ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Four New York civic groups held a virtual press conference on Thursday to explain voting rules before early voting starts in New York on October 24. In the face of a federal push to curb voter fraud, the advocates—from Common Cause New York, the League of Women Voters of New York State, the NAACP New York State Conference, and Hands Off NYC—warned about disinformation, arguing that current voting laws keep New York’s elections secure.
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“Our elections are run by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers, just like they always have been,” said Common Cause New York Executive Director Susan Lerner. In the video above, she said falsehoods from Washington mean to make it harder for you to vote—scaring you away from the polls and discouraging mail-in voting.
New Yorkers have three ways to cast a ballot this fall. Of course, you can vote in person on Election Day, November 3, when polls are supposed to be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Or you can vote early, also in person, from Saturday, October 24 through Sunday, November 1. Voters can also vote by mail.
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President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14399 told the U.S. Postal Service to demand lists of mail-in voters from the states and require special barcodes on mail ballot envelopes. After a court order blocked that rule in September, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the federal government’s request to enforce those requirements for November’s midterm elections.
If voting by mail, your local county board of elections must receive a request for a ballot online or by mail by October 24. Or you can ask for a mail ballot in person at your county BOE until Monday, November 2.
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Those local county BOEs are secure, according to Lerner. In the video below, she explained how they guard ballots against interference:
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Unregistered New Yorkers who are American citizens have to register online, by mail, or in person by October 24 to vote. That’s “Golden Day,” the only day when eligible New Yorkers can both register and vote on the same day at their early voting site.
Completed mail-in ballots have to be postmarked by November 3 and the county BOE has to receive it by Tuesday, November 10 to be counted.
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Military and overseas voters have until October 27 to request a mail ballot, and their postmarked ballots can arrive until November 16. Voters can check their registration status or find their poll site online outside New York City, or at vote.nyc within the Five Boroughs.
“Every New Yorker has the right to vote freely and safely, without fear of being threatened or harassed in the voting booth,” Democratic New York State Attorney General Letitia James said earlier this month when announcing guidance for voters, police, and county BOEs. It explained that federal and state laws ban troops, private militias, and armed federal agents—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI—from polling sites. State law also bars local government workers from letting immigration agents into a poll site without a valid warrant from a judge.
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Hands Off NYC’s Hae-Lin Choi said rumors that federal agents will patrol poll sites to stop noncitizens from voting are supposed to scare naturalized citizens and immigrant communities away from the ballot box after a year of ICE raids. In the video below, she explained how those threats suppress voter turnout:
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On Thursday, Lerner echoed James by alerting voters to USPS sorting changes that could delay a postmark by two days after a piece of mail is put into the mailbox. That’s why Lerner advised mailing ballots by October 24, or to head inside the post office to ask the clerk to stamp the postmark on the spot.
Voters or their family members and friends can also drop off finished mail-in ballots at the county BOE or any open poll site in the county from October 24 through Election Day. When the county receives a mailed ballot, one Democrat and one Republican have four days to work together to verify the signature and envelope. Under state law, if a voter forgets to sign or date the inner security envelope, the BOE has to notify the voter and allow them to fix, or “cure,” the mistake.
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The polls close at 9 p.m. on November 3, but anyone already on line can still vote. According to League of Women Voters of New York State Executive Director Erica Smitka, election night tallies will include early in-person votes, Election Day votes, and mail ballots verified before Election Day.
“That means that some close races might not have a clear winner on election night, but accurate results take time,” she said. “We caution against candidates declaring victory or reporters drawing conclusions too early in close races until the results are final.”
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County election boards have until November 28 to finish checking mail and affidavit ballots—provisional paper ballots used when a voter is in question—and candidates can ask courts to review races until December 3. The state BOE certifies final winners on December 15.
Voters who encounter problems at the polls can call the Attorney General’s election protection hotline at (866) 390-2992 or file a report online from October 24 through November 4. The four civic groups also offer free legal help either online at 866ourvote.org or via their English hotline at (866) OUR-VOTE. Translations are available in Spanish at (888) 839-8682, in Arabic at (844) 925-5287, and in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bangla, Hindi, Urdu, and Tagalog at (888) 274-8683. There’s also an American Sign Language video line at (301) 818-VOTE.
