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Can I vote in the November 4 general election?
If you are registered to vote in New York City, you can vote in the
November 4 general election, which will include races for City Council
and important City and State ballot proposals.
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I don’t know if I am registered to vote. How do I find out, and how do I
register?
If you do not know whether you are registered to vote, call the
Board of
Elections’ (the “BOE”) toll-free voter assistance number, 866-VOTE-NYC
(866-868-3692), or, for
the hearing impaired, call
(212) 487-5496 to find out.
If you are a registered voter, you should have received a notice from the BOE
in August telling you where your polling place is.
If you did not get a notice, call 866-VOTE-NYC to find out whether you are
registered to vote.
October 10, 2003 was the last day to register for the November 4 general
election. To register for future elections, you must fill out a voter
registration form and file it in person or by mail with any of the
following BOE offices:
Main Office
32 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10004
(212) 487-5300 |
Brooklyn
345 Adams Street, 4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 797-8800 |
Manhattan
200 Varick Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10014
(212) 886-3800 |
Queens
42-16 West Street, 5th Floor
Long Island City, NY 11101
(718) 392-8989 |
Bronx
1780 Grand Concourse, 5th Floor
Bronx, NY 10457
(718) 299-9017 |
Staten Island
One Edgewater Plaza, 4th Floor
Staten Island, NY 10305
(718) 876-0079 |
Voter registration forms are available at these offices. You can also get
a registration form and other information by calling 866-VOTE-NYC. You
can download and print a registration form on the BOE’s Web site,
www.vote.nyc.ny.us, or fill out a request online to have a form mailed to
you. However they are obtained, voter registration forms must be filled
out, signed, and either mailed or hand delivered to one of the offices
listed above, because they must have an original signature (in ink) to be
valid.
Please note: You cannot submit your voter registration form via the BOE’s
Web site; you may only download or request one.
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How long is my registration good for?
Your registration has no expiration date. However, your registration may
have been cancelled if you moved and did not update your address with the BOE and you did not vote in the 2000 or 2002 (federal) elections. Call
866-VOTE-NYC for more information.
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What if I have moved (within New York City)?
If you have moved since you last voted, you must change your address with
the BOE by submitting a new
voter registration form
and checking the box labeled “Address change.”
If you have moved within New York City and you have not changed your
address with the BOE, you may still be able to vote by going to your new
polling place and filling out an affidavit ballot that will be available
there. However, it is best to update your registration whenever you move
by filling out a voter registration form with your new address and
sending it to the BOE.
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What will I be voting on in the November 4 general election?
You can vote for one City Council candidate running in your Council
district. You may also vote for candidates for other offices that are on
the ballot but not covered by this Voter Guide, such as district attorney
and judicial offices. You will also be voting on ballot proposals to
amend the New York State Constitution and the New York City Charter. Click
for the State Ballot
Proposals. Click for extensive coverage of the
NYC Ballot
Proposals.
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What candidates will be on the ballot in the November 4 general election?
Candidates nominated by the five political parties recognized by the New
York State Board of Elections–Republican, Democratic, Independence,
Conservative, and Working Families–may run in the general election and
may appear on the ballot.
In addition, candidates running as independents may appear on the general
election ballot.
Candidates who lost in a party’s primary election on September 9, 2003
may run for office in the general election if they have been
nominated by another party or if they run as independents.
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I don’t know which Council district I live in. How can I find out?
To find your Council district, go to “Find Your District” and type in your address,
or view the NYC Borough Map and click on your
borough. The borough map will show the boundaries of the Council district so
that you can locate your Council district. Please remember that your Council district may have changed since
the last time you voted (due to redistricting). You can also call the BOE’s toll-free voter assistance
number, 866-VOTE-NYC, to find out.
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Does this Voter Guide contain information about all the
candidates who will be on the November 4 general election ballot?
Not necessarily. This Guide only has information about candidates running
for City Council in the general election.
It is possible that you will be voting on candidates for other offices,
such as district attorney and judicial offices.
Also, some candidates running for City Council may not have sent
information to be included in the Voter Guide, or may have sent in that
information too late. However, the names of all general election
candidates for City Council known at the time this Web Guide was published
are listed. Candidates who did not submit information for the Voter Guide,
or did not do so in time, have an asterisk next to their names indicating this.
Some candidates listed in the CFB’s printed Voter Guide may not appear in
this Web Voter Guide because they have been disqualified from the ballot and
some candidates listed in this Web Voter Guide may not appear in the CFB’s
printed Voter Guide because they qualified for the ballot after the deadline for
producing and mailing the printed Guide.
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Will all the candidates listed in this Voter Guide appear
on the November 4 general election ballot?
Not necessarily. It is possible that after this Guide is published, some
candidates may drop out of the race or be taken off the ballot for legal
reasons. Candidates can be removed from the ballot, or put back on the ballot,
up until just before the election. So there may be some candidates listed in
this Guide who do not appear on the final general election ballot. You should
always check the sample ballot at your polling place before voting.
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In what order are the candidates for City Council listed?
Within each Council district page, a
candidate’s profile appears in the Voter Guide according to the party
line on which the candidate is running. As on the ballot, the order of
the party lines is Republican, Democratic, Independence, Conservative,
and Working Families. This order is set by the New York State Election
Law. Candidates running on more than one party line appear only once in
this Guide, in the order their names are expected to first appear on the
ballot.
