With early voting set to begin this Saturday, Oct. 24, voting-rights advocates say they've seen an "unprecedented effort to mess" with elections and "scare and confuse" people about the voting process.
That's according to Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, who spoke during an Oct. 15 media briefing on the upcoming election.
"Our focus has always been on ensuring safe, accessible, and secure elections, and it's important to remember that nothing in election administration has changed for voters this year," Lerner said to begin the media briefing. "Our elections are run by New Yorkers for New Yorkers, just like they always have been."
Leaders of Common Cause New York and the League of Women Voters were among those participating in a virtual media briefing on voting procedures in New York.
In her remarks, Lerner noted that the first and most important thing to remember is that New Yorkers still have three ways to vote -- by mail, early in-person, and on Election Day. If someone is not yet registered and wants to vote, they still have time. Eligible voters can register online, in person, or by mail until Oct. 24 to be eligible to vote in the general election.
Early voting starts Oct. 24 and continues until Sunday, Nov. 1.
"The first day of early voting is also what we call Golden Day, which means voters can register to vote if they've not registered to vote in New York before and cast their vote on the same day at their early voting location," Lerner said.
The Supreme Court on Sept. 14 ruled on a case involving mail-in voting brought by the League of Women Voters against President Donald Trump, per the League's website. The ruling left in place a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing a suppressive new voting rule that would "severely restrict" voting by mail.
"The federal government tried to kill vote by mail and other reforms that make it easier to vote. They failed. Voting by mail is legal and safe," Lerner said.
Military and overseas voters have a little bit longer, Erica Smitka, executive director of League of Women Voters of New York State, said in her remarks during the media briefing.
"They can request their mail ballots until Oct. 27, but they must still postmark them by Nov. 3 and their ballots can be received and counted by Nov. 16. That means that some close races might not have a clear winner on election night but accurate results take time," Smitka said.
Common Cause New York and the Let New York Vote Coalition led efforts to establish early voting, expand vote by mail, institute online voter registration, consolidate New York's primary dates, and establish a Golden Day so New Yorkers can register to vote and cast their ballot on the same day, Lerner said. These reforms have expanded access to the ballot while reducing issues at the polls, she contends.
"In 2025, more than twice as many New Yorkers cast their ballots early compared to 2021 and voters are increasingly using mail-in voting. There's still more to be done but we're happy to see things moving in the right direction," Lerner said.
In her remarks, Lerner also added these details: "Any voter can vote by mail by requesting a mail ballot from the Board of Elections. This can be done by mail or online until Oct. 24 or in person at Boards of Elections until Nov. 2. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10 to count. And this year, we're urging voters to mail their ballots back as soon as they can to avoid any delays in the mail. The vote by mail process is extremely transparent and tracking ballots is very easy. Voters can track their ballot on the Board of Elections website at every stop from the day it's mailed to the day it's counted."
When in doubt, call 1-866-OURVOTE: a free hotline of legal personnel can talk you through it from 7 am to 8 pm. Spanish, Arabic and Asian languages support are also available via the Election Protection website.
