Northeast gets more early voting sites
Community centers in Bayside and Bellerose added to Board of Elections’ polling place list
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Elected officials in
northeast Queens celebrated
on May 31 the addition of a new
early voting site in Bayside,
just two weeks after urging
the city’s Board of Elections to
take action.
State Senator John Liu,
Assembly members Nily
Rozic and Ed Braunstein,
Congresswoman Grace
Meng and Councilman Paul
Vallone gathered at Korean
Community Services, one
of several new voting sites
in Queens.
In April, BOE released a
map of 38 proposed early voting
sites, which did not include
a single site in northeast
Queens. The lawmakers
along with Congressman Tom
Suozzi and Councilman Barry
Grodenchik addressed a letter
to BOE asking Commissioner
Rosanna Vargas to add
more early polling sites to
northeast Queens.
In the letter, the lawmakers
noted that the only early
polling site is at the Al Oerter
Recreation Center at 131-40
Fowler Ave., which would be
nearly 10 miles away from
some voters.
Following the elected
officials’ outrage, BOE
designated KCS at 203-05 32nd
Ave. and the Cross Island
YMCA at 238-10 Hillside Ave.
in Bellerose as early polling
sites, doubling the number of
sites from seven to 14.
“It was perplexing and
From left: Councilman Paul Vallone, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Senator John Liu, Assemblyman Edward
Braunstein, Councilman Barry Grodenchik, KCS Executive Director Linda Lee and BOE Queens Chief Clerk Amanda Berinato
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
untenable to find out earlier
this month that there were
no places to cast early ballots
in northern Queens, east of
Flushing Meadows Park,”
said Liu. “The point of voting
reforms, including early voting,
is to make the democratic
process for all citizens easier,
and to bolster the public’s
trust and confidence in
elections. We appreciate
the Board of Elections
listening and working with
us to accommodate our
constituents accordingly.”
The New York State
Legislature passed voting
reform laws this past January,
which included early voting
to strengthen the democratic
process and increase low voter
turnout. New early voting
laws allow New Yorkers to
cast their votes nine days
before election day starting in
November 2019.
“Passing voting reforms
in the state Legislature
earlier this year was intended
to modernize our system
and eliminate some of the
challenges that voters have
come to experience far too
frequently on Election Day,”
said Rozic. “After making
it clear that overlooking
northeast Queens was a
step backward in meeting
these goals, I am pleased
that the BOE has considered
our request and identified
Korean Community Services
in Bayside as an early voting
poll site.”
In addition to Al Oerter,
some of the original
Queens early polling sites
in the borough included
Queens Borough Hall in
Kew Gardens, LaGuardia
Community College in Long
Island City and Rentar Plaza
in Middle Village.
“We’re very thankful that
we were able to work with
the representatives from the
Queens community and come
up with a solution for this
particular neighborhood and
that’s what we’re doing across
the city,” said BOE Executive
Director Michael Ryan. “It’s
a daunting task, we’re hard at
work at it. We’re not finished
but we certainly will keep at it
and we’ll make the early voting
experience as welcoming and
as accessible as possible.”
But some like Susan
Lerner, the executive director
of Common Cause NY and
founder of Let NY Vote, said
that increasing early polling
sites is just the beginning of
voter reform in the state.
“While it’s good news that
northeast Queens is getting
an additional early voting
poll site, it’s still far less than
voters deserve,” said Lerner.
“The BOE has completely
failed to deliver borough
wide voting centers which
would make voting easy and
convenient for anyone eligible
in Queens. We will continue to
keep the pressure to let New
York vote!”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
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