Last week, thousands arrived at the Health and Human Services Building in Owego to cast their vote in this year’s Presidential election. As of Wednesday, and according to Bernadette Toombs, Republican commissioner of Tioga County’s Board of Elections, 3,783 of the approximate 32,050 Active registered voters in the county had already cast their ballot.
And things, according to those that voted, were running smoothly.
For Owego resident Scott Armstrong, his vote, from the time he arrived at the polls until the point where his ballot was cast, took 20 minutes on Tuesday; a short amount of time considering the length of the line upon his arrival.
Donald Corson Sr. voted early as well, and noted it took 19 minutes to cast his vote from the time he arrived until the time he cast his vote!
Another area resident, Tonia Benjamin Keller, posted that she will be voting on Election Day, alongside her husband and daughter, who turned 18 in March and will be voting in her first Presidential Election.
To offer a visual, when arriving at the early voting site last week, a line that moved quickly welcomed guests into a makeshift polling place, where workers and volunteers directed residents into the HHS building, and where the first step was ensuring everyone applied hand sanitizer.
Then voters were then led to a computer where voter registration verification took place, and a signature was applied to a computerized pad with a Q-Tip, which was immediately disposed of.
After being handed a fresh clean pen and a ballot, voters went inside private cubes to decide their vote, and then it was processed into a machine where it was either rejected or accepted. The pen was then turned over for sanitation as a steady stream continued to circulate into the building – usually in groups of six or eight at a time.
Now, and with Early Voting wrapping up on Sunday, officials will ready for Election Day on Nov. 3. For those participating in the last day of polling on Sunday, things will remain open at the Health and Human Services Building from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Election Day itself, polls will be open at various locations around the county from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
In Tioga County, N.Y., voters will decide on a candidate for President and their Vice President, a seat on the State Supreme Court’s 6th Judicial District, a Representative in Congress, a State Senator, and a Member of Assembly for the 124th District. There are smaller, uncontested races in Candor and Spencer that will be found on those specific ballots.
You can visit us online on election night, as we will provide coverage of the results as they arrive in Tioga County. You can also visit the Board of Elections at www.tiogacountyny.com/departments/board-of-elections/ to follow the results, or for more information.
As for how soon the results from the overall election will be known, it is anybody’s guess in this challenging election year. Stay tuned!
Except for the very rude lady directing us inside to stand on the arrows everything went well. She demanded that my husband remove his hat because it was political. I don’t understand how a hat green and gold hat with a maple leaf advertising my son’s business was political. Also, there were other men wearing hats to whom she said nothing!!!