Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, and the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will be educating the public at tables across the East End.
You can find them at the East Hampton Post Office between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., the Montauk Post Office between 2 and 4 p.m., at the One Stop Market in East Hampton between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and at Schiavoni’s Market in Sag Harbor, also 11 to 1.
The following Tuesday, Sept. 24, the league will hold a forum at 7 p.m. at LTV Studios in Wainscott on “How to Confront Misinformation and Build Trust in the 2024 Election,” led by Andrea Gabor, co-chairwoman of the league’s government committee.
“In the last 20 years, the U.S. has lost close to 3,000 local newspapers, or about one-third of all independent news outlets,” she said in a statement. “The spread of news deserts has also fueled extremism and local divisions, fracturing local communities. Now the World Wide Web allows both domestic actors and foreign powers to spread misinformation, fake news, and propaganda. This is particularly troubling during an election year.”
As for the debate schedule, next month the league will host three of them on Southampton Town’s SEA-TV YouTube channel. On Oct. 7, the First Assembly District candidates will debate starting at 7 p.m. On Oct. 21, New York’s First Senatorial District candidates will discuss the issues at 6 p.m., with candidates in the First Congressional District then facing off at 7:30.
For East Hampton Town residents, early voting takes place from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3 at Windmill Village at 219 Accabonac Road. The Suffolk County Board of Elections at 631-852-4500 or suffolkvotes.com has more information.