Elections and Voter Information

League of Women Voters^®
of Schenectady County

We make voting easier through varied voter education programs.

Links to local Board of Elections, Government Services and Information: Who is on the ballot in the next election? How to register to vote? ...and more

VOTER SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT 2009-2010. TAKE ME TO VOTE. Links to Local Boards. How to Register to Vote, Find a Ballot or Polling Place, Explore Voting Machines. Explanation of the Primary Process in NYS. City Council and Town Board Meetings. Schenectady County Legislature Meetings. State-Wide Politics and Financial Disclosures.

VOTER SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT 2009-2010

Submitted by Karen Bradley
The Schenectady LWV conducted four Meet the Candidate Forums for the Fall 2009 election during the month of October. The Town of Glenville forum was held at the Glenville Town Hall; the Niskayuna forum was held at the Niskayuna Town Hall; the Town of Rotterdam forum was held at the Rotterdam Branch Library and the Schenectady City/County District Attorney and Sheriff forum was held at the Central Library. Each forum was filled to capacity. The LWV encountered a unique problem involving one of the local elections when one party pulled out of the forum. The league will undertake a study of the National and State policy on the empty chair debate and develop a policy over the next several months. We also provided a Meet the Candidate Forum for the Schenectady City Schools Board of Education race at the Black Box Theatre at Schenectady High School, in May. League members who participated in the various forums were Ruth Bonn, Gwynn DeLong, Evvie Currie, Desdemona Johnson, Inge Lise Pangburn, Maxine Borom, Joanne Tobiessen, Laura Zeliger, Helga Schroeter, Mary Maitino, Betsy Forkas, Ann Hicks, Julie Burgess, Carol Furman, Flora Ramonowski, Julia Helfman, Ann Bish, Elizabeth Cooke, Lynda Nichols, Johanna Petersen, Connie Young, Roberta Steiner.

TAKE ME TO VOTE

Submitted by Connie Young, Vice President
We had another successful year with the Take Me to Vote campaign. All the county elementary schools participated. The new voting machines were demonstrated with the students at four of the schools (Glen Worden in Scotia-Glenville, Hillside in Niskayuna, Woestina in Rotterdam Junction and Jefferson in Rotterdam . The children voted for favorite icecreams and vanilla won. Four schools (Glendahl in Scotia, Jefferson, St. John's in Schenectady and Hillside were the winners with the highest percentage of voting parents. Assemblies were held so that the mayor and the town supervisors of the respective towns could award the winning plaques. Time-Warner Cable gave us a generous cash contribution and the Daily Gazette newpaper printed the13,000 slips necessary to accommodate our program. Many of our helpers were retired teachers, AAUW members and poll workers, as well as members of our own LWV. All helped to educate our children to become responsible voters in the future. If you would like to join Take Me To Vote this fall, please call Connie Young 393-7061. It's fun and it takes a small amount of time to make a big difference.

Local Boards of Elections

Schenectady County Board of Elections
New York State Board of Elections

How to Register to Vote, Find a Ballot or Polling Place, Explore Voting Machines

The New York State Voter education website offers voters the opportunity to learn the type of voting systems selected for use in their county, provide an opportunity to look up their voter registration status and, where provided, determine their poll site, as well as serve as a poll worker recruitment tool. NYS Voter Education
This tool, provided by the League, is a quick and easy way to register to vote. Voter Registration Tool
The following site is the League's one-stop-shop for election information, including a polling place locater. VOTE411.org
The League of Women Voters of New York State is pleased to announce the introduction of the new Smart Voter campaign information website: <http://www.smartvoter.org/ny/state.>

Explanation of the Primary Process in NYS

Presidential Primaries in New York State
The Democratic and Republican primaries in New York State are different in important ways, but have similarities. Both are "closed" primaries; participation is limited to the voters who have registered in the party that is sponsoring the election. While delegates are not bound by any law to vote for any particular candidate at the party's national convention, both parties have "pledged" candidates who vote for the candidate to whom they are "pledged". Both parties also have "un-pledged" and/or "super" delegates, who are not committed to a particular candidate. A certain number of delegates in each party participate because they occupy a particular elective or party position. Before the primary, candidates submit to the board of elections a list of delegates from each congressional district that are committed to them. These delegates actually appear on the ballot in the Democratic primary, along with a statewide presidential democratic candidate, but do not appear on the ballot in the Republican primary.
Details of the Nominating Process
Democrats: "Proportional" Primary, 281 delegates at stake New York Democrats have a total of 281 delegates, 151 of whom are "pledged" and will be elected proportionally based on the results of the February 5th primary within each congressional district. In addition, 45 are automatic and/or chosen from party leaders. The remaining 85 delegates are selected at a state Democratic committee meeting in May.
The Democratic Party in New York always uses a proportional method for awarding delegates. The percentage of delegates each candidate is awarded (or the number of undecided delegates) is representative of the number of primary votes for the candidate.
The Democratic Party primary in New York is really a "dual primary." Candidates for president appear on the ballot and run against each other in a statewide primary, and delegates and alternate delegates run in each congressional district. Delegates and alternates are either committed to a presidential candidate or uncommitted, and males and females are equally represented among the delegate choices for a candidate.
Republicans: "Winner-take-all" Primary, 101 delegates at stake
The National Republican Party, unlike the Democratic Party, allows each state to decide whether to use a "winner-take-all method" or the "proportional" method. In the winner-take-all method, the candidate whom the majority of caucus participants or voters support receives all the delegates for the state. New York is a "winner take all" state.
In New York, the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention is determined by a statewide primary of candidates for the office of President. Unlike the Democratic primary ballot, the names of the delegates and alternate delegates do no appear. Based on the results of the February 5th presidential primary, 87 of the state's 101 Republican delegates are allocated to the presidential candidate with the most votes statewide. At a Republican state committee meeting, the remaining 14 unpledged delegates are selected from party leaders.

City Council and Town Board Meetings

Schenectady City Council meets the 2nd and 4th Mondays at the City Hall, 7 p.m.
Glenville Town Board meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at the Municipal Center, 7:30 p.m.
Rotterdam Town Board meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Niskayuna Town Board: Call 386-4592 for the schedule

Schenectady County Legislature Meetings

The Schenectady County Legislature meets the 2nd Tuesdays in the County Office Building at 7 p.m.

Local and State-Wide Political Information

Click here for political information about the City and County of Schenectady, the Capital District Area, and Statewide Politics: http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/local/nysgovernor.html
The above is a web-site maintained by the SCHENECTADY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, a service of the Schenectady County Public Library.

The League of Women Voters Education Fund conducts voter service and citizen education activities. It is a nonpartisan nonprofit public policy educational organization, which:

Builds citizen participation in the democratic process.

Studies key community issues at all government levels in an unbiased manner.

Enables people to seek positive solutions to public policy issues through education and conflict management.

Donations to the Education Fund, a 501(c)(3)corporation, are fully tax-deductible where allowed by law.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: July 16, 2010 13:36 PDT.