Monroe County Elections Officials Remind Voters of Rules and Safety Precautions Before Polls Open

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

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

“The Monroe County Board of Elections is preparing for a big day tomorrow,” said Jackie Ortiz, Democratic Election Commissioner for Monroe County.

But Ortiz and fellow Republican Commissioner Lisa Nicolai are reminding voters of what is and isn’t allowed.

“If you plan to go out, do not wear or display the name of a candidate, party, and/or any yes/no indication of how to vote on a prop, these things are illegal,” they explain. .

When it comes to polling place security, “RPD, Monroe County Sheriffs, and even towns and villages that have their own police departments are fully aware of all of our 215 precincts and will pay special attention to them, managing the path, making sure that , so that there are no problems, and, of course, our inspectors and our voters should know that if they feel like they want to say something, see something, they should say something,” says Nikolai.

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

“Nothing can be done without taking a bipartisan approach: every machine, every card assigned to a polling place is listed and identified in our system. Barcoded and sealed, and we know exactly what was returned where, and we track it, obviously, carefully,” she says.

Bottom line for those voting on Election Day: “If you have a problem and you’re at the polling place and something happens, ask the precinct manager, there’s a precinct chair there, they can take care of it. If they can’t, they will move on to the next level and, ultimately, to us,” says Nikolai.

Polling stations are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday. First-round results will likely be released by 10 p.m. and will include early voting and mail-in votes received so far.

To find your polling station, click this link.

*AI helped format this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses artificial intelligence*