There is a presidential primary in New York and three other states on Tuesday, (Connecticut, Rhode Island and Wisconsin), although it’s not really a competitive contest.
That’s because Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican and former President Donald Trump have already secured enough delegates to win their parties’ nominations at the political conventions this summer.
The decisions will nevertheless offer clues about enthusiasm among base voters for the upcoming presidential election.
In Monroe County Republican Elections Commissioner Lisa Nicolay said the board of elections has tried to keep most polling places the same this year, including Tuesday’s presidential primary, the federal, state and local primaries on June 25, and the general election on November 7.
“There were some changes,” said Nicolay. “Everyone got a postcard about a month ago telling them where their polling location is. And also it said if they had chosen to vote absentee, it said that on the postcard.”
Nicolay is predicting a turnout of about 18% to 20% on Tuesday. In New York state only people registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote in the primary.
Voting for Tuesday's presidential primary across the state runs from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Monroe County’s Democratic Elections Commissioner, Jackie Ortiz, said there has been some interest already shown in the primary during several days of early voting.
“We've had a few thousand individuals over the course of the eight days that early voting was available,” said Ortiz. “So at this point, we certainly expect voters to be coming out, (but) obviously primaries are always lower (in turnout) than general elections.”
Both elections commissioners said that the county is in pretty good shape right now in terms of the number of elections inspectors and other staffers they will need for three elections in what is a busy election year. But they also said they may still need to fill some slots for the November elections, so contact the county board of elections if you are interested in applying for those paid positions.
If you have any questions about where to vote on Tuesday, or applying for election inspector positions contact the Monroe County Board of Elections at their website, or by calling (585) 753-1550
This story includes reporting by the Associated Press.
