The Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, located in Sunset Park, serves as one of the polling stations for the local Chinese community. By the afternoon of October 26, more than 300 voters had already cast their ballots. As the early voting kicked off in New York State, the election coordinator reported a high turnout, with many voters queuing outside even before the polls opened. According to the coordinator, with the advancement of online information, voters are better informed and less likely to mistakenly go to the wrong polling station compared to previous years.

Linda S. Lyons, the senior coordinator at the polling station, mentioned that by about 1 PM, over 300 people had already voted. Drawing from past presidential election experiences, she anticipated that the polling station would remain busy over the next few days, supported by more than 30 translators and volunteers each day. She recounted that during the last presidential election’s early voting period, there was a long line an hour before opening, with many voters braving the rain to wait. She reminded potential voters to be mindful of the polling hours, as those who arrived before the opening would not be admitted and their votes would not count.

Lyons noted that many voters checked the polling station addresses beforehand, leading to fewer instances of people arriving at the wrong locations. For Chinese-speaking voters who may struggle with English, the station had four translators fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, along with a ballot marking device offering multilingual options. “With the machine’s translations and assistance from the translators, they don’t need to worry too much,” she remarked.

On that day, a male voter wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat entered the polling place and ignored staff requests to remove it. After police intervention, he finally complied. Senior coordinator Mike Huang emphasized that no clothing, hats, or materials with campaign slogans or candidate names are permitted in the polling station.

One Chinese translator noted that by noon, over 30 Chinese voters had cast their ballots, which is an increase compared to previous elections. Occasionally, some voters expressed uncertainty about who to vote for and sought staff input. “I would tell them that I can’t interfere or give my opinion—this is your own right,” the translator explained.