Big Turnout for Early Voting at Local Sites

“A madhouse.”

That’s how one election worker described what it was like on the first day of early voting in the gymnasium at the Stony Brook Southampton campus on Saturday.

On Tuesday morning, the scene was slightly less chaotic, but it was still bustling, with voters of all ages filtering in and out of the gym to cast their ballots just a week before what is likely to be remembered as one of the closest, most contentious presidential elections in history.

By early Tuesday morning, more than 3,000 ballots had been cast at the college, according to another election worker, with that number very obviously ticking up steadily.

The people who came to vote early on a bright but blustery weekday had a range of reasons for doing so, but many of them expressed an underlying sense of urgency — felt even more strongly, many of them said, than in years past — to ensure their vote would be counted in a presidential election that, for weeks, has been billed as essentially a toss-up.

John McGuire, 92, of Southampton — 92 and a half, to be exact, he clarified — was there with his nephew, Doug McGuire. The elder McGuire has been voting in presidential elections since the 1950s, back when the voting age was 21. The 26th amendment to the Constitution, ratified in July 1971, lowered the voting age to 18.

It was the first time voting early in a presidential election for both of them, and they explained their reasons for showing up before Election Day. John McGuire said he simply “wanted to get it over with.”

For Doug McGuire, it was a matter of convenience. He said he voted on Election Day in the last presidential election, but had become accustomed to voting by absentee ballot during a period of 30 years when he lived outside of the country. On Tuesday, he came to Stony Brook Southampton to deliver his wife’s absentee ballot, explaining that she is currently out of the country.

“I prefer to deliver it in person rather than mail it,” he said, a sentiment expressed by others who were there and also hand-delivering absentee ballots. “This was the location to do that, and it made sense to do it all at once, and to avoid Election Day, and any potential mess.

“It was a practical issue more than anything else,” he added. “It’s good to get it over with. Now we can just turn on the TV on Election Day and watch the fireworks.”

Tyler Damato, 21, of Southampton cast his ballot in a presidential election for the first time on Tuesday morning. He emerged from the college gymnasium with a big smile on his face, and spoke about why he showed up early to cast his vote, and shared additional thoughts on the election.

“I just wanted to get it done,” he said. “And I wanted to make sure it got in. It felt great, I’m very happy. It was a great experience. The voter turnout is going to be great — we’ll get a true number of who everybody wanted to be elected.”

Damato said he does have some family members who don’t vote, but that, unlike some people his age, it wasn’t a question for him as to whether he would show up.

“I knew from the jump that I wanted to vote and be part of it,” he said, adding that his motivation was a desire to help the candidate he prefers. “I wanted to do whatever I could, to do my part.”

The sense of urgency to simply “get it over with,” and a low thrumming angst about any potential unrest or upheaval that might bubble to the surface on Election Day provided a catalyst for many people who were at the college on Tuesday, but for many voting early was also simply a matter of convenience.

Virginia Bennett of Sag Harbor said she only remembers voting early once in the past, but appreciates that it’s an option, especially this year, when she has a conflict on Election Day.

“I’m really happy to have the early voting, just so I could get it done at my convenience,” she said. But she also spoke to that heightened sense of urgency, something she said she felt in the previous presidential election as well.

“Last time, it was really important and close, too, and this one feels like it’s so close,” she said, while acknowledging that New York is not one of the small number of swing states with a few toss-up counties that will likely decide the outcome of the election. “New York is certainly Democratic and liberal, and I’m just glad to add to that pile-on I guess. I don’t know which way it’s going to go. The polls say it’s so, so close. I just hope my gal wins.”

Vivian Louthan is a Southampton resident who splits her time between her home there and New York City, but said in recent years she’s spent the bulk of her time out east, and added that she always votes in Southampton. She was there to drop off her absentee ballot, because she will be away in Florida on a work trip on Tuesday. She had a good bit of advice for voters like her, who split their time between two residences.

“I’ve been back and forth between here and the city for the last year, so I ordered one absentee ballot to the city and one here,” she explained. “It has the same ballot number, so you can choose which one to use. I would suggest people do the same if they’re back and forth. Then you can just fill one out and bring it straight in.”

Like others, she said hand-delivering her absentee ballot felt like a good idea.

“I wanted to make sure my vote counted,” she said. “It’s very important, especially this year.

“It was very easy,” she said of her experience at the college on Tuesday. “Everyone was in a good mood. People are excited to get their votes in. It’s a very polarizing election and it’s obviously an anxious time, but it was very easy to vote here.”

John Rose of Hampton Bays emerged from the gym with a spring in his step, and said the first thing he was going to do upon returning to his office was encourage everyone there to do what he just did.

“I’m traveling during Election Day, so this was just easier,” he said of his reason for showing up.

He had a better experience than his wife, who had gone to an early voting location in Riverhead a day earlier and waited an hour and a half in line to cast her ballot. The parking lot at the Southampton College gym was full, but he was in and out in five minutes. He said the closeness of the race and the intensity of the election likely has a lot to do with why early voting has been so popular, even though other factors are at play as well. But he was happy to see so many people show up.

“Perhaps it’s the intensity of the election,” he said. “People want to make sure their vote counts and they want their voices heard.

“I don’t really care who you vote for,” he added. “Just vote.”