VOTER REGISTRATION
Registration Deadline: For the full calendar of deadlines, click here.
Party Affiliation: Political party enrollment is optional, but in order to vote in a primary election of a political party, a voter must enroll in that political party.
February 14 is the statutory deadline for a Board of Elections to receive from the DMV a voter’s request to change their party enrollment for this year’s primaries. Therefore, any change of a party enrollment via this DMV site must be done by February 13 in order to be effective for this year's primary elections. You may still hand-deliver a party enrollment change directly to your local Board of Elections on February 14.
Change of name/address: The voter registration form should be used as a change of address form. Notices of change of address from registered voters received at least 20 days before a special, primary or general election by a county board of elections must be processed and entered in the records in time for that election.
Voter Registration Qualifications
Age: Must 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). You may pre-register if you are 16 or 17 years of age.
Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen
Residency: Must be resident of state, county, city or village at least 30 days before an election and not claim the right to vote elsewhere
Mental Competency: Must not be declared mentally incompetent by a court
Felony Convictions: Must not be in prison or on parole for a felony conviction (unless parolee pardoned or restored rights of citizenship)
ID Requirements:
-DMV Number(driver's license number or non-driver ID number);
-Last four digits of your social security number; or
-Copy of a valid photo ID, current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or some other government document that shows your name or address.
If your identity is not verified before Election Day, you will be asked for ID when you vote for the first time.
Obtaining a Voter Registration Form
In person: In addition to the County Board of Elections offices, you may apply to register to vote at any of the following New York State agency offices:
- Department of Motor Vehicles
- Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
- City Universities of New York (CUNY)
- Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities
- Department of Health-WIC Program
- Department of Labor
- Department of Social Services
- Department of State
- Division of Veterans’ Affairs
- Military Recruiting Offices
- Office for the Aging
- Office of Mental Health
- Office for People with Developmental Disabilities
- State Universities of New York (SUNY)
- Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities
- Workers’ Compensation Board
By mail/in writing: Turn in a form to your local county Board of Elections office.
You can also call 1-800-FOR-VOTE hotline to request a voter application.
Online: Complete this form.
Verifying Your Voter Registration Status
Online: Voter registration verification
Phone: Contact your County Board of Elections
Absentee Ballot Qualifications
Who can vote absentee:
-You must be absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from said city, on Election Day
-Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or because you are the primary caregiver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled (temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19).
-A patient or inmate 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.
Obtaining an Absentee Ballot
Online: You can apply for an absentee ballot online here.
In person: Applications for Absentee Ballots are available at your County Board of Elections office. Applications must be delivered no later than the day before the election in person.
By mail: Download an Absentee Ballot application (Spanish) and mail it to your county board no later than the seventh 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
If you use this method an application form will be mailed with your ballot. The application form must be completed and returned with your ballot.
Military and overseas voting: Persons serving in the military, along with their spouses and/or dependents may register as a military voter in New York. United States citizens living outside of the United States whose last U.S. residence was New York, along with their children, may register as a special federal voter in New York, entitling them to receive an absentee ballot for all federal races.
To register as a new special federal voter and/or to request an absentee ballot, you must complete a Federal Post Card Application and return it to the county board of elections of your previous New York residence.
Regardless of the method in which you receive your ballot, you must return your ballot to your local county board of elections by postal mail.
See more Military and Overseas voter information here.
Other absentee ballot information: 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 county board of elections indicating permanent illness or physical disability. You will then automatically receive an absentee ballot for every election until your registration is canceled.
Submitting an Absentee Ballot
Location and time: Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day. You can also submit it in person no later than Election Day, bring it to an early voting site in your county, or bring it to your County Board of Elections no later than close of polling on Election Day.
If you mail your completed ballot, the USPS recommends that voters allow enough time for ballots to be returned to the Board, which is generally seven days ahead of the general election. Voters who mail in their ballots on Election Day must be aware of the posted collection times on collection boxes and at the Postal Service’s retail facilities, and that ballots entered after the last posted collection time will not be postmarked until the following business day.
