Everything you need to know to be an informed voter.
Postcards to the People | September 2026 Voter Services Report | August 2026 Voter Services Report | July 2026 Voter Services Report | New Get Out The Vote Tool | The SAVE Act | Running for Political Office | Voter Publications | How We Elect Our Representatives | Candidate Forum Policy | Video Recording Policy | Links to Local Boards | City Council and Town Board Meetings | Schenectady County Legislature Meetings | State-Wide Politics and Financial Disclosures
Reaching Out to Voters Via Texts (VAN) and Postcards
The dates have been set for postcard parties. We're sending postcards to Schenectady City residents who have registered to vote since January 2026.
Thursday, September 10 at 6 pm
Postcard Writing Party at Lisa Pritchard's home. Serving some light finger foods to snack on but feel free to bring something to share. Spouses welcome! But perfume, cologne or scented lotions are not - ours is a fragrance-free house due to a serious chemical sensitivity. Please email Lisa at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com before 4PM on September 9 to let us know you are coming.
Monday, September 21 at 4 pm
Postcard Writing Party at Joan Fucillo's home. Joan can host 6-8 people. Only caveat: we have a large, very friendly dog (some would say overly friendly). If you’re a dog person, you’ll have a good time. Please email Joan at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com before 4PM on September 20 to let us know you are coming.
Monday, October 5 at 6 pm
- Postcard Writing Party at Johanna Peterson's home. Serving some light finger foods and non-alcoholic drinks for snacking. Please email Johanna at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com before 4:00 pm on October 4 to let me know us know you're coming.
Also available: postcards in batches of 10 for pickup to do at your leisure.
At the last board meeting the motion to allocate $80 towards a GOTV campaign using VAN was passed. At the next board meeting the parameters
for the different groups that the league could text will be shared along with the text message being sent.
If you are interested in the either of these projects, please email Ellen Daviero at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com .
September 2026 Voter Services Report
National Voter Registration Day is set for September 15th this year. We plan to mark the occasion by holding voter registration events at four locations: Market 32 in Schenectady and Scotia, Union College and SUNY Schenectady. Check out the signup sheet at LWV Voter Registration for times and locations if you’d like to volunteer. We still have slots open for the college events.
So far, we’ve scheduled candidate forums for Rotterdam, Community Center, on September 25th at 6:30 pm, Scotia/Glenville, Glenville Municipal Center, on September 28th at 6:30 pm and Schenectady, Central Library McChesney Room, on October 8th at 6 pm. We’re still working on a forum for Niskayuna.
If you know of an organization that would like us to do voter registration or if you’d like to volunteer at one of the candidate forums, please contact Cheryl at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com () .
Cheryl Nechamen, Voter Services
August 2026 Voter Services Report
The November elections seem like a long way off, but they sneak up on us every year! We’ve already begun planning candidate forums, under Liz Yanoff’s leadership.
Local elections for villages and towns have moved to even-numbered years, while city and county elections will remain in odd-numbered years, but that change won’t be fully implemented until 2030. Special elections to fill an unexpired term add another wrinkle.
We’ll be holding candidate forums for Scotia/Glenville (Glenville Town Board and Town Justice and Scotia Village Trustees), Rotterdam (Town Supervisor), Niskayuna (Town Supervisor) and Schenectady (City Council special election).
We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with the candidate forums. It’s a good opportunity to hear the candidates running in your town, village or city.
And, of course, we will continue to do voter registration events to register voters and encourage them to vote. Take a look at the signup sheet at Voter Registration Signup if you’d like to volunteer. If you know of an organization that would like us to do voter registration, contact me at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com () .
Cheryl Nechamen, Voter Services
July 2026 Voter Services Report
Summer is peak season for festivals and community events. While the League typically does not register many voters at those kinds of events, they are a good opportunity to give out information, along with lots of Jolly Rancher candy and American flags.
Our Civics Table at Kids Arts Fest on June 6, 2026
Our Your Right To Vote brochures, covering groups such as individuals who are in college, homeless, disabled or with criminal convictions, give hope to people who have difficulty voting.
We also try to keep up with current events- school elections in May, encounters with ICE agents, primary elections in June and midterm elections in November.
We’ve already scheduled several voter registration opportunities in July at Mopco Improv Theater, S-G Fresh Table pop-up food pantry and March for Jesus. To volunteer at any of these events, check out our Voter Registration Signup. We’ll make sure new volunteers are paired up with experienced League members.
If you know of an organization that would like us to do voter registration, contact me at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com.
Cheryl Nechamen, Voter Services
New Tool to Get Out the Vote
The State League has joined with NYCET(The New York Engagement Table). With this partnership we have access to VAN (Voter Activation Network) providing us with information from voting rolls.
This new tool will allow us to engage with voters to educate and strengthen our GOTV (get out the vote) efforts. It is an online database from public voting rolls. Along with our access to VAN, we have a specialist, Monica, who is working with the state league to help counties across the state to use the database. With this information we could figure out areas in our county that have lower than average voter turnout and focus activities and efforts to increase participation. So for example, we could create a nonpartisan list of voters, (party is not included in the information that we have access to) in a lower turnout district and send postcards or texts to remind them to vote or reminders about early voting, for example.
