FALL 2022!
Early Voting Period is October 29, 2022 - November 6, 2022. Find your early voting site here.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Polls are open from 6am to 9pm. Find your polling place here.
New York City has a good site with lots of info about your voting rights, where to vote, and more. Check it out!
CAN I vote?
To be eligible to vote in New York state, you must:
* (The NYC City Council voted in Dec. 2021 to allow green card holders and DACA recipients to vote in city elections--but in June 2022 a judge struck down the law as against the NY State constituion. In July 2022, the City Council said it would appeal this ruling, so the fight continues.)
How can I find out more about my rights as a voter?
The New York City Campaign Finance Board has some general information about voting rights.
If you are currently homeless or worry that you might be by the time election day comes, you still absolutely have the right to vote. See this League of Women Voters page and this Coalition for the Homeless page for more information on your rights.
If you are on parole, you can vote, but you need to re-register. (Before it was much harder to regain the right to vote on parole, but the law changed in 2018.)
From the NYC Votes website:
New Absentee Ballot Law
Due to a recent change in the law, New York State voters are no longer permitted to cast a ballot on a voting machine if they have requested to vote by Absentee Ballot.
Voters who have requested to vote by Absentee Ballot can still vote in-person using an Affidavit ballot at early voting or election day.
The affidavit ballot will be kept separate until the election is completed. Election officials will verify whether the voter’s absentee ballot has been received. If the voter’s absentee ballot has been received, the affidavit ballot will not be counted. If the voter’s absentee ballot has not been received, the affidavit ballot will be counted.
Find out who will be on your ballot at Who's On the Ballot (a project run by Columbia University) or on mygovnyc.org, a site run by the League of Women Voters and the CUNY Grad Center. You can also find more on the candidates at Ballotpedia, a respected non-partisan website. Here are some key elections:
New York State
Governor - Kathy Hochul is the incumbent (person who is now in that position). She won the primary election to represent the Democratic party this summer, so she will be running against Lee Zeldin, who won the primary to represent the Republican party. There are a couple other candidates representing smaller parties as well.
Lieutenant Governor - Antonio Delgado is the incumbent lieutenant governor and a Democrat; he is running against Alison Esposito of the Republican party and other candidates.
Attorney General - Letitia (Tish) James is the incumbent attorney general (and former public advocate of New York City) and a Democrat; she is running against Michael Henry of the Republican party.
U.S. Congress
Senate - Charles (Chuck) Schumer is an incumbent senator and a Democrat; he is running against Joe Pinion (Republican) and Diane Sare (Independent/LaRouche).
House of Representatives - find your Congressional representative here by entering your zip code.
New York City - no city council elections this November.
There is one NY State ballot measure you can vote on:
Ballot measure 1: Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs: Environmental Bond Act of 2022
To address and combat the impact of climate change and damage to the environment, the "Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022” authorizes the sale of state bonds up to four billion two hundred million dollars to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resiliency, and clean energy projects. Shall the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 be approved (Yes/No)?
There are also three New York City ballot measures you can vote on:
Ballot Question 1, "Just and Equitable City for All" Charter Preamble Amendment (November 2022):
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A "yes" vote supports adding the Racial Justice Commission's proposed preamble to the NYC Charter. |
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A "no" vote opposes this amendment, meaning the NYC Charter would continue to not have a preamble. |
Ballot Question 2, Racial Equity Office, Commission, and Plans Amendment (November 2022):
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A "yes" vote supports this amendment to create an Office of Racial Equity, with a Chief Equity Officer; establish a Commission on Racial Equity; and require the city government and city agencies to produce Racial Equity Plans every two years. |
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A "no" vote opposes this amendment, thus not creating an Office of Racial Equity; not establishing a Commission on Racial Equity; and not requiring Racial Equity Plans. |
Ballot Question 3, "True Cost of Living Measure" Amendment (November 2022):
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A "yes" vote supports this amendment to create an index called the "True Cost of Living Measure" and have the city government report the cost each year. |
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A "no" vote opposes this amendment, thus not creating the "True Cost of Living Measure" index. |
For more information about all of these ballot measures, please see this article in The City*
* The City is a relatively new non-profit news publication with a good reputation; it was founded by someone who used to work for the CUNY Journalism school and for the NY Daily News.