Patricia Damp votes in a school election and budget vote on May 16, 2023. (Enterprise file photo — Lauren Yates)

It all comes down to this. Today is election day. There’s a special election to fill a vacant state Assembly seat, a statewide ballot proposition affecting Mount Van Hoevenberg and numerous contested local races for town positions in Harrietstown, Tupper Lake, Wilmington, Keene, Franklin, Santa Clara and Jay.

Polls will be open today from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To look at where local polling sites will be, go to voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Between early voting — which took place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2 — and mail-in voting, 1,710 people in Franklin County have already voted, 2,059 people in Essex County have voted so far and 5,561 people in Clinton County have cast ballots before election day, according to the county boards of elections.

There are still 1,597 outstanding mail-in ballots in these three counties which have not been returned to the boards of elections. Voters who were issued absentee ballots have until the end of today to drop off their ballots or postmark them in the mail. The county boards must receive the ballots by Nov. 12.

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Assembly race

Voters from Franklin, Clinton and the northwestern parts of Essex counties will vote on a new state Assembly member. In Essex County, voters in the towns of Keene, North Elba, Jay, Wilmington and St. Armand will vote in the Assembly election.

District 115 Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, resigned his seat halfway through his term in September.

Republican Brent Davison and Democrat Michael Cashman are both running for the state-level seat.

The campaign season has been abbreviated — only really lasting two-and-a-half months. So the campaigning has been fast and fierce, with tens of thousands of dollars being spent on advertising and lawn signs by both candidates.

Davison and Cashman have flooded the market with advertisements, with dozens of paper mailers filling inboxes, video advertisements filling most ad breaks on television or the web, newspaper advertisements lining pages and radio spots packing the airwaves.

The two debated last month.

Davison, who recently retired as the State Police Troop B Commander, pitched himself as someone who will stand up to the current one-party Democratic rule of New York state, with a focus on tackling the high cost of living.

Cashman, who is currently the Plattsburgh town supervisor, pitched himself as a majority party member who won’t always vote with his party, with a focus on providing better living conditions and safety for residents.

The two actually agreed on several issues — repealing the HALT Act, taking a cautious approach to electrification goals, opposing the Green Light Law, supporting universal affordable housing and supporting the Second Amendment — leading Davison to joke afterward that the two seemed like they were running on the same party line at times.

They still differentiated themselves by party — Davison, as a Republican, being part of a coalition to fight Democratic-led initiatives that could hurt the North Country, and Cashman, as a Democrat, saying he can shape these initiatives from the inside in ways that benefit the area.

To read more about the debate, go to tinyurl.com/59kx9htc.

To read more about Cashman, go to tinyurl.com/4r3fkcu2. To read more about Davison, go to tinyurl.com/29d4wk6t.

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Franklin County votes so far

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In Franklin County, there were 1,072 early voters — 484 Democrats, 377 Republicans, 190 independents or unaffiliated, 20 Conservative and one member of the Working Families Party.

Franklin County Republican Election Commissioner Tracy Sparks said they’ve had decent early voting turnout for an off-year election. She wonders if the special Assembly race is driving this, or of people are getting more comfortable with early voting.

Of the 972 mail-in ballots issued, 638 had been returned by Monday evening. This means there are 334 outstanding ballots still to be returned.

Interestingly, though Essex County issued 69 more mail-in ballots than Franklin County, they had the exact same number of returned ballots on Monday evening.

Of the 460 Democrats who were issued absentee ballots in Franklin County, 309 have returned them. Of the 309 Republicans who were issued absentee ballots, 201 had returned them. Of the 195 independent or unaffiliated voters who were issued absentee ballots, 124 had returned them. Of the six Conservatives who were issued them, four had returned them. Of the two Working Families Party members who were issued them, none had returned them.

There are 27,422 people registered to vote in Franklin County as of Oct. 30, according to the county board of elections. Of those, 9,713 (35.4%) are registered Republicans, 9,271 (33.8%) are registered Democrats, 6,393 (23.3%) are voters not registered with a political party, 418 (1.5%) are registered Conservatives, 129 (0.5%) are registered with the Working Families Party and 1,498 (5.5%) are registered with any other officially-designated political party.

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Essex County votes so far

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Deputy Democratic Commissioner Jennifer Fifield said the special election for the 115th Assembly seat has driven higher turnout in the western region of Essex County which is in that Assembly district.

