If you have a second home in one of the western Sullivan County townships, you probably received a "Vote Where It Counts" mailing in the last couple of weeks. New York State permits citizens to register to vote where their heart is, which in the case of second homers, may be their second home locale rather than their primary home location or tax domicile.
This November there are town elections for town supervisors and council members. These off-year elections have often been a big yawn in the past. But not this year, when in most towns, particularly in western Sullivan, the town elections are shaping up as a referendum on gas drilling. The Republican/Conservative slates are largely pro-drilling, while the Democratic/Rural Heritage slates are largely anti-drilling, or more accurately, exercising a town's home rule powers to control or limit impacts from gas drilling.
These races are likely to be very close in many towns. Local races here can be won or lost with just a handful of votes. That's whynit's so important for second home owners who have their emotional heart here to vote here.
The voter registration deadline is this coming Friday, Oct. 14th. (Forms mujst be postmarked by then.) You can download the voter registration form at http://www.elections.state.ny.us/VotingRegister.html. If you're not going to be in Sullivan County on election day, November 8th, you should also download an application for an absentee ballot and send it along with your registration form. (Note that the Sullivan County Board of Elections website has the wrong deadline dates on it; they haven't been updated for the Nov. 2011 elections.)
You may have some questions about "Vote Where It Counts", particularly the case precedents in New York that permit it, how it affects jury duty, and how it may impact a rent stabilized tenant. (I've told my friends who are rent stabilized in NYC to not even think about changing their registration to upstate.) There's a good overview of Vote Where It Counts at www.countryvote.org. Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy also has a synopsis in .pdf form.
If you've been thinking about shifting your voter registration to Sullivan to participate in thier very important election, but have been procrastinating, the time to do it is NOW! And if you're already registered here, but need to vote absentee, get your absentee ballot application is now, too.