NYC Voting Information

The Board of Elections phone number for questions about voting in New York City: 866-VOTE-NYC

The Board of Elections web site for information about voting in New York City: http://vote.nyc.ny.us

Polling Places

In the 5 boroughs of NYC, polls open at 6am and close at 9pm.

To find out where to vote:

• Use this tool: https://nyc.pollsitelocator.com/search
• Call 866-VOTE-NYC
• Email your full name and address to vote-at-boe.nyc.ny.us (replace -at- w/@ - we format this way to avoid spammers). Your polling place will be e-mailed back to you

Registering To Vote

In order to be able to register vote in New York City, you must be:

• a U.S. citizen
• a resident of county of City of New York at least 30 days prior to the election
• at least 18 years old by the end of the year (must be 18 on election day to vote)
• not serving a jail sentence or be on parole for a felony conviction
• not adjudged mentally incompetent by a court
• not claiming the right to vote elsewhere (outside the City of New York)

To be able to vote in a primary election, you MUST register with a political party to vote in that party's primary.

You must be registered to vote at least 25 Days prior to an election to be able to vote in that election.

You can register in person at your borough board of elections on any business day or you can register by mail. To obtain a voter registration form:

• Download the voter registration form from the Board of Elections Website: http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/html/voters/voters.shtml
• Call 866-VOTE-NYC and the Board of elections will send you a postage-paid registration form in the mail.
• You may also obtain Registration Forms from libraries, Post Offices, and most New York City Government agencies.

Mail (DO NOT FAX) the Voter Registration Form to the main Board of Elections office:

Board of Elections in the City of New York
32 Broadway, 7 Fl
New York, NY 10004-1609

You can also drop off your registration form in person at one of the borough board of elections offices:

Bronx County Board of Elections
1780 Grand Concourse-5th Floor
Bronx, NY 10457
Phone: 718-299-9017

Kings County Board of Elections (Brooklyn)
345 Adams Street - 4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-797-8800

New York County Board of Elections (Manhattan)
200 Varick Street - 10th Floor
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-886-2100

Queens County Board of Elections
126-06 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Phone: 718-730-6730

Richmond County Board of Elections (Staten Island)
1 Edgewater Plaza
Staten Island, NY 10305
Phone: 718-876-0079

Primary Elections

In a Primary Election, only voters registered with one of the parties holding a primary election may vote to nominate their party's candidate to run in the general election. Voters registered without party affiliation may vote only in General and Special Elections.

You can change your party affiliation by obtaining a Voter Registration Form, filling out the form completely, checking the party enrollment box for the primary you want to vote in, and sending it to the Board of Elections. See above for information on how to obtain and submit a voter registration form.

You cannot CHANGE your NY party enrollment and vote in that party's primary in the same year. A change of enrollment will go into affect one week following the General Election. The last day to change your enrollment is the same as the last day to register for the General Election (25 days prior to the date of the General Election). (For example: you had to change your party enrollment by October 30, 2007 in order to be eligible to vote in that party's Presidential Primary election on February 5, 2008.)

If you are a new voter (never before registered) or moved to New York from another state, you can choose your party when you register to vote and be eligible to vote in that party's primary. In other words, the above rule about party registration does not apply when you are a new voter in NY even if you were registered with a different party in another state.

Absentee Ballots

You can file an absentee ballot application in person at your borough Board of Elections on any business day or you can apply by mail.

If you are casting an absentee ballot fairly close to election day, it is usually possible to visit your local Board of Elections office (see above), get an absentee ballot, and vote on the same day.

To obtain an absentee ballot application:

• Download an absentee ballot application from the NYC BOE website: http://vote.nyc.ny.us/publications.html#forms
• Call 866-VOTE-NYC and the Board of elections will send you a postage-paid application in the mail.

Mail (DO NOT FAX) your completed Absentee Ballot Application to:

Board of Elections in the City of New York
32 Broadway, 7 Fl
New York, NY 10004-1609

Applications must be POSTMARKED at least 7 days prior to the election or delivered in person on or before Election Day.

Completed absentee ballots must be POSTMARKED at least 1 day before the election

In order to vote absentee you must fit one of the following:

• Unavoidably absent from the City of New York on Election Day due to duties, occupation, business, studies, or vacation
• A patient in a Veteran's Administration Hospital
• Detained in jail awaiting trial or action by grand jury
• Confined in prison after a non-felony conviction
• Unable to vote illness or disability (under doctor's advise, confided to a hospital, permanent illness or disability)