Elections Board Doubles Queens' Number Of Early Voting Sites

QUEENS, NY — The NYC Board of Elections has doubled the number of early voting locations in Queens from seven to 14, according to an updated list of poll sites released Thursday.

The new poll sites include Korean Community Services in Bayside, Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria and the First Baptist Church of Corona.

Elected officials had lambasted the board for approving just seven early voting sites in Queens, the state's second-most-populous county. Queens has a population of about 2.3 million, according to census estimates, and has the largest geographic area of the five boroughs.

Under the elections board's previous plan, the Bayside area would have had no early voting sites; the agency had approved just one location in Northeastern Queens, at the Al Oerter Recreation Center by Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

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The state legislature passed early voting in January, setting up a nine-day period during which voters may cast ballots before Election Day.

"As you know, the enacted law envisions one poll site for every 50,000 voters while establishing a minimum of 7 poll sites per county," State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who represents Western Queens, wrote to the elections board.

"Unfortunately the New York City Board of Elections submitted the minimum necessary for legal compliance, in the process setting the stage for failure of the early voting process by only having one site for every 337,000 Queens residents."

Here is the updated list of early voting sites in Queens :

• Al Oerter Recreation Center;131-40 Fowler Avenue, Flushing, New York 11355
• Cross Island YMCA; 238-10 Hillside Avenue, Bellerose, New York 11426
• First Baptist Church of Corona; 100-10 Astoria Boulevard, East Elmhurst, New York 11369
• Holy Trinity Parish Church; 222-05 116 Avenue, Cambria Heights, New York NY 11411
• Korean Community Services; 203-05 32 Avenue, Bayside, New York 11361
• LaGuardia Community College; 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, New York 11101
• Museum of the Moving Image; 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, New York 11106
• New York Hall of Science; 47-01 111 Street, Corona, New York 11368
• Queens Voting Machine Facility Annex; 66-26 Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village, New York 11379
• Queens Borough Hall; 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, New York 11424
• Resorts World Casino New York City; 110-00 Rockaway Boulevard, South Ozone Park, New York 11420
• Rochdale Village Community Center; 169-65 137 Avenue, Jamaica, New York 11434
• Rockaway YMCA; 207 Beach 73 Street, Arverne, New York 11692
• York College; 160-02 Liberty Avenue, Jamaica, New York 11433