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Early Voting Starts Saturday: Here's What You Need To Know
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jun 9, 2021
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Scott Heins / Gothamist
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jun 9, 2021
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Is your mailbox overflowing with campaign fliers? Are strangers knocking on your door making their pitch to you? Well then, you just might be a New York City primary voter at the cusp of in-person voting, which kicks off this Saturday. Here’s what you need to know about early voting.
When exactly does it begin?
Doors open at 8 a.m. this Saturday, June 12th! Get your coffee and bagel and a side of democracy. The schedule varies by day so check the hours before you head out. Early voting runs through Sunday, June 20th, so in addition to the weekdays, you have two full weekend opportunities to vote.
Can any registered voter cast a ballot at any location?
Nope. New York has a closed primary system, so if you are not registered with a party that’s holding a primary, you need to sit this one out until November. If you are a registered Democrat or Republican (or Conservative in the 19th City Council district in Queens), you can cast your ballot at one of the 104 early voting sites across the city. But again, you can’t just show up anywhere. Voters are assigned to specific locations. If you happen to live on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, you may be one of the lucky voters casting a ballot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No matter where you live, you can check your location at findmypollsite.vote.nyc or call 311.
What if I requested an absentee ballot but I changed my mind and want to vote in person — can I do that?
Yes. If you requested an absentee ballot, even if you already submitted it, you can still change your mind and vote in person during early voting, June 12th to June 20th, or on Primary Day, June 22nd. When election officials start counting those absentee ballots, they first check to see if someone voted in person. If they did, the absentee ballot is not counted.
If you still need an absentee ballot, the deadline to request one online is June 15th. You can apply in person at a BOE office through June 21st. If you have an absentee ballot and you are wary of mailing it, you can also drop it off at any early voting site.
How do I avoid those crazy lines like the one I waited in last fall during early voting?
We would love to see that level of participation in a primary election. If the past is any indicator, turnout tends to drop dramatically in off-cycle local elections. For context, we had roughly 23% voter turnout in the 2013 primary, which was the last open citywide primary race. That was 772,000 voters out of the 3.3 million who were eligible.
Based on the last available enrollment figures, we’re looking at more than 4 million registered Democrats and Republicans citywide eligible to vote in the upcoming primary. That’s a million fewer voters than were eligible in November.
In short, we are not expecting to see lines like the fall. However, the city Board of Elections will be piloting a new map through their website that will show the estimated wait times at early voting sites so voters can check their location before heading out and plan accordingly. The map is supposed to be live on Saturday morning.
Read More: Undecided In NYC's Mayoral Race? Here's A Guide To Help
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election 2021
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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