NEW YORK State Board of Elections Voting Information

New York State Board of Elections Voting Information

Voter Registration Deadlines

2008 GENERAL ELECTION DEADLINE

MAIL REGISTRATION - Sec. 5-210(3)Applications must be postmarked not later than October 10th and received by a board of elections not later than October 15th to be eligible to vote in the

General Election.

IN PERSON REGISTRATION - Secs. 5-210, 5-211, 5-212You may register at your local board of elections or any state agency participating in the National Voter Registration Act, on any business day throughout the year but, to be eligible to vote in the November general election, your application must be received no later than October 10th except, if you have been honorably discharged from the military or have become a naturalized citizen since October 10th, you may register in person at the board of elections up until October 24th.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS - Sec. 5-208(3)Notices of change of address from registered voters received by October 15th by a county board of elections must be processed and entered in the records in time for the general election.

Registering to Vote

Qualifications to Register to Vote:

be a United States citizen;
be 18 years old by December 31 of the year in which you file this form (note: you must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary or other election in which you want to vote);
live at your present address at least 30 days before an election;
not be in jail or on parole for a felony conviction and;
not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

How and Where to register to Vote

You can register in person at your county board of elections
or at any New York State Agency-Based voter registration center.
You can enter your name directly into our mailing list database to have a New York State Voter Registration Form mailed to you. (NOTE: The same form can be downloaded, using the link below.)
You can call our 1-800-FOR-VOTE hotline to request a voter application.
You can download a PDF version of the New York State Voter Registration Form.
Download English Form ( 69KB)
Download Spanish Form ( 115KB)Print the form, complete and sign it, and mail it to your county board of elections.
Alternately, you can complete a PDF version of the New York State Voter Registration Form on-line by clicking on the link below, typing the necessary information and selecting the appropriate boxes. However, the file size of these forms are substantially larger than the above forms, so it may take quite a while for them to load on computers with slower Internet connections.
Complete English Form On-line ( 2,370KB)
Complete Spanish Form On-LIne ( 596KB)Once the form is completed, you need to print the form and sign it. Then, mail the form to your county board of elections.

Absentee Voting

Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot:

unavoidably absent from your county or, if a resident of the city of New York absent from said city, on Election Day;
unable to appear at the polls due to illness or disability;
a patient in a Veterans’ Administration Hospital;
detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony;

How to Vote by Absentee Ballot

Applications for Absentee Ballots are available at your county board of elections.
You may also download a PDF version of the New York State Absentee Ballot Application Form. ( 55KB)
Upon completion, applications must be mailed to your county board no later than the seventh day before the election or delivered in person no later than the day before the election.
You may also request an Absentee Ballot by sending a letter to your county board of elections. The letter must be received by your county board no earlier than 30 days and no later than seven days before the election. The letter must contain the following information:
the address where you are registered
an address where the ballot is to be sent
the reason for the request, and
the signature of the voter
An application form will be mailed with your ballot. The application form must be completed and returned with your ballot.
If you cannot pick up your ballot, or will not be able to receive it through the mail, you have the right to designate someone to pick it up for you. Only that person designated on your application may pick up and deliver your ballot.
If you are permanently ill or disabled, you have the right to receive an Absentee Ballot for each subsequent election without further application. Simply file an application with your board of elections containing a statement which describes the particulars of your illness or disability. The Board will review the facts stated, and if satisfied, will mark your registration record. You will then automatically receive an absentee ballot for every election until your registration is canceled.

Military Voting

Persons serving in the military may vote from their designated 'home of record', regardless of where they may be stationed or for how long.
If that 'home of record' is in New York, you may register and vote in local, state and federal elections by completing an application and sending it to the board of elections in your 'home of record' county.
Your application will register you and also serve as your absentee ballot application, and will be valid for 2 federal elections.
Applications are available from your Voting Assistance Officer on base, or you can visit www.fvap.gov for forms and information.
Always be sure to share any change of address information with your Board of Elections.
Questions? Call the State Board of Elections at 518-473-5086 or the Federal Voter Assistance Program at 1-800-438-8683, or contact your Voting Assistance Officer or US Embassy office.

Federal Voting

United States citizens living outside of the United States are entitled to vote from their last United States address.
If that address was in New York, your completed application should be sent to the board of elections in the county in which you lived, prior to moving overseas.
Your application will register you and also serve as your absentee ballot application.

You may vote for federal offices:
President/Vice President
United States Senate
Congressional representatives
In years in which presidential conventions are held, you may also be eligible to vote for those convention delegates.
Once registered, you will receive ballots by mail for each of these elections in which you are eligible to vote.
Your application will be valid for 2 federal elections.
Once registered, you will receive forms directly from your board of elections, on which you must update your overseas address. Always be sure to share any change of address information with your Board of Elections.
If you move back to the US, contact your board of elections, to have your registration reflect that change.
Visit www.fvap.gov for forms and information.
Questions? Call the State Board of Elections at 518-473-5086 or the Federal Voter Assistance Program at 1-800-438-8683, or your United States Embassy office.