Big Election, Big Projections: Our Vote is Our Power

By Peter Aronson

We believe, at the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, that there’s beauty in the act of voting. Beauty in taking part in our democratic process, beauty in going to the polls and exercising our constitutional right to vote.

And there’s beauty in our messaging, too. This year, we have partnered with Project Your Vote from visual artists Packard Jennings and Jessica Tully on a video message urging everyone to vote. The message was projected Friday evening for several hours on the Brooklyn Public Library’s facade facing Grand Army Plaza, for commuters and all to see. Photographer Randi Rosenblum documented the evening and ABC 7 was on hand to cover the event

The Center for Artistic Activism and The People for the American Way also partnered on this project. 

The huge display showed videos of evocative models dressed in vintage clothing holding signs like Your Vote Matters!, Be a Voter!, Our Vote is Our Power!, flashing across the library’s iconic 1941 facade, as a DJ spinned music for the crowd. People stopped to look. People stopped to listen.

NYLCVEF staffers  engaged with passersby, chatting, encouraging them to exercise their constitutional right. It was a festive atmosphere surrounding an essential subject.   

The key for the NYLCVEF is that every eligible voter should exercise their right to vote.

The League has also partnered with roving video projectionist, Courtney Fallon, to carry this wonderful message north of the city, with stops in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and the Hudson Valley.

Early voting has begun in New York State. It started on Saturday, October 26, and runs through Sunday, November 3, two days before Election Day, Tuesday, November 5. 

In New York City, early voting hours on weekend days are 8 am to 5 pm. Early voting hours during weekdays are 8 am to 8 pm. 

Early voting hours vary outside New York City. To search for info about your county, it is a two-click process. Go to the New York State Board of Elections website. Once you click on a county on the left side, you will arrive at a chart for that county. Then, you will need to click on the county’s web address to find 2024 election info for that specific county. You can also call your local county election board if you have questions. 

On Election Day, the polls are open 6 am to 9 pm statewide. 

Depending on where you live, locations for early voting and voting on Election Day may be different. 

Wishing everyone a good day at the polls.

Peter Aronson, a volunteer writer at the New York League of Conservation Voters since September 2022, is a former journalist and retired attorney. He is the author of Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma: The United States of Anthropocene, a novel for middle-grade readers about kids fighting global warming. Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, wrote: “A scathing work and an essential blueprint for youth battling climate change.” To read more about Peter, visit his website www.peteraronsonbooks.com or to purchase his book, click here.