Still time to register to vote: Candidate forum set for Oct. 12 

With less than two months before the Nov. 4 election, if you are not registered to vote, the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & the North Fork will be observing National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with registration efforts throughout the area.

On Shelter Island, League members will be at the library’s temporary quarters between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. to provide registration forms and assist anyone who needs help in filling out the form.

Requests for registration forms can also be found online at the New York State Board of Elections website at elections.ny.gov.

League members will be providing voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications along with information on candidates running for office on Nov. 4.

Islanders should also note the League’s forum for candidates will be held at the school auditorium on Sunday, Oct. 12, between 1 and 3 p.m.

On Shelter Island, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams is seeking a second two-year term on the Republican ticket and is opposed by Democrat Councilman Arnott Gordon Gooding, who is in his first year as a member of the Town Board.

Three candidates seek election to two open Town Board seats. Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen, running on the Republican ticket, is seeking re-election along with Thomas Cronin, who has run for a Town Board seat twice. On the Democratic ticket is Elizabeth Hanley, who has been leading the Town’s Community Housing Board. 

Highway Superintendent Ken Lewis Jr. is seeking another term on the Republican ticket and is opposed by Democrat Michael Reiter. Town Clerk Amber Wilson seeks a second term as Town Clerk and is opposed by Shelby Mundy, who has been Senior Account Clerk in the supervisor’s office.

For years, candidates for highway superintendent and town clerk candidates have been cross-endorsed by both political parties, but a newly elected Democratic Town Committee opted to put up its own full slate, giving the nod to Mr. Reiter and Ms. Mundy as its candidates for those two slots.

The ballot will include referendums.

A resolution would amend the state constitution as it affects parkland. A “Yes” vote would amend the constitution to allow use of 323 acres of forest preserve land on the Mount Van Hoevenberg Sports Complex in Essex County for improvements. It would also require preservation of at least 2,500 acres of forest land in the Adirondack Park to offset construction.

A major change this year requires anyone filing a request for an absentee ballot must use that ballot to cast their votes. In the past, someone who expected not to be able to vote in person either during early voting or on election day, could cast a ballot, if their schedule changed, in person. That is no longer the case. If you apply for an absentee ballot, it’s the only way to cast your vote.

The completed ballot must reach either your polling place or the Suffolk County Board of Elections by election day, Nov. 4.

Early voting takes place at the Community Center between Saturday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 2. The hours are as follows:

• Oct. 25, 26 and 27, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Oct. 28 and 29, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Oct. 30 and 31, from noon to 8 p.m.

• Nov. 1 and 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.