Advocates and elected officials encourage early voting and tour polling sites

New Yorkers, for the first time in state history, can skip Election Day lines and cast their ballots ahead of time — and advocates and elected officials took to the streets Tuesday to make sure voters are aware of the option.

Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), the chairman of the Senate Elections Committee and sponsor of the bill, visited a Board of Elections warehouse Tuesday and said he is hopeful early voting will help boost turnout.

“What we saw this morning was a Board of Elections putting its best foot forward to make New York’s first Early Voting period a success,” he said. “There will no doubt be challenges -- as there are with every election -- and we stand ready to examine those challenges in our scheduled hearing after all the votes are counted.”