We do pay a fee for texts sent, as well as postage for postcards. I have taken the training and would love to work with other members of our league that might be interested in this project. We can make this as complicated or simple as we like, I am aiming for simple, but would love to bounce ideas off of other interested members. If you are interested, please reach out to me, Ellen Daviero at lwvschenectady [at] gmail.com
The SAVE Act Makes it Much Harder to Register to Vote
The SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) is up before Congress. The act is based on the idea that noncitizens are voting in droves. They are not; it is illegal; and there is almost no evidence to support this.
The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to register, but few IDs qualify
- A valid passport qualifies because it is a government photo ID with proof of citizenship
- No passport? Need government photo ID + birth certificate
- Birth certificate doesn't match photo ID (changed name upon marriage)? Need government photo ID + birth certificate + name change document
- Only some Real IDs and military IDs qualify; tribal IDs do not
Under the SAVE Act,
- Voters must register in person at a government office
- Voters must re-register in person if they've moved
- Voters must re-register in person if they want to change their name
- Voters must re-register in person if they want to change political parties
- Many people in rural areas would have to travel long distances to register to vote
- People who rely on public transportation may find that the closest government office is a mile or more away from the nearest bus stop.
- Private individuals are allowed to challenge election workers, who could face lawsuits or criminal charges
- Upon passage, the SAVE Act would take effect immediately
Say “NO" to the SAVE Act
Have you ever wondered how to run for political office?
Here's some information you may find helpful.
LWV Mid-Hudson Valley has shared with us two videos on running for public office.
"Run for Office" is from 2022, and it includes guidance from the commissioners of the Ulster County Board of Elections on the technical aspects of becoming a candidate.
"Run for School Board" features guidance from the New York State School Boards Association deputy director and general counsel. Most of the participants are from Ulster County. It was taped in 2024.
VOTER INFORMATION PUBLICATIONS:
FIRST VOTE:
YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE IN NEW YOUR STATE:
College Students Brochure
Individuals with Disabilities Brochure
Homeless Individuals Brochure
Individuals with Criminal Convictions and Those Detained in Jail or Prison Brochure
How We Elect Our Representatives
Do you know how we elect our Representatives? Why not 
test your skills.
Candidate Forum Policy
Goal: To educate voters on the issues; to stimulate voter interest; to encourage voter participation in elections; to present programs in a nonpartisan manner.
- All candidates for office who meet New York State election law requirements to be on the ballot are eligible to take part in candidate forums. No substitutes will be permitted to take the place of the candidate.
2. These forums are nonpartisan. The League does not endorse, support or oppose candidates or political parties.
3. Candidates for office who have no opponents will be invited to talk with individual members of the audience at the conclusion of the forum but will be unable to participate in the formal part of the forum. These candidates will be recognized if they attend and the reason they are not speaking will be explained.
4. The format of the forum is as follows:
- Index cards will be distributed to the audience and they will be invited to submit a question. Questions will be collected by League members.
- Questions will also be solicited from the public by email in advance of the forum.
- All questions will be screened by League members to eliminate inappropriate questions (personal attacks, etc.), to consolidate repetitious questions and to allow for questions on a variety of issues pertinent to the race. Questions may be rewritten for clarity.
- Questions will be transmitted to the moderator.
- Each candidate will be given two minutes for an opening statement and one minute for a closing statement.
- After the opening statements, candidates in each race will be asked questions from the audience via the moderator. Each candidate will be asked the same question. The order of questioning will be varied. Each candidate is given one minute to answer each question and is given a visual notification of 30 seconds remaining and of the ending of their time limits.
- Candidates will be seated in alphabetical order by last name; the order of questioning will be varied.
5. No video or audiotaping of candidate debates, or parts thereof, is permitted except by those previously authorized by the League of Women Voters to officially record the event.
6. Candidates' literature will be allowed to be distributed on tables placed near the entrance to the forum location. Candidate signs, buttons and literature are not allowed inside the forum.
7. The League reserves the right to cancel the forum if circumstances warrant.
8. Candidates will be sent copies of these policies when they are invited to participate in the forum. Any subsequent changes to the program format will be communicated to the candidates prior to the program.
Video Recording Policy For Candidates and Venues
a. The content of this forum is owned by the League of Women Voters of Schenectady County
b. Only the videographer authorized by the League may record this forum.
c. Any use of the authorized recording requires the advance approval of the League of Women Voters of Schenectady County, except other local Leagues may post the recordings on their websites. Only licensed media, including TV, radio, and newspapers, are entitled to air portions of this recording.
d. No one is permitted to edit footage for any purpose.
e. The League of Women Voters of Schenectady County will post recordings of the Candidate Forum in its entirety on League media.
f. All party chairs and candidates will sign a release form stating that they have read and accepted the conditions stated above.
Agreed and accepted by: _____________________________
Candidate Name
______________________________ _____________
Candidate Signature Date
Local Boards of Elections
New York State Board of Elections 40 North Pearl St. Suite 5 Albany, NY 12207-2729 518-474-6220 Email: INFO [at] elections.ny.gov
City Council and Town Board Meetings
Glenville Town Board meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at the Municipal Center, 7:30 p.m.
Rotterdam Town Board meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Niskayuna Town Board: Call 518-386-4592 for the schedule.
Schenectady County Legislature Meetings
Local and State-Wide Political Information
The above is a web-site maintained by the SCHENECTADY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, a service of the Schenectady County Public Library.
