US presidential election: Early voting begins in New York state

Early voting has started all across the state of New York State, offering voters nine days to cast their ballots prior to the November 3 presidential election.

The period of New York's early voting, which began on Saturday morning, will run until November 1, Xinhua news agency quoted the schedule released by the state government as saying.

There will be no early voting on November 2, it added.

"This is the first time in history that New Yorkers can vote early in a presidential election. Make your voice heard," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet.

In these elections, many Americans have chosen to mail in their ballots or paricipate in early voting in an effort to avoid long wait times and crowds on election day due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, long queues of voters were witnessed in many parts of New York City, The Hill news website reported.

More than 700 people waited outside polling stations at the Central Park East High School, according to The Washington Post.

Taking to Twitter, New York City Councilman Mark Levine posted a video showing long queues across Upper Manhattan.

As of Saturday, at least 56.5 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting across the country, which could amount to the highest voter turnout rate in over a century, according to the US Elections Project.