The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today for voters to choose candidates up for election in local races, for county treasurer, and representatives to Congress and the state Legislature.

There has been no official early voting in New York State as there has been in other states, but as of Monday, the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections had issued 3,543 absentee ballots which are coming into the board’s office for counting after the tally tonight of local polling place voting.

There are 63,612 registered voters in the county, according to the board’s database.

Judging by Letters to the Editor received at NorthCountryNow.com, the races that have drawn the most attention in St. Lawrence County this year are the race between two rivals for the 116th Assembly “River District” seat, and the contest for St. Lawrence County treasurer.

There are also contests for local offices in towns and villages from Brasher and Lawrence to Fowler and Hammond.

116th Assembly District

Democratic Assemblywoman Addie Russell, who first took office in January 2009, is facing the man who nearly beat her two years ago, Republican businessman John Byrne of Cape Vincent, who this year also has endorsements from the Conservative, Independence and Reform parties in the district.

At the end of district ballot counting on Election Night in 2014 election, Byrne held a narrow lead, but that diminished and vanished in following days as absentee ballots came in and were added to the counts, and Russell eked out a win by 95 votes.

Byrne faced a similar “squeaker” in this year’s Republican primary, when at the end of ballot counting on Primary Night, he trailed William Sheridan of Hammond by a handful of votes, but as absentee ballots came in, the votes of military members from Fort Drum in Jefferson County likely accounted for the margin of victory for the Cape Vincent Republican.

County Treasurer

Deputy Treasurer Renee Cole, a Democrat who has been running the office since the resignation of Treasurer Kevin Felt in January, faces Republican candidate Derek Van House, an accountant from Ogdensburg who beat former Deputy Treasurer Robert Santamoor to win the Republican nomination.

Santamoor will still be on the ballot, having won the Independence Party endorsement in the race for treasurer.

The new treasurer will face the daunting task of helping the county Board of Legislators as they try to recover from years of fiscal setbacks resulting from lower than expected sales tax revenues, rising costs especially for personnel, a dip in the number of shoppers from Canada coming into the county, and a low fund balance, which is not looked upon kindly by potential lenders, plus the recently revealed lack of clear tracking of the county’s “checkbook” for the last couple of years.

21st Congressional District

Perhaps the most-watched contest will be the face-off among incumbent first-term Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of Willsboro, political newcomer Democrat Mike Derrick of Peru, and Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello, who is running for a second time in the district. Stefanik is the clear favorite due to her incumbency and a strong lead in recent polls. Funiciello has says his goal is to outpoll Democrat, which would give him and the Green Party more credibility in the race in 2018 and in national politics.

115th Assembly District

Two Franklin County men, Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill, a Republican, and Democratic Franklin County Board of Legislators Chair Billy Jones, are vying for the 115th Assembly District seat being vacated by Republican Janet Duprey of Peru. The district includes Franklin and Clinton counties and the towns of Brasher, Hopkinton, Lawrence and Piercefield in eastern St. Lawrence County.

45th Senate District

Green Party candidate Stephen Matthew Ruzbacki is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Little of Queensbury in the 45th District, which extends west from Lake Champlain to include the St. Lawrence County towns of Parishville, Lawrence, Clare, Colton, Hopkinton and Piercefield.

Town of Morristown

In Morristown, Town Supervisor Frank Putman and councilor David VanArnam and Howard Warren are running to finish their own terms in those positions after a mistake in their previous swearings-in left those seats officially vacant. In the meantime Christopher Coffin was appointed supervisor by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and he and the rest of the board appointed Harvey Bender and David Stout III to serve, just until the end of the year.

Town of Brasher

In the Town of Brasher, three unopposed Democrats will fill unexpired terms for supervisor and two councilors.

Former Councilor Mark Peets is running to serve out the remainder of Supervisor Jim Dawson’s term since he resigned. And Derek Bellinger and Sue Anne Hourihan are running to serve out the remainder of Peets’ term as councilor and the remainder of the term of Francis Burns, who resigned as councilor to move out of the area.

Town of Canton

In Canton, Democrat and town board member Rosemary Philips is leaving the board to be town justice. She is unopposed.

Democrat Jim Smith, long a member of the Canton town board, is running unopposed to fill out the term of Daniel Fay, who resigned from the Town Council to finish the term of county Legislator Stephen Putman.

Meanwhile the remaining time on Rosemary Philips’ councilor term, which expires in 2019, will be filled by an appointee until the November 2017 election, when a new board member will be chosen.

Village of Massena

In Massena, three candidates are running for two village board seats. They are Democratic incumbent Albert Deshaies, Democrat Francis Carvel, and Republican Joel Grigg. The two top vote getters will win the seats.

Village of Heuvelton

In the Village of Heuvelton, incumbent Republican E. Jack Wood and Republican Carol Basford are running to fill two seats on the board.

Village of Waddington

Democrats Benny Fairchild, incumbent, and Matthew O'Bryan and Republicans Jacqueline Brooks and Matthew Mayette are running for village trustee, including one unexpired term with three years left on it.

Town of Gouverneur

In Gouverneur, Travis Dan and Steven Jackson are running for one town justice position.

Town of Lawrence

In Lawrence, three candidates are running to fill out the one year left in the late Town Clerk Lynn Villnave’s term. They are Tracy Villnave, Nicole Irwin-Villnave, and Sarah Ashley.

Town of Fine

In the Town of Fine, Democrat Barbara Horner, a current board member, and Republican Connie Snider are running to fill a one-year unexpired term on the Town Council.

Town of Fowler

In Fowler, incumbents Robert Andrews and Robert Fuller are running again for two assessor positions that are up for election.

Clare, Edwards

No names will be on the ballot for the position of town justice in Clare or the three years remaining on a town councilor seat in Edwards. The people with the highest number of write-in votes will take those positions.

In the election of state Senators, the two Republicans who represent the majority of St. Lawrence County voters, Patty Ritchie of Heuvelton and Joe Griffo of Rome, are unopposed on the ballot.

The St. Lawrence County Board of Elections is ready to field questions from voters at 379-2202.