In Franklin County, there were 1,421 early voters — 665 Democrats, 421 Republicans, 262 unaffiliated, 54 independents, 14 Conservatives and five members of the Working Families Party.

Of the 1,041 mail-in ballots issued, 638 had been returned by Monday evening. This means there are 403 outstanding ballots still to be returned.

Of the 448 Democrats who were issued absentee ballots in Essex County, 282 had returned them. Of the 364 Republicans who were issued absentee ballots, 235 had returned them. Of the 187 unaffiliated voters who were issued ballots, 95 had returned them. Of the 29 independent voters who were issued ballots, 18 had returned them. Of the seven Working Families Party members who were issued them, three had returned them. Of the six Conservatives who were issued ballots, five had returned them.

There are 25,877 people registered to vote in Essex County as of Oct. 30, according to the county board of elections. Of those, 10,631 (41.1%) are registered Republicans, 7,525 (29.1%) are registered Democrats, 5,944 (23%) are voters not registered with a political party, 303 (1.2%) are registered Conservatives, 109 (0.4%) are registered with the Working Families Party and 1,365 (5.3%) are registered with any other officially-designated political party.

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Clinton County votes so far

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Democratic Deputy Commissioner Brandi Lloyd said the early voter turnout is close to what was seen in the gubernatorial race in 2022. It has surpassed the off-year election of 2023.

In Clinton County, there were 3,932 early voters — 1,972 Democrats, 1,019 Republicans, 721 unaffiliated, 173 independents, 34 Conservatives and 13 Working Families Party members.

Of the 2,489 mail-in ballots issued, 1,629 had been returned by Monday evening. This means there are 860 outstanding ballots still to be returned.

Of the 1,097 Democrats who were issued absentee ballots in Clinton County, 735 of them had returned them. Of the 818 Republicans who were issued absentee ballots, 535 had returned them. Of the 449 unaffiliated voters who were issued ballots, 272 had returned them. Of the 96 independents who were issued ballots, 67 had returned them. Of the 22 Conservatives who were issued ballots, 17 had returned them. Of the seven Working Families Party members who were issued ballots, three had returned them.

There are 50,380 active voters in Clinton County. Of those, 16,096 (31.94%) are registered Republicans, 16,642 (33%) are registered Democrats, 13,624 (27%) are voters not registered with a political party, 635 (1.3%) are registered Conservatives, 282 (0.6%) are registered with the Working Families Party and 3,101 (6.16%) are registered with any other officially-designated political party.

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Prop 1

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Voters around the state will have a say on whether the winter sports complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg will be brought into compliance with the state Constitution, and if the state will add land to the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

The proposal is backed by environmental groups, who say it would resolve past Forest Preserve constitutional violations at the sports complex near Lake Placid, ensuring the integrity of the land protections and allowing the state to continue holding sporting events there.

To read more about the proposal, go to tinyurl.com/mwjzerrj.

To read the text of the proposal, go to tinyurl.com/4v59xbpk.

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Local contested offices

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In Harrietstown, there is a contested four-way race for two council seats with incumbent Tracey Schrader and newcomer Doug Haney on the Democratic line and incumbent John T. Williams and newcomer Craig E. Donaldson on the Republican line. To read more about the candidates, go to tinyurl.com/mec7y424.

In Tupper Lake, there is a contested three-way race for two town council seats with incumbent John J. Gillis on the Democratic line, and newcomers Adam Boudreau and Owen Littlefield both on the Republican and Conservative lines. To read more about the candidates for Tupper Lake elections, go to tinyurl.com/mre6v2n2.

In Wilmington, Supervisor Favor Smith will appear on the ballot on the Republican and independent “Honesty” lines, but he announced his retirement in August.

Councilman Timothy John Follos is running for supervisor on the independent “Peoples” line.

There is also a contested four-way race for two Wilmington council seats with Karl von Entress on the Republican line, Hanna Cromie and Randy Winch on the independent “Peoples” line and Mindy Goddeau on the independent “Truth” line.

There is also a four-way race for Wilmington highway superintendent with incumbent Louis P. Adregna on the Republican and independent “Commitment” lines, Cameron Grady on the independent “Progress” line and Darren Lawrence on the independent “Better Roads” line.

In Keene, there is a contested supervisor race between incumbent Joe Pete Wilson on the Democratic line and Roger Y. Allen on the Republican and independent “High Peaks” lines.

In Franklin, there is a contested race for town clerk and tax collector between Veronica LeFebvre on the Democratic line and Amy McCormick on the Republican line.

