Early voting sites in Queens COVID-19
hot spots will open on time, BOE says
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
Early voting sites in Queens
and Brooklyn will open on Oct.
24, as scheduled, even if those
sites are currently closed as a
result of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
“Cluster Action Initiative,”
officials from the state Board of
Elections confirmed.
In response to upticks in the
virus in the two boroughs, Mayor
Bill de Blasio proposed a plan
to stop the spread of the virus by
shutting down schools and nonessential
businesses. On Monday,
Oct. 5, Cuomo issued his
own version of a shutdown plan
which allowed for businesses to
remain open but closed schools,
adding that the state would release
new geographical criteria.
On Oct. 6, the governor announced
that new restrictions
would be placed in cluster areas
in Brooklyn, Queens and some
city suburbs which the state
broke up into three color-coded
layers. Red zones are the clusters
themselves, orange zones
are “warning zones” while yellow
zones are “precautionary
zones.”
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | OCT. 16-OCT. 22, 2020
Although the governor’s
three-ringed layered system
was meant to clarify enforcement
measures, many found the
maps confusing.
All polling sites will be
equipped with hand sanitizer
and poll workers enforce state
mask-wearing requirements
and space out voters in line and
at machines to abide by state
social distancing requirements.
Machines will be wiped down
after every use.
Officials encourage those
that are at risk of severe COVID
infection, like the elderly, immunocompromised
and pregnant,
to consider taking advantage of
early voting to avoid crowds on
Election Day.
New Yorkers who wish to
vote by mail can register for
an absentee ballot by visiting
nycabsentee.com. The deadline
to request an absentee ballot is
Oct. 27. Applicants should select
“temporary illness or disability,”
which includes the risk of
contracting the coronavirus, as
their reason for requesting the
absentee ballot.
The request form is also
available as a PDF which can be
printed and mailed back to the
local County Board of Elections.
The form, online and in paper, is
available in Spanish, Chinese,
Korean and Bengali.
File photo by Jacob Kaye
REQUEST YOUR
ABSENTEE
BALLOT TODAY.
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Request & Track
Go to vote.nyc to find ways to
request an absentee ballot
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Board of Elections
City of New York
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