ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Polls open in less than 12 hours across New York State.  Already 133,000 voters in Monroe County have cast their ballots during early voting and more than 26,000 have returned votes by mail. 

If 75% of registered voters in Monroe County come out to the polls, that’s another 213,000 votes.

“The Monroe County Board of Elections is rearing and ready to go for the big day tomorrow,” says Jackie Ortiz, the democratic Monroe County Election Commissioner.

But Ortiz and her republican colleague Commissioner Lisa Nicolay are reminding voters about what’s allowed and what’s not.

“If you are planning on coming out, do not wear or display the name of a candidate, the party and or some sort of directional on yes/no on how to vote for the props, those things are prohibited by law,” they explain. 

When it comes to safety and security at polling sites, “RPD, Monroe County Sheriffs and even the town and villages that have their own police departments are fully aware of all of our 215 locations, they will be kind of giving them special attention, driving by, making sure that there’s not issues and of course our inspectors and our voters should know that if they feel that there is something they want to say, they see something, they should say something,” says Nicolay. 

As for the integrity of your vote once you put your ballot in the machine, Ortiz assures voters of the process.

“Nothing can be done without being done in a bipartisan basis, every machine, every card that is assigned to a polling site is listed and determined in our system. Bar coded and sealed, and we know exactly what is where and what has been returned and we keep track of that, obviously meticulously,” she says.   

The bottom line for those who will vote on election day, “if you have an issue and you are at the polling location and something happens, ask for a site manager, there’s a site chair right there, they can take care of it. If they can’t, they’re going to reach out to the next level and eventually to us,” says Nicholay.   

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.  The first round of returns will likely be posted by 10 p.m. and include the early votes and the votes by mail that have been received so far, 

To look up your polling location, click this link.

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