There will be 15 early voting locations in Nassau County from late October to early November, but not a single site can be found in one of the county’s three townships: North Hempstead.
Bonnie Garone, counsel to the Democratic commissioner on the Board of Elections, said when determining early voting sites the board looked for areas that were underserved and where turnout was not as high as it could be, are accessible by public transportation and had the facilities to host an early voting site.
She said the goal of early voting is to “make voting more accessible” and generally the Town of North Hempstead’s voter turnout is good already.
North Hempstead locations were probably discussed at some point, Garone said, and added that she expects many voters will vote at a location near where they work.
The Town of Hempstead has 11 early voting sites: Elmont’s Fire District Building, Floral Park Recreation Center, St. Paul’s Field House at the Garden City Recreational Complex, the Recreation Center at Kennedy Park in Hempstead, Lawrence Village Hall, North Merrick Public Library, Rockville Centre Recreation Center, Valley Stream Firemen’s Memorial Field, Wantagh Public Library, West Hempstead Public Library and the Nassau County Board of Elections office in Mineola.
The early voting site at the Board of Elections office is the location closest to the majority of North Hempstead’s residents.
The Town of Oyster Bay’s four early voting locations are St. Paul the Apostle in Glen Head, Levittown Hall in Hicksville, Massapequa’s Town Hall South and Plainview Mid-Island Y JCC.
The Town of North Hempstead covers Nassau County’s westernmost north shore, including Great Neck, Port Washington, Roslyn, Manhasset, East Williston, Williston Park and most of New Hyde Park.
North Hempstead is the smallest of the three towns by area and population, according to 2018 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The state Legislature approved a resolution in January to hold early voting each of the 10 days before Election Day in November.
According to the state law, voting authorities are required to open one polling location per every 50,000 people but do not have to have more than seven locations per county.
Garone said that if the county Board of Elections were to have an early voting site for every 50,000 active voters, about 19 polling locations would be required.
The Town of North Hempstead did not respond to a request for comment.
