Suffolk Election Day checklist

Polls

Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will open in Suffolk County at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.

Eligible voters

Residents who are registered voters with the Suffolk County Board of Elections are eligible to cast ballots. A registration may have been canceled or put on an inactive list if the registrant has not voted in several recent elections. If voters get to the polls and find they are not on the list of eligible voters, they may still vote by affidavit, which will be investigated subsequently to determine its validity.

Voting procedure

Voting instructions and a sample ballot are posted at all voting places. Election officials are available for help in operating the new voting machines. Judges will be available for election-related rulings throughout the day and night. Spanish-speaking voters may get an interpreter; sample ballots appear in English and Spanish.

Absentee ballots

Voters must appear in person at the Suffolk County Board of Elections at Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, just south of the Long Island Expressway, to obtain an absentee ballot by 5 p.m. Nov. 1, the day before the election, or mail the ballot with a postmark by Oct. 26th.

Write-in voting

To vote for a person not on the published ballot, voters may now write the name on the paper ballot used in the new voting machines. Voters may ask an election official for assistance with a write-in ballot. Be sure to spell the name correctly and to add no extra marks.

Polling places

The Suffolk County Board of Elections has mailed out postcards with voting sites. Suffolk voters, especially those who have not received a registration postcard, can call 631-852-4500 to check eligibility and verify their polling place.

Disabled voters

Each polling place will have a handicapped-accessible voting machine. The machine, which can accommodate wheelchairs, has tactile voting for the blind and sip-and-puff or rocker panels for quadriplegics.