Election Day 2026 in Pittsford: Trust Is Near a Record Low. Vote Anyway.

My wife and I voted at the Pittsford Community Library on State Street this morning. The Monroe County Board of Elections sign on the polling room door welcomes Election Districts 1, 11 and 23 and lists Election Day 2026 hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Pittsford.

Plenty of our neighbors got there first. More than 95,000 people voted during Monroe County's nine days of early voting, past the previous record of 70,000, WHEC reports. Statewide, just under 2 million New Yorkers voted early, up nearly 67% from 1.17 million in 2022, according to State Board of Elections figures reported by Spectrum News. Nationally, more than 57 million Americans voted before today, a midterm record, according to The Washington Sun.

This piece is for everyone in the village, whatever your politics.

Midterm Turnout Fell for Decades, Then Came Back

Midterm Turnout Fell for Decades, Then Came Back

I expected to write that fewer of us vote every cycle. The numbers say otherwise. Midterm turnout among eligible voters slid from 48.7% in 1966 to 36.7% in 2014, according to the historical turnout dataset maintained by political scientist Michael McDonald at the University of Florida Election Lab. Four years later it reached 50%, the highest rate for a midterm since 1914. In 2022 it was 46%.

Here is how the midterm numbers have moved:

Turnout rose more than 13 points between 2014 and 2018.

Trust Is at 17%. Your Vote Still Counts.

Trust Is at 17%. Your Vote Still Counts.

In 1958, 73% of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time. In 2025, Pew Research Center found that number at 17%. It has not been above 30% since 2007.

I have real empathy for anyone who feels their government stopped working for them. I understand the urge to tune out. I'd ask you not to. The vote is slow, it's imperfect, and it rarely changes anything overnight. It is also the one lever every eligible adult in Pittsford holds in exactly equal measure, and today it's yours to pull.

Agree with every name on your ballot or none of them. Your vote counts exactly as much as your neighbor's.

The ballot doesn't record how you argued at dinner or what you posted online. It records a choice. If you feel nobody in government is listening, the polling place is where they are required to count what you say.

Election Day 2026 in Pittsford

Election Day 2026 in Pittsford

Here is New York's early vote this year next to the last midterm:

Early records don't settle the final count. As The Washington Sun put it, the final numbers depend on who shows up today.

If you have an absentee ballot at home, today is the deadline to get it postmarked, and postmarked ballots must arrive by Nov. 10, WHEC reports.

The Rotary Club of Pittsford's 60th Election Day supper is today at Mendon High School Commons, with proceeds going to the Pittsford Food Cupboard, Veterans Outreach Center and Pittsford Youth Services. Look up your polling place on the Monroe County Board of Elections site before 9 p.m., vote, then stop at Mendon High School Commons for pasta.