The day was Saturday, October 24, 2020. The first day of Early Voting. For those who like to attend opening nights of a movie premier (back when movie premiers happened in person in a movie theater), people woke up early, put on their Early Voting Outfits, and headed to the polls. For Beaconites, the closest early voting location is the Fishkill Town Hall, which has been an early voting location in the past, and usually involves no line at all. It is listed on the Dutchess County Board of Elections website as one of 5 Super Sites.

For the election of the President of the United States and several other elected positions, during a time with voter confusion has ruled the news, with doubts of the United States Postal Service, absentee ballots, debates of extending mail deadlines, people across the nation turned out in droves. As of November 1, 2020, the Highlands Current reported that 9,379 votes had been cast in person at the Fishkill Town Hall.

Families like ours driving up to the Fishkill Town Hall for a family-style vote quickly and decisively turned around, seeing what seemed like a mile of a line if it was unwound from the snaking formation it did around the Police Station, Fishkill Recreation Center, and double-wrap around the Town Hall.

A man who seemed to work in a business across the street was waving cars away from from turning into their parking lot, as they are a place of business and not free parking. Early voters paced the lawn on the Town Hall on their phones, communicating back to partners or friends who were headed down. Others drove by at 9:30am, saw the line (polls opened at 12pm), and turned around to return at 1:30pm, thinking the line would subside. But the line remained the same all day, into Sunday and even the rainy Monday. A police officer directing traffic turning into the main Town Hall driveway with the loop said that no one called the police in advance to set up traffic detail.

The new Fishkill Chief of Police Keith Dworkin (their previous Chief James Schepperly resigned in February 2020 amid a lawsuit accusing him of alleged retaliation against an officer), confirmed with A Little Beacon Blog via email that there was no police preparation for the big day, stating: “The Police Department was not contacted to prepare for the volume of voter turnout expected. We were able to call in officers to address the needs of the public and make the necessary modifications to vehicle and pedestrian traffic to improve safety.”

A Trump caravan of many cars and large trucks targeted the Fishkill early voting location on Sunday after passing through Beacon’s Main Street, and Chief Dworkin further stated to A Little Beacon Blog that the Fishkill Police were unaware of the Town Hall being used as an early voting location at all, stating via email on 10/28/2020: “We were aware of the caravan and responded to assist with traffic control as requested. As I stated earlier, the Police Department had no advance knowledge of the Fishkill Town Hall assigned as a polling location.”

Voter Volunteers Hustle To Help; Voters Cheer Fellow Citizens After Emerging From Voting Booths

Despite who one was voting for, there was comradery in the line. No signs were in the lawn, nor buttons on people’s jackets. Voters included the elderly who arrived to submit an absentee ballot into a box, or to wait in line. A mother nursing a newborn left the line to breastfeed her baby while people in line held her spot. Election volunteers came out periodically to walk the line, checking on the vulnerable population, and invited the nursing mother to come ahead. They also looked for those holding absentee ballots to let them know they could skip this longest line in order to place their ballot in a box inside of the polling location.

Said one reader, @iamdinoalexander of the first day: “Took us about 5 hours. Got there at 3 and done by 8pm. There we’re about 100 people still behind us. The check in and voting was so well organized and moved very quickly. It took about a minute to check in, mark and cast your ballot. If you are in a group of at least 2 you can take turns waiting and hold your spot. And the best thing was that everyone was wearing marks, we know what that means

Length Of The Line, Which Was Positioned Along Side The Road’s Edge

Overall, the line of the first early voting day ranged 5-7 hours. During the first day, the line inched along, and then stopped a few times. Election volunteers came out to walk the line to let them know that 1 of the 2 ballot printers had broken, and that someone was on the way to fix it. Which did happen! And the line began to clip along again. The back of the line was behind the Fishkill Recreation building, then snaked around the parking loop, curving around again to Route 52, where people stood along the road.

While the big caravan of trucks people have been talking about happened on Sunday, a reader wrote in to say they saw the day before as well, on Saturday. Said @mrcondon135: “Was on Rt9 headed to Starbucks for my usual coffee and what I saw was something I’ve never seen in my whole life! Literally about 100 cars, truck and dump trucks all with Trump 2020 flags and people screaming for Trump!”

People stood along the road again on Sunday as cars whizzed by, including the Trump caravan, which was loud with motors and shouting motorists, some voters standing along the road felt intimidated. Said one gentleman who has been looking to buy a pickup truck: “This makes me not want to buy a big truck.”

