FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 15, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Election 2020
Early voting sites in Queens hot spots will open on time
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
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,” offi cials from the state
Board of Elections confi rmed.
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 non-essential businesses.
On 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.”
Although the governor’s threeringed
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 aft er every use.
Offi cials 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.
Th e 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.
Th e request form is also available
as a PDF which can be printed
and mailed back to the local County
Board of Elections. Th e form, online
and in paper, is available in Spanish,
Chinese, Korean and Bengali. File photo by Jacob Kaye
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