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Those assurances follow longtime complaints from the state and federal GOP who want stricter voter ID laws and citizenship checks to counteract widespread voter fraud committed by undocumented immigrants. On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department sued California over 20,000 mail ballots. And back in July, State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and State Senator Mark Walczyk, the ranking Republican on the Elections Committee, pushed Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul to require photo voter ID, audit state voter rolls, and repeal 2019’s Green Light Law that lets undocumented immigrants get driver’s licenses.
“New Yorkers deserve to know that every legal vote counts and that only eligible citizens are casting ballots,” Walczyk said at the time.
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But during Thursday’s briefing, Lerner and Smitka outright rejected any claims of voter fraud in New York. “Voter fraud is not something we are concerned about in New York,” Smitka insisted.
Lerner explained that to register to vote, you have to be a U.S. citizen born before November 4, 2008 who’s lived at your New York address since October 4 at the latest, which is 30 days before the election. Sixteen and 17-year-old citizens in New York can preregister to make sure they can vote once they’re 18. Eligible residents can also update their names or addresses online or via mail up to 15 days before an election—so, until Monday, October 19.
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Either way, county BOEs check every applicant’s information against driver’s license, Social Security numbers, and other state and federal records to verify citizenship before adding them to the statewide voter database. And people who move, die, or are incarcerated after a felony conviction will get scrubbed from the rolls on a bipartisan basis, according to the state BOE.
Anyone who has already voted in New York before will most likely never have to show their ID at the polls. Only a first-timer who registered by mail without providing ID may need to show their photo ID, or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck. But even if a voter doesn’t have the valid documents or their name doesn’t appear in the poll book, they have the right to cast an affidavit ballot to be counted after officials verify the registration.
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With New York’s Even-Year Election Law currently in play, many local races that would have traditionally taken place during an odd-numbered year got moved to the even-numbered year of 2026. “In other jurisdictions, we have seen an increase in turnout in the even-year elections when the odd-year elections are consolidated, but the proof will be in the pudding, which we’ll learn after Election Day,” Lerner said on Thursday.
Bringing a gun to a polling place is a felony. And in terms of cybersecurity, the state BOE says that New York voting machines don’t connect to the internet or link to electronic poll books or registration databases. Still, “It’s been very disappointing to see the federal government pull back in the support that they give to the states in cybersecurity,” Lerner said.
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Plus, besides keeping law enforcement away from poll sites, New York also bans campaigning within 100 feet of an entrance. Political parties and candidates can assign up to three certified poll watchers per election district, and the U.S. Justice Department can send civilian monitors. Neither can ask voters for ID, block lines, or follow voters into private voting booths.
If you need help reading English or have a disability, you can bring a family member or friend into the voting booth with you, so long as they don’t work for your employer or union. And to offer more help for voters in person, NAACP New York State Conference Executive Director Chris Alexander explained on Thursday that the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition will station hundreds of trained volunteer poll monitors at voting sites from Long Island to Buffalo, with digital monitors tracking social media. NAACP branches are also set to ferry churchgoers from Sunday services to early voting sites on October 25 and on November 1.
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Beyond poll monitoring, the speakers said that national lawfare—including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, even as state courts upheld New York’s John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act—have left many Black and brown voters feeling discouraged. In the video below, Alexander explained that apathy prevents minority communities from voting.
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Alexander also wants Hochul to sign S4602B/A5846B—sponsored by Democratic State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Democratic Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs. The bill passed along party-line votes on June 4.
If signed into law, whenever a poll site gets disrupted by an hour or more, local BOEs would have to automatically adjust and extend voting hours that day or the next scheduled voting day. Current state law lets BOEs add an extra day of voting only when a major disaster drives voter turnout below 25%.
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But that’s just one of many pieces of legislation that the coalition hopes the legislature and the governor enact. In the video below, Smitka said the coalition is pushing lawmakers to pass same-day voter registration—already used in more than 28 states—and to guarantee ballot access for eligible voters awaiting trial in local jails.
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Meanwhile, Choi plugged hundreds of “No Kings: Vote Early” rallies planned statewide for Saturday, October 17, to help New Yorkers check registration and make a plan to vote early.