Early voting begins for New York congressional and Senate races

New Yorkers began hitting the polls Saturday as early voting kicked off in primaries to decide candidates for congressional races and some state Senate seats.

Voters can now hit more than 100 polling sites in the five boroughs to help decide some key races, including an epic Democratic primary fight between veteran New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler in the newly mapped-out 12th Congressional District in Manhattan.

Early voting runs until Aug. 21. The traditional primary is Aug. 23.

This is the first time New York is holding a primary in August, which is expected to significantly reduce voter turnout and likely make absentee ballots all the more important.