Other absentee ballot submission information: 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.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Verifying Registration: voter registration verification
Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org
Polling Place: voter registration verification and polling place locator
How to Vote: voting systems
Problems with voting: HAVA Complaint Form
Verifying provisional ballot status: contact your county Board of Elections
Verifying absentee ballot status: track your absentee ballot
Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget for the 2022-2023 state fiscal year; relates to providing for mass transportation payments, in relation to the amount of payments in the Capital District Transportation District; adds Montgomery County to such District (Part E); relates to the electronic submission and public posting of bids for New York state thruway authority construction, reconstruction and improvement contracts (Part F); increases the statutory threshold for mandatory use of design-build by the metropolitan transportation authority (Part H); relates to procurements conducted by the metropolitan transportation authority and the New York city transit authority (Part I); relates to the New York transit authority and the metropolitan transportation authority, in relation to extending authorization for tax increment financing for the metropolitan transportation authority (Part J); relates to establishing the accident prevention course internet technology pilot program, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part O); relates to increasing certain motor vehicle transaction fees, in relation to the effectiveness thereof; relates to the costs of the department of motor vehicles, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part P); establishes an identification card program; waives non-driver identification application fees for incarcerated individuals (Part Q); requires all state agencies to update all applicable forms and data systems to include a gender "x" option (Part R); authorizes the disclosure of records for the public service loan forgiveness program (Part S); relates to the pilot program for entertainment industry employees and the pilot program for displaced workers; relates to the New York state health insurance continuation assistance demonstration project, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part T); relates to brownfield opportunity areas (Part U); authorizes certain health care professionals licensed to practice in other jurisdictions to practice in this state in connection with the Winter World University Games; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof (Part X); relates to the powers of the New York state urban development corporation to make loans, in relation to extending loan powers (Part Y); extends the authority of the New York state urban development corporation to administer the empire state economic development fund (Part Z); amends the infrastructure investment act, in relation to requiring project labor agreements when undertaking certain authorized projects, and in relation to the effectiveness thereof; authorizes, for certain public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements, use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts, in relation to the definition of authorized entity, and in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part AA); relates to the excelsior linked deposit program (Part BB); creates the small business seed funding grant program (Part CC); relates to the powers and duties of the dormitory authority of the state of New York relative to the establishment of subsidiaries for certain purposes, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part DD); relates to the cannabis social equity fund (Part II); repeals certain provisions of law relating to fiber optic cable (Part JJ); t removes a program cap and allows funding of the solid waste mitigation program's inactive landfill initiative (Part KK); relates to eligibility for participation in the brownfield cleanup program, assignment of the brownfield redevelopment tax credits and brownfield opportunity areas; relates to brownfield redevelopment tax credits, remediated brownfield credit for real property taxes for qualified sites and environmental remediation insurance credits, in relation to the effectiveness thereof (Part LL); extends the waste tire management fee; conforms the applicable administrative provisions to article 28 of the tax law (Part MM); authorizes the creation of state debt in the amount of three billion dollars, in relation to creating the environmental bond act of 2022 "restore mother nature" for the purposes of environmental improvements that preserve, enhance, and restore New York's natural resources and reduce the impact of climate change; provides for the submission to the people of a proposition or question therefor to be voted upon at the general election to be held in November, 2022, in relation to creating the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (Part NN); relates to the implementation of the environmental bond act of 2022 "restore mother nature", in relation to renaming such act the "clean water, clean air, and green jobs environmental bond act of 2022" (Part OO); increases the transfer amount from the real estate transfer tax to the environmental protection fund (Part PP); relates to freshwater wetlands; (Part QQ); relates to the water pollution control revolving fund (Part UU); relates to the vessel surcharge (Part WW); relates to river regulating district payment of taxes on lands owned by the state (Part XX); relates to the powers, functions and duties of the state council of parks, recreation and historic preservation and the regional park, recreation and historic preservation commissions (Part YY); authorizes the energy research and development authority to finance a portion of its research, development and demonstration, policy and planning, and Fuel NY program, as well as climate change related expenses of the department of environmental conservation and the department of agriculture and markets' Fuel NY program, from an assessment on gas and electric corporations (Part AAA); authorizes utility and cable television assessments that provide funds to the department of health from cable television assessment revenues and to the department of agriculture and markets, department of environmental conservation, department of state, and the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation from utility assessment revenues; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof (Part BBB); authorizes the power authority of the state of New York to enter into agreements with state instrumentalities and municipal entities for the use of excess capacity in its broadband technologies and infrastructure (Part FFF); establishes the commercial driver's license (CDL) class A young adult training program (Part GGG); expands the Restore New York's Communities Initiative (Part HHH); requires assessments to defray operating expenses on persons regulated by the department of financial services that engage in virtual currency business activity (Part III); requires the department of taxation and finance contract with an economic impact firm for the purposes of conducting an independent, comprehensive, analysis of each tax credit, tax deduction, and tax incentive (Part JJJ); enhances the state's flood mitigation and coastal resiliency activities (Part KKK); requires the metropolitan transportation authority to publish certain data relating to capital programs on the authority's website (Part LLL); enacts the "working to implement reliable and equitable deployment of broadband act (WIRED broadband act)" (Part MMM); relates to the reporting of economic development benefits and establishing a searchable state subsidy and aggregate economic development benefits database (Part NNN).