Is it just me, or are the elections this year more confusing than usual? The information I was seeing on the internet was just muddying the waters further, so I decided to save myself some frustration and simply called our local Board of Elections to get the facts about Tuesday’s upcoming election.
Simply put, there are TWO elections happening on Tuesday.
The first election is a county-wide Republican primary for Representative for New York’s 24th Congressional District (House of Representatives in Congress). The winner of this primary will win the Republican nomination for the general election on November 8th. This ballot will be given to any Ontario County voter who is registered as a Republican. The candidates for this race are Claudia Tenney, Mario Fratto and George K. Phillips. (I couldn’t find a website or social media group for Phillips.)
The second election is a special election to fill the vacancy (Representative for New York’s 23rd Congressional District) left by Tom Reed, who resigned in May of this year. The winner of this election will represent the 23rd District until the regularly-scheduled general election on November 8th, where he (there is no “she” in this race) will be listed on the ballot as the incumbent. All registered voters in the old 23rd District will be eligible to vote in this special election. The old 23rd District includes the City and Town of Geneva, Naples Election District 1, and the Towns of Gorham, Hopewell, Manchester, Phelps and Seneca. The candidates for this race are Republican Joe Sempolinsky and Democrat Max Della Pia.
As you may or may not be aware, our area has recently been redistricted. As of the next general election on November 8th, all of Ontario County will be included in New York’s 24th Congressional District. Until then, some of us are still in the 23rd District. This is why not everyone is eligible to vote in Tuesday’s special election.
Please note that if you are a registered Republican who lives in the old 23rd District, you will receive two ballots when you go to vote: one for each race.
Polls will be open next Tuesday, August 23rd, between 6am and 9pm. If you are not registered to vote, but would like to register, please visit the Ontario County Board of Elections website and click on the “Register to VOTE!” button. Fill out the form and return it to the [Ontario County] Board of Elections, which is located at 74 Ontario Street, Canandaigua NY 14424. The form must be submitted at least 25 days before the election you wish to vote in, so although you will miss these elections, you will still be able to register in time to vote on November 8th.
Finally, if you are not sure where your polling place is, you can enter your address to find it here or here, or you can give the Board of Elections a call at: 585-396-4005. The Board of Elections can also provide you with a sample ballot(s).