Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that Ulster County early voting sites will extend their hours Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The decision comes from an agreement resulting from a lawsuit brought by the Ulster County Democratic Committee and a group of voters and candidates against the Ulster County Board of Elections and Commissioners Ashley Dittus and Tom Turco. As of Oct. 29, 19,609 Ulster County residents had voted, though many waited for a long time in lines, and state law mandates less than a 30-minute wait to vote. Now, early voting sites in Kingston, Woodstock, Ellenville, New Paltz, and Highland will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 31, and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 1. The folks in the lawsuit failed to get the county to open an additional early voting site in Saugerties. In addition to the early votingin Ulster County, 12,782 of 23,932 absentee ballots have been returned to the board of elections. Rockland County, Westchester County, Schenectady County, and others have also expanded hours of early voting to combat the long lines. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.