Fifield, is listed below.

– Democrat: 1,112

– Republican: 933

– Unaffiliated: 448

– Other parties: 144

Essex County received 2,411 approved applications for votes by mail — including both the no-excuse and traditional absentee requests, which have been combined below. Of those, 1,829 — or 75.86% — have been completed and returned to the board as of noon Thursday, according to Fifield. The partisan breakdown of received ballots is listed below.

– Democrat: 733

– Republican: 647

– Unaffiliated: 362

– Other parties: 87

Essex County has 25,817 registered voters, although not everyone who is registered ends up casting a ballot in any given election. The partisan breakdown, according to Fifield, of the county’s registered voters is listed below.

– Republican: 10,611

– Democrat: 7,649

– Unaffiliated: 5,734

– Other parties: 1,823

In all, 19,479 ballots were cast in Essex County in the 2020 General Election and 15,788 votes were cast in Essex County in the 2022 General Election.

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Franklin County numbers

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The partisan breakdown, or party which the voters are affiliated with, of the 1,794 ballots cast during the early voting period in person in Franklin County, according to Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Tracy Sparks, is listed below.

– Democrat: 859

– Republican: 852

– Unaffiliated: 389

– Other parties: 44

Franklin County has had 1,734 completed votes by mail — including both the no-excuse and traditional absentee requests, which have been combined below as of the end of Wednesday, according to Sparks. The partisan breakdown of received ballots is listed below.

– Democrat: 787

– Republican: 540

– Unaffiliated: 298

– Other parties: 109

Franklin County has 27,327 registered voters, although not everyone who is registered ends up casting a ballot in any given election. The partisan breakdown, according to Furman, of the county’s registered voters is listed below.

– Republican: 9,524

– Democrat: 9,496

– Unaffiliated and other parties: 8,307

In all, 19,572 ballots were cast in Franklin County in the 2020 General Election.