What you need to know for early voting in race to replace Santos

Early voting poll sites open Saturday morning for voters across the 3rd Congressional District to fill the seat of ousted ex-Rep. George Santos. But depending on where you live, the rules for where — and when — you can vote are different.

Election day is on Feb. 13, but you can cast your ballot early if you don’t want to wait.

Since the 3rd Congressional District spans two different counties, voters in the Queens portion of the district are assigned to specific early voting sites. Meanwhile, voters just across the border in Nassau County can use any of the designated vote centers to cast their ballot.

The special election, which was called after the U.S. House of Representatives ousted Santos in December following his indictment and an ethics investigation, will offer voters a choice between Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip and former Rep. Tom Suozzi.

Pilip got the Republican nomination despite being a registered Democrat. Meanwhile, Democrats selected a familiar face: Suozzi, who previously represented the area in Congress but declined to launch a re-election bid in 2022 to instead run for the Democratic nomination for governor. Suozzi was also previously the Nassau County executive and mayor of Glen Cove.

Any registered voter in the 3rd Congressional District can vote in the special election, regardless of party affiliation. For voters who are not yet registered, or are new to the district, the last day you can register to vote is Saturday, Feb. 3, which is also the first day of in-person early voting. The in-person early voting period runs for nine days ending on Sunday, Feb 11.

Here is what you need to know to cast your ballot.

Make sure you live in the 3rd Congressional District

In 2022, the congressional district boundaries changed after a contentious redistricting process that is still working its way through the courts.

For this special election, the boundaries that were in place for the 2022 midterm elections are the same lines that will be used for the special election.

If you voted for president in 2020 but missed the 2022 midterm elections, your congressional district may have changed. It would be a good idea to confirm that this is your district.

If you have been bombarded by campaign fliers or canvassers, that’s a pretty good sign that you are in the 3rd Congressional District. You can always check your voter registration status, including your district, through the New York State Board of Elections voter lookup tool.

Check your voter registration

If you confirm you're in the 3rd Congressional District, but find out that you're not registered to vote, the deadline to register is Saturday, Feb. 3.

To be eligible to register and vote in the election, you must be a United States citizen, 18 years old on Election Day and a resident of the district for at least 30 days.

You can register to vote online here. If you prefer old-school mail, you can print out a registration form and mail it to your Board of Election, but it needs to be received by them by Feb. 3.

Golden Day for newly registered voters

Voters who register to vote on Feb. 3 can also cast their ballot the same day. Voting rights advocates call it a “Golden Day.” You can register at your early voting site using the registration form on the affidavit envelope thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last year.

Queens early voting poll site assignments vs. Nassau county vote centers

Before you go out to vote, make sure to check the hours and location of your poll sites. In Queens, voters are assigned to specific locations. The hours for early voting are also different between Queens and Nassau.

Vincent Ignizio, deputy executive director of the New York City Board of Elections, cited two reasons why the city hasn't yet offered vote centers that are available on Long Island and the rest of the state: technology limits imposed by the city’s voting system and accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“The mandated five languages, which Nassau does not have, along with our ADA requirements, would overtax the memory presently available on our voting systems,” Ignizio said in an email. “This factor, along with the sheer size of the population and multiple counties we serve, would make voting centers in NYC a challenging goal.”

In Queens, the federal Voting Rights Act requires the city’s Board of Elections to offer ballots in five languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Bengali.

But Ignizio said the city is not shutting the door on using vote centers eventually. Ignizio signaled that the city’s BOE was still open to working with other government partners to make vote centers a reality in the “near future.”

Voters in Queens are assigned to one of these early voting locations

• Creedmoor Hospital
  79-25 Winchester Blvd
  Queens Village, NY 11427
• Korean Community Services
  203-05 32nd Ave
  Bayside, NY 11361
• Queensborough Community College
  222-05 56th Ave
  Queens, NY 11364
• St. Luke Roman Catholic Church
  16-34 Clintonville St
  Whitestone, NY 11357

Check your early voting or election day poll site at https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

Voters in Nassau County can cast their ballot at any of these early voting locations

• Oyster Bay Ice Rink
  1001 Stewart Ave
  Bethpage, NY 11714
• Plainview Mid-Island JCC
  45 Manetto Hill Rd
  Plainview, NY 11803
• Glen Cove City Hall
  9 Glen St
  Glen Cove, NY 11542
• Port Washington Public Library
  1 Library Dr
  Port Washington, NY 11050
• Great Neck House
  14 Arrandale Ave
  Great Neck, NY 11023
• Gayle Community Center
  53 Orchard St
  Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
• Hicksville Levittown Hall
  201 Levittown Pkwy
  Hicksville, NY 11801
• Williston Park American Legion
  730 Willis Ave
  Williston Park, NY 11596
• Massapequa Town Hall South
  977 Hicksville Rd
  Massapequa, NY 11758
• Yes We Can Community Center
  141 Garden St
  Westbury, NY 11590
• Nassau County Board of Elections
  240 Old Country Rd
  Mineola, NY 11501