Voters at Synod Hall at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights said Wednesday that they decided on early voting in the 2026 election to beat Election Day lines.

Once they reached the back of the ballot, many said they slowed down.

The Nov. 3 midterm ballot is topped by the governor’s race, in which Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, faces Republican Bruce Blakeman, followed by races for state comptroller, attorney general, Congress and the state Legislature. Voters, though, said the hardest choices came at the end, which featured the five proposals to amend the city charter.

Early voting began in NYC on Oct. 24, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 1. For most voters whom amNewYork spoke with Wednesday, voting early was practical.

Andrew Kaufman, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years, said he came to avoid crowds. Heather Cox, an artist, called it “super convenient.”

Audrey Waysse, who has lived in the neighborhood since the early 1980s, had a different reason. She said she was concerned that “strange things are going to happen come the actual Election Day.”

Nearly every voter said the proposals were the hardest part of the ballot.

Drafted by a Charter Revision Commission that Mayor Zohran Mamdani convened in May, the five measures would speed up city approvals for everything from sidewalk cafes and bike lanes to construction permits and contracts, in some cases by cutting public hearings and City Council review.

“The ballot measures were a little confusing,” Cox said. She said she trusted the Mamdani administration with the new powers but worried how future administrations might use them.

Waysse said the initiatives were very complicated and that she was torn. She wanted to support the commission’s work but was troubled by the provisions that scale back public review.

Stephen Okada said he did not fully understand some of the measures, including ones that would let the city skip certain reviews and “fast track things.”

“I’m more progressive, so I’m apt to say yes to those type of things,” Okada said.

Two other residents, who declined to give their full names, said they also had to research the proposals before deciding. One said they paid closest attention to housing and to how the measures would shift power between the mayor and the Council.

Beyond the ballot questions, several voters said national politics drove them to the polls.

Kaufman said the most important issue for him was “integrity,” adding that he was “turned off by the vanity stuff that Trump’s been doing.” He said he hoped Democrats would take the Senate and the House.