There are also independent candidates. These candidates are listed in the
Voter Guide in the order in which they will appear on the ballot.
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How do I find information about the City Council candidates running in my
district?
View the NYC Borough maps to determine which
Council district you live in, if you do not already know it, or go to
“Find Your District” and type in your address. To
confirm your Council district, call 866-VOTE-NYC. The notice sent to registered
voters by the Board of Elections tells you which Council district you live in.
Click “View All Candidates by District” for a complete list of the
candidates known to be running in your district at press time. To find
profiles submitted by Council candidates in your district, click
“View All Candidates Alphabetically” and
find the candidates that have your Council district printed at the top of their
profiles. Candidate profiles are grouped by Council district, then in the order
in which the candidates will appear on the ballot. Remember, you may vote for
only one of the candidates who is running for City Council in your district.
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What if there is only one candidate in my Council district?
It is possible that in some districts there will only be one Council
candidate on the ballot. All Council candidates who submitted a Voter
Guide statement and are on the ballot will appear in this Guide–even if
they do not have an opponent on the ballot. If there is only one
candidate running for City Council in your district and you do not wish
to vote for him or her, you may “write in” a candidate instead.
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If I belong to a political party, do I have to vote for the candidate
nominated by my party?
No. In the general election you may vote for any candidate you choose, no
matter what party you are enrolled in.
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Where do I go to vote?
You vote at your local polling place. If you are a registered voter, you
should receive a notice from the Board of Elections telling you where
your polling place is. Read the notice carefully. If you do not have your
postcard or you do not know where to vote, call 866-VOTE-NYC.
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When I get to my polling place, where do I go?
The notice you received from the Board of Elections tells you what
Assembly District (A.D.) and Election District (E.D.) you live in. These
numbers are important because they tell you which voting booth to use. If
you forget your A.D. or E.D. on election day, the information clerk or
any of the election workers will be able to tell you which booth to use.
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What if my name is not on the list when I get to my polling place?
Will I still be able to vote?
If you are not on the poll-list, it may be because your registration form
was not received. If you believe that you are eligible, you can still
vote. Ask for an affidavit ballot, which is a paper ballot. Fill it out
and enclose and seal it in the envelope supplied. On the affidavit
envelope give your old and new addresses along with all other required
information and remember to sign it. After the election, the Board of
Elections will check its records and your vote will be counted if you are
indeed eligible to vote. If not, you will receive a notice that you are
not eligible to vote, along with a registration form for future
elections.
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Can I vote if I can’t get to my polling place on election day?
You can vote by absentee ballot for a number of reasons, such as being
away at school, on vacation, disabled, or in the hospital. Call
the BOE at 866-VOTE-NYC to find out if you can vote by absentee ballot, and to
request an application for an absentee ballot.
If you cannot get to your polling site on election day, you can vote in
person (“In Person Absentee Voting”) at the BOE’s office in your borough. In Person Absentee Voting is conducted from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for 15 days, ending on election day.
It is also conducted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 1 and
Sunday, November 2, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, November 3 and
on general election day, November 4.
Call the BOE at 866-VOTE-NYC for more information.
To vote by absentee ballot, follow these two steps:
- File an Absentee Ballot Application. You can have an absentee
ballot application mailed to you by calling 866-VOTE-NYC. You can also
pick up an application at any of the Board of Elections’ offices, or download and print an
absentee ballot application from the BOE’s Web site, www.vote.nyc.ny.us. Fill out the application and mail it
or deliver it in person to the BOE office in your borough. For the
general election on November 4, 2003, completed absentee ballot
applications must be postmarked by October 28, 2003, or must be
personally delivered to the BOE office by 5:00 p.m. on November 3, 2003.
- Send in your Absentee Ballot. If you submit your absentee ballot
application in person at your Board of Elections borough office, you will
receive your absentee ballot immediately. You can also have it mailed to
you. Fill it out and mail or hand deliver it to any of the BOE’s offices.
For the general election, completed absentee ballots must be postmarked
by November 3, 2003 or personally delivered to the BOE’s office in your
borough by 9:00 p.m. on November 4, 2003.
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How can I get more information?
The Board of Elections has a toll-free voter assistance telephone number
to answer questions from voters. To learn more about voting in this
election, call 866-VOTE-NYC
(866-868-3692), or, for the hearing impaired, (212) 487-5496. There is
also information available on the BOE’s Web site,
www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
The Voter Assistance Commission is a nonpartisan government agency
created to encourage more New Yorkers to register and vote. The
Commission identifies historically underrepresented groups and works with
other public agencies, private groups, and community-based organizations
to encourage registration and voting. The Commission holds an annual
public hearing after the general election to learn about experiences with
voting in New York City and to make recommendations for improvements. The
Commission also holds public meetings prior to the general election to
discuss other voting issues. To find out when the annual public hearing
will be held or to get more information, call (212) 788-8384.
You can also write to the Voter Assistance Commission, 100 Gold Street,
2nd Floor, New York, NY 10038, or visit its Web site at
www.ci.nyc.ny.us/voter.
The Campaign Finance Board’s Web site features a
searchable database with up-to-date
contribution, expenditure, and other campaign
finance information on candidates participating in
the Campaign Finance Program.
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