What is a primary election?

Can I vote in the September 25 primary election?

I don’t know if I am registered to vote. How do I find out, and how do I register?

How long is my registration good for?

What if I have moved (within New York City)?

How do I enroll in a political party (or change my enrollment from one party to another)?

Which candidates can I vote for in the September 25 primary election?

I don’t know which Council district I live in. How can I find out?

Does this Voter Guide contain information about all the candidates who will be on the September 25 primary election ballot?

Will all the candidates listed in this Voter Guide appear on the September 25 primary election ballot?

If my party is not holding a primary election, can I vote in the general election?

Where do I go to vote?

When I get to my polling place, where do I go?

What if my name is not on the list when I get to my polling place? Will I still be able to vote?

Can I vote if I can’t get to my polling place on election day?

How can I get more information?

What is a primary election?
A political party holds a primary election when more than one candidate is seeking the party’s nomination for the same office. In a primary election, voters enrolled in a political party pick a candidate to represent the party in the general election. In New York State, there are eight political parties that can hold primary elections: the Republican, Democratic, Independence, Conservative, Liberal, Right to Life, Green, and Working Families parties.

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Can I vote in the September 25 primary election?
You can vote in New York City’s September 25 primary election if (1) you are registered to vote, (2) you are enrolled in a political party, and (3) your political party is holding a primary. Please note that not all political parties have primaries, and not all registered voters are enrolled in political parties. You can only vote in the primary of the party of which you are a member.

If you do not know whether you can vote in this year’s primary election, call the Board of Elections’ (“BOE”) toll-free voter assistance number, 866-VOTE-NYC, or, for the hearing impaired, call (212) 487-5496 to find out.

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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 866-VOTE-NYC, or, for the hearing impaired, call (212) 487- 5496 to find out.

If you are a registered voter, you should receive a notice from the Board of Elections telling you where your polling place is. If you do not get a notice, you can call the BOE’s toll-free voter assistance number, 866-VOTE-NYC, to find out whether you are registered to vote.

August 17, 2001, was the last day to register for the September 25 primary election and October 12, 2001, is the last day to register for the November 6 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:

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?
You are still registered to vote as long as you have voted in at least one election in the past five years. Even if you have not voted in the past five years, you may still be able to vote this year because of a federal law. 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 a form 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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How do I enroll in a political party (or change my enrollment from one party to another)?
You can enroll in a political party by checking off a party enrollment box on your voter registration form. Enrolling in a party makes you a member of that political party and allows you to vote in that party’s future primaries.

October 13, 2000 was the last date you could change your party enrollment for the September 25, 2001 primary election. If you are a registered voter and want to enroll in a party or want to change the party you are enrolled in for future elections, follow the instructions above for getting a voter registration form and fill it out, checking the box of the party you would like to enroll in, and checking the box “Party enrollment change,” and submit it to the BOE this year before October 12 to be eligible to vote in next year’s primary elections.

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Which candidates can I vote for in the September 25 primary election?
You can vote for any candidate who is seeking the nomination of the party you are enrolled in.

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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 see and click on your borough.  The borough map will show the boundaries of the Council district so that you can locate your Council district.

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Does this Voter Guide contain information about all the candidates who will be on the September 25 primary election ballot?
Not necessarily. This Guide only has information about candidates running for the offices of Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. It is possible that you will be voting on candidates for other offices, such as district attorney, delegates to judicial conventions, and party positions.

Also, some candidates running for these offices may not have sent information to be included in the Voter Guide, or may have sent that information in too late. However, the names of all primary election candidates for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council known at the time this 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.

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Will all the candidates listed in this Voter Guide appear on the September 25 primary election ballot?
Not necessarily. It is possible that 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 a few days before the election. So there may be some candidates listed in this Guide who do not appear on the final primary election ballot. You should always check the sample ballot at your polling place before voting.

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If my party is not holding a primary election, can I vote in the general election?
Yes. All registered voters can vote in the general election on November 6, 2001. In the general election, you can vote for the candidate of your choice 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 receive 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, one of the election clerks 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 or, for a primary, because you aren’t enrolled in a party. If you believe that you are eligible, you can still vote. Ask for an affidavit ballot, which is a paper ballot. 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, 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 if you are going to be away at school, on vacation, or a patient in a hospital. Call 866-VOTE-NYC to find out if you can vote by absentee ballot, and to request an application for an absentee ballot.

To vote by absentee ballot, follow these two steps:

1. 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. For the primary election on September 25, 2001, completed absentee ballot applications must be postmarked by September 4, 2001, or must be personally delivered to the BOE office by 5:00 p.m. on September 10, 2001.
    
2. Send in your Absentee Ballot. After you submit the absentee ballot application, you will receive an absentee ballot on which to cast your vote. You can have the ballot mailed to you by including a mailing address on your application, or you can pick up the ballot at your Board of Elections borough office after you have filed the absentee ballot application. For the primary election, absentee ballots must be postmarked by September 10, 2001 or personally delivered to the BOE’s office in your borough by 9:00 p.m. on September 25, 2001.

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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, (866) 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 to vote. The Commission identifies historically under-represented 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, write to the Voter Assistance Commission, 51 Chambers St., Room 515, New York, NY 10007, or visit its Web site at www.ci.nyc.ny.us/voter.

The Campaign Finance Board’s Web site has a searchable database with up-to-date contribution and expenditure information on Campaign Finance Program participants.

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