ELECTION 2024 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun The Sun Endorses Harris
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Oct. 23 — On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the choice is clear. The Sun endorses Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. She is the only candidate who can guarantee that, after Election Day, the rights that protect the very essence of our University as a center of discourse and dissent will survive. Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, represents everything Cornell, at its best, stands against. Trump relishes violence against dissenters, endorses racist campaigns of mass deportations and promises to eliminate academic freedom. If re-elected, his second term won’t simply be dangerous — for many of us at Cornell, it will be unliveable. Simply put, Trump wants to destroy the future of democracy — Harris will bolster it and give young people the opportunity to thrive. And her vision doesn’t just include those wealthy enough to pay the high sticker price of a college degree: The Biden-Harris administration has canceled more than $175 billion in student loan debt for borrowers. If elected, Harris has vowed to redouble those efforts. Harris also believes in democracy in the workplace: Biden and Harris have run the most pro-labor administration in generations. Harris’s record on labor rights matters for our commu-
nity, as Cornell Graduate Students United fights for a first contract that will raise labor standards for thousands of students. If re-elected, Trump wants to erase these negotiated gains. His policies all but guarantee the evisceration of the right to organize a union and would further usher in an era of crony corporatism. On campus protests, Trump’s platform is beyond dangerous. It’s not one view he detests: It’s the very concept of dissent. He’s cheered on as police raided encampments, threatened to deploy the National Guard against domestic opponents and called for “vanquish[ing] the radicals” when referencing pro-Palestinian activists. If elected, Trump’s crackdowns will be a brutally violent suppression of all outside viewpoints. Activists especially should choose a future that invites dissent. Regardless of her position on any one issue, Harris will let your voice be heard. If Trump wins, not everyone will walk away from this election with the same rights, particularly activists on the Left. Withholding your vote as an act of resistance means giving control over your voice to a man who is hostile to your very existence. Take Trump’s word for it: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.”
Anything short of a vote for Harris will strangle the right to speech and protest, jeopardizing the very existence of our democracy. The Sun endorses Harris not only because of her policy positions, but importantly because there is simply no other choice. The price of a second Trump term is too steep, not just in academia and for protesters, but for every single democratic institution that too many Americans take for granted. Trump draws on our worst impulses and offers our bleakest possible future. This November, voting for Harris is imperative. Do not stay home on Election Day.
RUTH FREMSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES
How to Cast Your Vote By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun City Editor
Oct. 23 — As the voter registration deadline approaches on Oct. 26, The Sun prepared a voting guide with all the information needed to vote locally on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
HOW CAN I REGISTER TO VOTE?
In New York State, U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older who have been residents of the state for at least 30 days and do not claim the right to vote elsewhere are eligible to vote. Individuals who are currently incarcerated for a felony conviction, ruled “mentally incompetent” by a court or simultaneously claim the right to vote in another state are not eligible. All full-time Cornell students on the Ithaca campus will have reached the 30-day eligibility mark by Election Day. States set their own voter eligibility requirements and registration deadlines, which may differ from those in New York. For information on other states’ voter eligibility guidelines, visit your state’s Board of Elections website. For students who wish to vote in
Tompkins County, they can either register to vote online or in person. To register online, the county website links to the online voter registration application. The application requires voters to use their New York state ID, the last four digits of their social security number and the zip code currently on record at the DMV to input their Ithaca address. After receiving a confirmation email, residents may go to the voter lookup site, and input “Tompkins” for county and personal information to confirm registration and polling location. For voters who are registering by filling out the New York State Voter Registration form, they should provide a form of identification including their DMV number or social security number. they should submit by mail or in person to the Tompkins County Board of Elections located at 128 E. Buffalo St. in Ithaca by Oct. 26.
Early Voting
New York offers early voting from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3. Anyone who is registered as a Tompkins County voter and wishes to vote early can do so at Ithaca Town Hall at 215 N. Tioga St. or Crash Fire Rescue at 72 Brown Rd.
Opening hours for each day of early voting can be found on Tompkins County’s early voting webpage.
Early Mail Voting
Any registered voter can apply for a mail-in ballot. The deadline to request an early mail ballot is at least 10 days before Election Day. Ballots can be requested by a physical form mailed to the Board of Elections or through an online portal. Early mail ballots can also be submitted in person at a polling site in the county. Requests for early mail ballots submitted in person must be received by the day before the election.
Absentee Voting
Voters are eligible for an absentee ballot if they are unable to physically vote in the county on Election Day for reasons including being absent from the county during Election Day, being unable to go to the polling station because of an illness or serving as the primary caregiver of an ill individual. The absentee ballot has to be postmarked to the Board of Elections office by Nov. 5, brought to an early voting location by Nov. 3 or brought to the Board of Elections office or polling site by 9 p.m. on Nov. 5.
Voting on Election Day
A list of all polling places in Ithaca
is available at the Tompkins County Board of Elections. Robert Purcell Community Center will be the only polling place on campus for this election. New York residents can also check their poll site on the New York Board of Elections website. On the website, users can input their address and find their polling location and a list of all incumbents running for election. Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and polling locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters who are in line but have not voted by 9 p.m. will still be allowed to vote so long as they remain in line. New York workers can take time off on Election Day to vote under Section 3-110 of the New York State Election Law. Anyone with fewer than four consecutive non-working hours may take up to two paid hours off of work and as many unpaid hours as needed, so long as they give at least two-days notice to their employer. Those who require assistance to vote or need instruction on how to operate the voting machine may ask a poll worker for guidance. Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.
Page E1 | The Cornell Daily Sun | Wendesday, October 23, 2024
ELECTION SUPPLEMENT
WENDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
Ballot Guide
Ballot Guide
ERA Amendment
NY-19th
State Senate
Referendum
The Sun provides a brief summary of the positions of the candidates for the House of Representatives. | Page 4
The Sun provides a brief summary of the positions of the two candidates running for State Senate. | Page 4
Read all about the proposal 1 before you head to the polls. | Page 4
16 Pages – Free Main Issue Inside! Read about recent protests on campus and city news