In Santa Clara, there is a contested three-way race for two councilmember seats with Alexandria Lexi Bevilacqua and Marcel Mickey Webb on the Republican line and Tyler Ellithorpe on the independent “Tippy Canoe” line. All three are newcomers to the board.

In Jay, there is a contested race for supervisor, with incumbent Matthew Stanley on the Democratic and independent “Stronger Jay” lines and newcomer Daniel Mark Deyoe on the Republican and independent “Citizens” lines.

There is also a four-way race for two council seats with newcomer Robin Licari and incumbent Knut Sauer on the Democratic and independent “Vision for Jay” lines, incumbent Stephen L. Forbes on the Republican and independent “People’s Choice” lines, and newcomer Archie R. Depo on the independent “Peoples” line.

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Write-ins

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A number of races — particularly in Essex County — have write-in candidates who will not appear on the ballot but are running in both competitive and uncontested races.

As many as nine towns in Essex County could have at least one write-in campaign — an unprecedentedly high number.

This includes campaigns for town supervisor in Willsboro, Wilmington and Ticonderoga, and candidates for town council in Chesterfield and Wilmington. Wilmington is also expected to have a write-in campaign for assessor and a retired Lake Placid lawyer has announced a write-in campaign for town justice, after both seats had no petitions filed.

In Wilmington, Sam Haselton is vying for supervisor as a write-in and Tina Terry Preston is running for reelection to the council as a write-in.

In North Elba, David Lally is running as a write-in for town justice. There is no one on the ballot for this position.

There were also no petitions filed for clerk in the town of Keene and assessor in the town of Essex, so there might also be write-in campaigns for those roles.

To read more about the write-in candidates, go to tinyurl.com/4az8hrhf.

To vote for a write-in candidate, look at the top of the ballot to find the position you want to vote for, go to the bottom of the page where a “write-in” section is clearly marked, and write a name inside the box. New York clarifies that what matters in a write-in is “voter intent,” which means it doesn’t matter if names are misspelled as long as election workers can tell who you mean.

Any markings on the ballot need to be inside the box — the machine won’t read anything outside the box.

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Truncated town terms

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Because of a new state law shifting the elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, some elected officials may have reduced terms after winning office this year.

This law was challenged in court, and was recently upheld. Even-year elections would start next year.

Because of this, if an office is to be elected for a two-year term this year, the winner would only get a one-year term and need to run again next year, in an even year. This would cut their term in half. If the office is to be elected for a four-year term this year, they would only get a three-year term and need to run again in 2028. This would cut their term by one-quarter.

It would mostly affect town offices — town supervisor, town board members, town clerk and highway superintendent — as well as a couple of county offices — county executive, comptroller and legislator.

It would not apply to village offices, school boards, sheriffs, county clerks, district attorneys and a range of judge positions. Also, seats with three-year terms would be exempt.

To read more about this law and which offices would be affected, go to tinyurl.com/zmvh6sf8.

The state Board of Elections can be reached at 518-474-1953.

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Franklin County races

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All seven Franklin County legislator districts are up for reelection. Locally, Tupper Lake legislator Nedd J. Sparks is running for reelection unopposed on the Republican and Conservative lines and with Democratic Saranac Lake legislator Lindy Ellis not running for reelection, Democrat Joe Shoemaker is running unopposed for the seat.

To read more about Shoemaker, go to tinyurl.com/5h5e3mhy.

Kip Cassavaw is running unopposed on the Democratic and Conservative lines for another term as the Franklin County clerk, Frances Perry is running unopposed on the Democratic line for another term as the Franklin County treasurer and Richard F. Azar Jr. is running unopposed on the Democratic line for another term as a Franklin County coroner.

Sample ballots for all towns in Franklin County can be found at tinyurl.com/9bavuc9t.

The Franklin County Board of Elections can be reached at 518-481-1455.

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Essex County races

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In Essex County, town supervisors are also the county supervisors.

District Attorney Michael P. Langey is running unopposed on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Coroners Jay E. Heald and Kellie M. Valentine are running unopposed for reelection on the Republican line.

Sample ballots for all towns in Essex County can be found at tinyurl.com/45bmmzzr.

The Essex County Board of Elections can be reached at 518-873-3474.

Supreme Court

Voters will also vote for two state Supreme Court justices — current Justice Kris Singh and Chris Obstarczyk, who are both running unopposed on the Republican and Conservative lines.