Final word: No early voting on Island

Residents have lost their bid to be able to vote early on Shelter Island in advance of the Nov. 3 election.

But it won’t happen again, Supervisor Gerry Siller said at Friday’s Town Board meeting.

Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) has promised to introduce legislation in Albany to ensure that in the future Islanders will be able to cast ballots early in their own town rather than having to travel to the North or South forks or cast their ballots by absentee mail.

Last week Supreme Court Justice Daily Reilly upheld the Board of Election (BOE) decision.

To continue to fight the case this year meant no decision could come in time for the current election, Mr. Siller said.

Town officials had made the case that it is difficult for many residents to travel by ferry to vote off-Island. Justice Reilly ruled for the BOE, which had said it was too expensive to establish voting on the Island prior to Nov. 3.

The supervisor was joined in his appeal to the Supreme Court by Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), Mr. Thiele, State Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) and a host of elected officials from area towns, including former assemblyman and now Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine.

All argued that the need to use a ferry to get to either fork, plus the number of elderly or infirm Islanders, were solid reasons to allow early voting here.

It’s clear from the decision, said Town Information officer Det. Sgt. Jack Thilberg, that the BOE did not follow the proper procedure in determining where to locate the early voting sites.

Furthermore, while the Shelter Island site was eliminated, three sites were added in the western towns in Suffolk County, he said.

“The Court dismissed the town’s arguments that 40% of registered voters in the town utilized the early voting site during the last election and more are expected this year because of the presidential election and the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic,” Sgt. Thilberg said.

“The decision opines that Island voters still have access to absentee ballots and election day voting,” he added. “Additionally, the Court accepted the Board of Election’s argument that Island voters can use early voting sites in other towns without comment as to how the difficulties of leaving the island would affect the elderly, the infirmed or the quarantined.”

Polling places for early voting include the Riverhead Senior Center on Shade Tree Lane in Aquebogue; the Southold Senior Center on Pacific Street in Mattituck; Windmill Village on Accobonac Road in East Hampton; and Stony Brook University Southampton Campus on Tuckahoe Road in Southampton.

You can vote at any location in the county, though you will be required to wear a mask and maintain six feet of social distance.

For a complete list of polling places and more information, visit the Board of Elections website. 

The dates and times for early voting are:

• Monday, 10/26: 7 a.m.-3 p.m.

• Tuesday, 10/27: noon-8 p.m.

• Wednesday, 10/28: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• Thursday, 10/29: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• Friday, 10/30: noon-8 p.m.

• Saturday, 10/31: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

• Sunday, 11/1: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

No place on Shelter Island for in-person early voting.

Polls will be open on Election Day, Nov. 3,at the Shelter Island School, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.