In 2019 New Yorkers have the choice to vote early, ahead of the November 5th election.
Early voting starts today, Saturday October 26th until Sunday November 3rd!
This is the first time in history that New Yorkers can take the option to vote early. It’s all about equitable access to voting. From VoteEarlyNY’s explainer:
Early voting increases access to the ballot for those with inflexible schedules, commutes, and competing work, school, and child- or elder-care duties. More convenient options reduces hurdles to civic engagement.
Key info for New York voters:
Important to know:
- Opening times vary from county to county.
- Some days have longer, earlier or later hours.
- NYC voters are assigned by residence to ONE Early Voting Site.
- Early Voting Site assignments may be different from Election Day.
Be sure to check out the specifics here.
- Scroll to find your county and click on it
- Scroll to check out the opening and closing times for each day, in your county
- Input your residential address to find out your assigned polling location and map
This example is Manhattan – but check your own county!
And remember, if you don’t choose early voting, you can vote on Election Day.
When: Tues., November 5, 6AM – 9PM
Where: At your assigned polling places – note, these may be different from your early voting assignment. Go to https://www.usa.gov/election-day or https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ to look up the details for your residential address.
Voters who can’t make it to the polls on Election Day may request an absentee ballot.
Know your rights and report incidents!
If you experience an incident, VoteEarlyNY has a reporting form.
And of course, call the Election Protection Hotline for immediate help:
1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA
There are rules in place to ensure equitable access to early voting. Here are your rights as an eligible voter:
- If you’re “on line or in the polling place” at the time an early voting site officially closes, you must be allowed to vote. Here’s the law: EL § 8-104(5).
- Early Voting locations must comply with accessibility safeguards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
- Counties must ensure wait times do not exceed 30 minutes.
- If you have not already voted during the early voting period – but Board of Elections records say you have – you still have a right to cast an affidavit ballot, or obtain a court order allowing you to cast a regular ballot.
- The right to a secret ballot must be on par with Election Day procedures.
VoteEarlyNY has more information here.
And here’s a reminder about Voter ID:
- For New Yorkers, once you are registered to vote, you are NOT required to show ID at the polls.
- Except for first-time voters who didn’t provide ID when registering to vote.
- In that case you can provide either a current photo ID; or a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government document including check.
Vote Riders’ FAQ page is a good resource to check.
Let’s blast this out!
I didn’t know about this until I saw Eliza’s tweet:
If you want to help spread the word, VoteEarlyNY has plenty of great resources:
- Materials for social media sharing
- The outreach package includes text and graphics for social media sharing, and printable materials too.
- FAQs, posters and palmcards to share, in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Chinese
- Informative slide show
- Event planning guide
If you want to take a pledge to vote, sign up for email alerts, volunteer or get involved in other ways, scroll down this page for options.