The line for Sunday, Day 2 of early voting was just as long, but the line varied at 5 hours. Monday was no different, even though people predicted a quiet work-week, and even though it rained. Come Tuesday, the line remained stubbornly long, as people continued to show up. Said @waiavda: “Tuesday 2pm and lines is as long as Saturday! We need extended hours!”

According to the Highlands Current: “State law requires counties to have one early voting site for every segment of 50,000 voters, although election commissioners can choose to have more...The Dutchess commissioners, who needed at least 3, set up 5, including one at Fishkill Town Hall on Route 52 near Beacon.”

The strategy of the arrangement of the line did change day to day. By Day 3, the line position had shifted from along the road’s edge to directly in front of the Police Department. Said Chief Dworkin when ALBB asked about the strategy of the positioning along the side of the road: “We continue to modify conditions and make early voting safe and convenient keeping in mind that we don’t want to discourage anyone from being able to access their polling location.”

Did other polling locations in Dutchess County have similarly long lines? Said @hvny_mrkt: “Millbrook, Rhinebeck and POK all similarly long/worth-it-lines.” By Friday, the day of the first snow in Beacon, the line was 1 hour long, and had dedicated parking along Rte. 52, instead of voters standing waiting.

How Early Voting Works

Line Cut Off Time:
Whatever the end of day polling time is, if you are in the line at that time, then you are good to stay. A volunteer will come stand in the back of the line when the end of day comes to tell people that they can no longer vote that day.

Absentee Ballet Box Drop Off:
You can skip the line where your ballot gets fed into the machine before your eyes, and drop your ballot off in a box inside of the polling location. Those who are paranoid about watching their ballot cast right then will prefer the first option, and won’t mind the line. Said @foxfirefall: “I dropped off my ballot today (Monday) and it took no time! I held it in my hand so people in line could clearly see it as I walked past, and a poll volunteer saw me and kindly ushered me inside and made sure I got an ‘I Voted’ sticker!”

Parking: Parking is available at the Town Hall, the FIshkill Recreation Center, and along Rte. 52. Turning left out of the Town Hall at the second entrance may be difficult, as there is no light, and traffic coming from Beacon tends to drive around a car who is either letting someone pull out or is turning left into the Town Hall. You

Governor Cuomo recommends people no longer mail in their absentee ballot. In his Friday night email, he said: “If you have an absentee ballot and you haven't cast it yet, don't mail it—instead drop it off in person. You can drop off absentee ballots at any polling place (there are expedited, dedicated lines for doing so) or at your local Board of Elections office. New Yorkers can also, of course, vote in-person on Election Day on Tuesday, November 3rd. Find your local polling place here.

Future Early Voting Changes

After reading this article, readers questioned the Board of Elections (BOE) and County Executive Marcus Molinaro, on procedures. A Little Beacon Blog reached to both today, and is awaiting response from the Board of Elections.

County Executive Molinaro was able to respond, and answered this to our questions about how he thought early voting went overall, if Beacon’s walkable city needed its own early voting location, and if Dutchess County encourages the truck caravans:

“I have long been a strong proponent for early voting – I lobbied for early voting approval from the state, as well as for the funding to support it.

“2020 marks just the second year of the early voting option in New York State; and this year, there is the combined factors of the COVID-19 pandemic and very high voter interest in the presidential race. The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges with the need for greater spacing and cleaning protocols after every voter. Combined with high voter enthusiasm, wait times for early voting have been longer than hoped for.

“The Board of Elections, which is an independent body, has worked diligently to ensure health and safety at every site. It has been very heartening to see voter enthusiasm and most voters have commented that while the lines are longer than they might like, they have been met with pleasant fellow voters and BOE staff. We are grateful to voters for their patience and their commitment to exercising their right to vote.

“There is always room for improvement and I am confident the Board of Elections will be reviewing the early voting process to see where changes can be made to continue to improve the process going forward and we hope New York State will provide funding to provide broader accessibility.”

Editor’s Note: A Little Beacon Blog did reach out to Fishkill’s Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra through the Town’s website, where a link called EMAIL is listed. This link goes to a form submission page. A Little Beacon Blog submitted questions via the form. ALBB did not get a response from Supervisor Albra, but Police Chief Dworkin did email a response a day or two later.