Early voting for this year's New York primary will continue through Sunday, but the fight over early voting locations in Rensselaer County is expected to continue deeper into the summer.
Earlier this year, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Rensselaer County Board of Elections that called into question the accessibility of early voting locations across the county.
Last week, the Rensselaer County Board of Elections announced new locations, including one in Schodack and one in Brunswick, which the Board of Elections said met the requirements put forward by the Attorney General’s Office.
However, advocates say the new locations still present significant issues for voters living in downtown Troy.
The Schodack location is one hour away from downtown Troy, while the Brunswick location requires a bus ride to Walmart, then a 1-mile walk to the early voting site that includes stretches of roadway without any sidewalks.
The Troy NAACP says this is by design and intentional to discourage downtown Troy residents from participating in early voting.
There are two early voting locations in Troy, but the location at the Board of Elections offices doesn't have voting machines, so those ballots must be submitted as absentee ballots.
The goal is to bring an early voting location to downtown Troy ahead of the general election in November.