Voting in the Time of COVID-19

There are two opportunities to vote in the month ahead: the HCSD budget vote and school board election on June 9, and the Democratic and Republican primaries on June 23. In both cases, voting can be done by absentee ballot.

For the HCSD budget vote, voting by absentee ballot is the only option for voting. A post card sent out last week indicated that the absentee ballots will be automatically sent to every "qualified voter" on "the School District's poll list."

Information available on the Hudson City School District website clarifies exactly who will receive an absentee ballot: "Qualified voters on the most recent years' poll lists will be automatically sent an absentee ballot (i.e., if you voted on a school budget/board election within the past four years)." Since voter turnout for school budget and board elections is typically very low (for example, when I voted last year, forty minutes before the polls closed, only 270 Hudsonians had voted before me), many taxpayers who are affected by the budget vote will not be receiving an absentee ballot. If you think there is a possibility that you will not receive an absentee ballot, you must fill out the form found here and return it before June 2--that's less than a week away. The form provides the information about where the completed form must be sent.

For the primaries--presidential for the Democrats, a candidate to oppose Antonio Delgado for the Republicans--there are three options for how you can vote: absentee, early voting, or at the polls on June 23. All these options are explained in a document prepared by Democratic Commissioner of Elections Ken Dow, which can be accessed here. Everyone will be receiving a personalized special absentee ballot application, which should be arriving soon. The application should be completed and promptly returned to the Board of Elections. Despite a scheduled nine days of early voting and plans for the polls to be open for fifteen hours on June 23, the Board of Elections is hoping that the vast majority of voters will vote absentee, because many of the usual poll workers are unwilling to risk exposure to COVID-19 to staff the polls.
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