NYS VOTING HOW-TO
Voting is one of the most important uses of our civil liberties, but keeping up with registration dates and voting guidelines can be overwhelming and inaccessible. This is why we’ve complied these voting resources and instructions to empower all individuals (who are granted the opportunity to) to cast their ballot!
We can’t let life or voting regulations get in the way of exercising our right and casting a vote for change, no matter what your views may be. Follow these links, learn the steps and most importantly vote for those who are disenfranchised such as undocumented individuals and victims of the prison system. Use these links, register, and vote, vote, vote!
STEP BY STEP VOTING GUIDE
Step 1: Register To Vote by October 9th in NYS. Registering to vote is easy and efficient, the average time it takes to register is 2 minutes! You can even register completely online with a NYS license. Online registrations must be completed by October 9th and mailed registrations must be post marked October 9th and received by October 14th. You can also register in person by October 9th.
If you are unsure if you are already registered, check here!
Step 2: Find your specific polling place to vote in person here.
You can vote Early in New York from Oct 24, 2020 – Nov 1, 2020 but our official election day is November 3rd. November 3rd is also the LAST day to cast your ballot in person.
Usually In NYS, voters can only vote absentee if they have an approved excuse:
Approved excuses for absentee ballots are:
- Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from the five boroughs, on Election Day.
- Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability (temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19).
- Unable to appear because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
- A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital.
- Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.
HOWEVER, Cuomo has just issued that ALL registered voters in New York may vote absentee if they are worried about Covid-19 exposure risk. The absentee ballot request must be received by October 27th. Click here to find the absentee ballot application
Absentee voting deadlines (table taken from NY.GOV)
| Date | Deadline Information |
|---|---|
| October 27 | Last day to apply online, by email, fax or to postmark an application or letter of application by mail for an absentee ballot. (Please be warned that despite this deadline, the Post Office has advised they cannot guarantee timely delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before an election.) |
| November 2 | Last day to apply IN-PERSON for absentee ballot at your local county board of elections. |
| November 3 | Last day to postmark ballot. Must be received by the local board of elections no later than Nov. 10th. Military Voter Ballots must be received no later than Nov. 16th. |
| November 3 | Last day to deliver ballot IN-PERSON to the local board of elections or to any poll site. |
Other important resources to check out on voting: this is a growing list, if you have any verified sources of information that our community should know about voting please send them to development@iibuff.org
Find translated absentee forms here
Poll accessibility measures for voters
Learn more about the politicians and officials on running for office
Sign up as a poll worker in your county
ALL employees are given 3 hours without loss of pay in order to vote
Find what forms of ID you need to bring to the polling center
Numbers to call if there is a voting issue, or interference at your poll (numbers from vote411):
- 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
- 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español)
- 1-888-API-VOTE (Asian multilingual assistance)
- 1-844-YALLA-US (Arabic)
All resources and links gathered from: ny.gov, vote411.org, and rockthevote.org