To ensure New Yorkers are able to exercise their right to vote, the State Attorney General's office has set up a hotline today to field complaints. The AG's Civil Rights Bureau Chief Kristen Clarke said, since the system was first put in place a year ago hundreds of voters across the state have been helped. "We sometimes hear about polling sites that are requiring photo I.D. Though there is no such requirement in our state."
Under the Voting Rights Act certain Spanish-speaking voters must be provided with bilingual ballots and language assistance at the polls. "We've been doing a lot of work around these issues. Ensuring that our polling sites are accessible to people who may be wheelchair bound. Ensuring that voter intimidation and suppression are not issues that prevent people from casting a ballot," Clarke said.
Unlike recent elections in some other states no wide-spread problems are expected, so the Attorney General's office won't be staffing any polling places. But Clarke said, they're prepared to respond on-site if need be. "The way that we've proven to be most effective is getting on the phone right away with election commissioners and alerting them to issues and problems that might not otherwise be on their radar."
Voters can call the Attorney General's hotline at 800-771-7755 or email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov until 9 p.m. on Election Day.