Politics & Government

Local Nonprofit Launches Microsite For Special District Elections

With special districts voting in new officials on December 10 across Long Island, new interactive site helps voters know how, when and where to vote.

The Rauch Foundation, a nonprofit family and community advocacy group, has recently launched an online tool that allows Long Island residents to become more informed about voting during the upcoming special district elections coming up next week.

Published as part of the Long Island Index, the free web tool is designed to let voters know in which special district elections (such as fire commissioner elections) they are eligible to vote.

The tool is located at http://mydistricts.longislandindexmaps.org; users need only enter an address to find out about these hyperlocal elections. According to a release from the Rauch Foundation, there are 158 special district elections taking place on Long Island in the month of December.

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In western Suffolk County, for example, fire district elections for Ronkonkoma, Lakeland, Patchogue, Farmingville, Sayville, Stony Brook, Setauket, Port Jefferson, Rocky Point and Miller Place will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The interactive map embedded in this new tool provides the numerous districts that comprise the area submitted by the user, along with distinct boundary lines for each district. In addition, the microsite provides all district election information, including the poll stations (if known) and the hours the polls will be open.

“Long Island is unique in having so many government entities, and it makes it hard for Long Islanders to know when and where to vote,” Ann Golob, director of the Long Island Index stated in the release. “This new online tool simplifies the process.”

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The map was created in partnership between The Rauch Foundation, which publishes the Long Island Index, and the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Users can also search for information using a specific street address, and the online tool provides embedded codes for users to share on personal social networking sites, websites and blogs.


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