The Rundown on Tuesday's Ballot

Tuesday is Election Day, with candidates on the ballot here for town, county, state, and federal offices. Voting takes place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Normally, there would be no East Hampton Town races on the midterm ballot. This year, however, Councilman David Lys, who was appointed to a vacant seat on the town board in January when Peter Van Scoyoc became supervisor, faces Manny Vilar in a special election for the one year remaining in Mr. Van Scoyoc’s term. 

Mr. Lys is running on the Democratic, East Hampton Unity, and Working Families lines. Mr. Vilar is on the Republican and Conservative tickets. A first sergeant with the New York State Parks Police, he is also the founding president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York State. He ran for town supervisor last year. 

Most watched among the other races here is the one for United States representative, in which Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican, faces a challenge from a Democrat, Perry Gershon, in the First Congressional District. While Kate Browning’s name appears on the Women’s Equality line, she withdrew from the race following the Democratic primary and has endorsed Mr. Gershon.

Voters will also select a governor and lieutenant governor, a state comptroller, state attorney general, United States senator, seven State Supreme Court justices for New York’s 10th Judicial District (which includes Nassau and Suffolk Counties), a Surrogate Court judge, three County Court judges, and a Family Court judge. There are races as well for county clerk, county comptroller, and state senator and state assemblyman. (A sample ballot with all the candidates appears in today’s paper.)

The race for county comptroller will be watched closely by those on the South Fork. Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who was elected to his second term last year, is challenging the incumbent Republican, John M. Kennedy Jr. Mr. Kennedy is also on the Conservative, Independence, and Reform Party tickets, while Mr. Schneiderman is on the Democratic, Protect the Taxpayer, Working Families, and Women’s Equality lines. 

Many see this year’s midterm election as a referendum on the president and the direction of federal government, but in recent history, voter turnout in Suffolk County has been low in midterm and other off-year elections.

In the last midterm, in which Mr. Zeldin unseated the Democratic incumbent, Tim Bishop, in 2014, only 39 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Mr. Zeldin beat Mr. Bishop by 15,313 votes, while a whopping 270,015 people who could have voted decided not to. 

Turnout was only slightly better — 40.51 percent — in the 2017 general election in East Hampton, in which town voters selected a supervisor, members of the town board, and a range of other local officials. 

In the last presidential election, however, turnout in Suffolk County was just under 71 percent. In the congressional race at that time, pitting Mr. Zeldin against Anna Throne-Holst, turnout was 68.4 percent, with Mr. Zeldin beating his challenger by 53,221 votes. In that race, 145,864 people who could have voted did not.