Two days before early voting begins in New York, elected officials and voting rights groups gathered at the Brooklyn Museum, one of New York City’s early voting sites, to urge New Yorkers to take advantage of early voting and avoid lines on Election Day, Nov. 3. They also assured voters that their rights remained protected despite the federal government’s efforts to restrict mail-in voting and sow confusion about how and when to vote.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, explained that hundreds of trained volunteers with the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition will be deployed across New York state during early voting and on Election Day to observe the voting process, protect voters’ rights and answer questions. The volunteers will work to ensure that all voters can cast their ballots and have their votes counted. Digital poll monitors will also watch social media to assist voters in real time and flag misinformation and disinformation.

“If your vote wasn't so important, they wouldn't be trying so hard to mess with it," Lerner said. "So don't let the disinformation prevent you from making your voice heard. Make a plan. Bring a friend or family member. Make it a social occasion to vote together, and let's get out the early vote."

New York State Attorney General Letitia James reminded New Yorkers that their “vote was their voice” and urged every eligible voter to participate in the democratic process, particularly in parts of Brooklyn where voter turnout has been “dismal” in the past.

“I think it's really critically important that individuals understand that if they have a problem with their government, if they are concerned with what's going on in our country, then they have a responsibility and a duty to come out and vote early, and to make sure that they bring their friends and their family members,” James said.

James’ office has spent months preparing for potential issues during early voting and on Election Day, including problems with mail-in ballots, voter ID or affidavit ballots, access to polling sites and confusion about where to vote. Her office is also prepared to address reports of misinformation, intimidation tactics, such as individuals asking voters for identification, and the potential presence of law enforcement agencies, including ICE or the FBI, at polling sites.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” James said, noting that her office had also contacted social media CEOs and their counsel about misinformation spreading online and sowing doubt about elections.

“There are individuals who believe that their mail-in ballot will not be counted. There are individuals who are concerned that ICE agents might show up at their polling site asking for their identification and/or interrupting or disrupting traffic," she said. "There are so many fears and concerns right now that it's important that the Attorney General and all the individuals who are here today, that we are prepared for the possibility of these concerns.”

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie reminded voters that federal and state laws prohibit anyone from intimidating, obstructing, deceiving or preventing people from voting.

“Any person who tries to prevent you from exercising that right is going to have to answer to this attorney general standing right behind me," Myrie emphasized. "So when you vote, do so with confidence. We got your back. The law has your back."

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams urged frustrated and discouraged voters who had not seen the change they voted for to head to the polls, describing the right to vote as a “tool in the toolbox.”

“We have to use every single tool in the toolbox if we want to continue to complain about what's going on, and when you don't use that tool, it makes someone else's voice louder. The fact of the matter is, if it didn't matter so much, they wouldn't want to take away people's ability to vote. They wouldn't be trying to figure out how to intimidate people when they vote,” Williams said.

Dr. Debbie Almontaser of Emgage Action Metro New York, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Muslim American communities and marginalized people in seven states, including three battleground states, said Muslim Americans were afraid to go to the ballot box, particularly following President Donald Trump’s attack on Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

“The Islamophobic rhetoric and hysteria that has been created around this election is terrifying people from going out to cast their civil constitutional right to vote, and it is imperative that we, as neighbors, show our solidarity,” Almontaser said.

She urged New Yorkers to stand in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors, both in New York state and across the country, and invite them to travel to polling sites together.