Civic Participation 2020

The 2020 United States Election will be held on November 3.

You will have an opportunity to cast your vote for elected representatives at all levels -- federal, state, and local. This guide includes information to help you register to vote, to cast your ballot either in person or by mail, and to research your vote. We hope you'll exercise your right to vote.

For more detailed information, please see the tabs on the left of this page.

Voter Eligibility

For more complete information on voter eligibility, please check:

In order to register to vote in New York, you must be:

• A US citizen
• At least 18 years of age
• A resident of the district in which you're voting for at least 30 days (and not claiming residence elsewhere)
• Not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction
• Not judged mentally incompetent by a court

If you live in another state, you may have different eligibility requirements. You can look up the eligibility requirements for each state at:

New York has provisions in place to protect your right to vote! You have the right to:

• Take up to 2 hours off work to vote if you can't make it to the polls otherwise
• Bring your notes into the ballot both with you
• Request a provisional ballot if there's a problem with your registration
• Vote free of intimidation or harassment.

Accommodations

Disabled voters are entitled to accommodations.

New York State provides language access assistance in some counties, including all the boroughs of NYC.

For more information, please see the links below:

Voting Rules

At your polling place, please

• Avoid wearing anything that promotes a particular candidate or measure. This is considered a violation of the rule against campaigning near polling sites.
• Don't take a picture of your ballot. The US voting system is based on secret ballots.