Ithaca and Tompkins County prepare to vote, eat pancakes

The Ithaca Rotary Clubs' annual pancake breakfast is an election day tradition at the Women's Community Building. 14850 Photo.

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Ithaca, 3 November 08 -- Today is the last day to apply in person for an absentee ballot at the Tompkins County Board of Elections, or to postmark an absentee ballot being mailed. (Absentee ballots may be returned in person for voters through tomorrow.) Throughout the Ithaca area, voters are preparing to go to the polls tomorrow (with some going to new polling places), and of course the area's Rotary Clubs are getting ready for their 35th annual election day pancake breakfast.

Unlike last year's chilly, cloudy, and damp weather, tomorrow's forecast promises clear and warm weather perfect for getting out the vote. Expected high temperatures are in the mid 60s.

In addition to the familiar mechanical-lever-based voting machines, Tompkins County is deploying one Sequoia ImageCast electronic "ballot marking device" at each polling place, to make voting easier for handicapped voters.

The expensive new voting machines are one reason the county is combining several polling places, "in an effort to hold down costs and increase efficiency," in the towns of Dryden, Ithaca, Lansing, and Ulysses.

In the Town of Dryden, Districts 6 and 11, which previously voted at Dryden Village Hall and Dryden Baptist Chapel, respectively, will now join Districts 3 and 7, voting at the Dryden Fire Station at 26 North Street.

In the Town of Ithaca, District 7, previously voting at the Cayuga Heights Fire Station, will now vote with District 6 at BOCES, on Warren Road. Districts 8 and 9, previously voting at CHFD and Boynton Middle School, respectively, will now vote at the First Congregational Church at 309 Highland Road. And District 13, which voted at Hospicare in the past, will be combined with Districts 3 and 10 to vote at the College Circle Community Center, at 1033 Danby Road.

In the Town of Lansing, District 1 voters, who previously voted at Lansing Central Fire Station, will join District 3 in voting at Lansing Town Hall at 29 Auburn Road. District 6, which voted at the Oakcrest fire station, will now vote at Lansing Village Hall on Triphammer Road. And Lansing District 7, previously voting at the Bill Cooke/Maguire car dealership, will now vote with District 5 at the county's fire and rescue building at 72 Brown Road, adjacent to the airport.

Lastly, Town of Ulysses voters in District 1, who previously voted at the Ulysses Town Hall, will now vote with District 3 at the Trumansburg Fire Station, at 74 West Main Street.

Polls in New York State are open from 6:00am until 9:00pm tomorrow, and volunteers for a variety of local and national campaigns are offering rides to polling places for voters who otherwise can't get around.

Meantime, the Ithaca area's Rotary Clubs are joining forces as they do each election day to run downtown Ithaca's annual pancake breakfast at the Women's Community Building. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, and coffee will be available from 7am until 7pm, served by Rotarians and local politicians.