The Office of the Attorney General Election Protection Hotline will be available to troubleshoot and resolve issues encountered by voters, or to report voter intimidation, through Wednesday (Nov. 6). Call 866-390-2992 or visit electionhotline.ag.ny.gov. The telephone hotline is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 4 and on Nov. 6 and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day.
■ It is illegal to electioneer or campaign inside or within 100 feet of a polling place.
■ If your name does not appear on the list of voters at your polling site, but you believe you are at the right location and table and are eligible to vote, you have the right to request, fill out and submit an affidavit ballot. This ballot is set aside until election officials verify eligibility. Once confirmed, it is counted and tallied.
■ If you are in line to vote when the polls close at 9 p.m., you still have the right to vote. Stay in line.
■ All voters are entitled to privacy in the voting booth, and it is illegal for anyone to invade your privacy while voting. No one should request to see your ballot, and it is illegal to show your completed ballot to anyone else, including by posting it on social media.
■ If you are incarcerated on misdemeanor charges, in jail awaiting trial or on parole or probation, you are eligible to vote in New York. If you were convicted of a felony and have served your full sentence, you are eligible to vote but must re-register.
Voter Identification
■ Voters are never required to show photo ID to vote in New York. However, depending on how you registered, and if this is the first time you are voting, there is a small chance that poll site officials will ask you to confirm your name and address with an official document such as a photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, a bank statement, a paycheck or other government document showing your name and address. If you do not have any of these forms of identification, but believe you are eligible to vote, you may request an affidavit ballot or submit a mail-in ballot.
Accessibility
■ Under New York law, voters with disabilities must be provided with reasonable accommodation. If voting in person, a friend or relative may help you in the booth. Election inspectors also can help and provide assistive devices. A poll worker may provide reasonable accommodation, such as having a chair, having someone else stand in line or moving you to the front of the line if you cannot stand for long periods.
If voting by mail, you can cast an accessible absentee ballot. Request a disability-accessible absentee ballot through the state Board of Elections. You can sign the security envelope on the raised marker (you can sign anywhere else on the envelope, if you have difficulty signing it on the marker). You can also use an electronic voting method to mark your ballot with your own assistive technology.
Voter Intimidation
It is illegal for anyone to intimidate, threaten or coerce voters to disrupt their right to vote. It is also illegal to bring any firearm, rifle or shotgun to polling places, or to use any other weapon to intimidate or harass voters. Other examples of potentially illegal voter intimidation include:
- Individuals or groups patrolling outside of polling places and trying to scare people out of the line;
- Poll watchers inside a polling place aggressively challenging substantial numbers of voters, or targeting voters of a specific demographic for challenges, leading to long lines and creating false fears that voters may be illegally voting;
- Poll watchers standing in the vicinity of privacy booths or unauthorized areas, videotaping or photographing voters within the polling place or following or harassing voters in the polling place;
- Civilians dressing as law enforcement officers and harassing voters at poll sites;
- People spreading rumors that there are negative consequences to voting; or
- Individuals or groups carrying weapons or displaying foreign military uniforms or other military paraphernalia at polling locations.
Under federal law, voter intimidation includes threatening violence against voters, threatening to evict someone for voting or using voter information to track down old warrants, publicly disseminating individuals’ names and addresses, or “doxing” and following voters to poll sites and speaking loudly about prosecuting them for illegal voting. Additionally, economic coercion, such as boycotting a business or threatening to share information with debt collectors could constitute illegal voter intimidation.
Source: Office of the Attorney General
