Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, when Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming and American Samoa will vote to decide how many delegates each of the current Republican and Democratic candidates are awarded, in their quests for their party’s nomination.
New York’s primary is Tuesday April 19, so you still have some time. But if you have not yet registered to vote in New York, you need to do that soon.
You can register to vote in person at your local board of elections office, by mail, or online through the DMV’s website, if you have a New York State driver’s license.
If you are registering to vote in person, you have to go in and fill out an application no later than March 25th, in order to vote in the federal primary. Follow this link to see the location of the board of elections for your county. Contrary to common sense, if you live in Brooklyn, you live in Kings county, and if you live in Staten Island, you live in Richmond county. Manhattan is New York county, and Queens and the Bronx have the same county name and borough name.
If you are registering to vote by mail, you can print this application and mail it in. In order to vote in the primary, your application must be postmarked by March 25th, and received by March 30th.
To register to vote online, you must create an account on the DMV’s website, with your driver’s license number and social security number. To vote in the primary, you must complete the online registration no later than March 25th.
Bear in mind that if you do not register to vote in person, you will have to verify your identity the first time you vote. Bring to the polls a government-issued photo ID, and proof of your address.
If you’re not sure whether you’re currently registered to vote, you can look yourself up here.
If you need an absentee ballot to vote in the primary, your absentee ballot application has to be postmarked no later than April 12th, and the actual ballot must be postmarked by April 18th. It must be received by your local board of elections no later than April 26th. If you’re currently very far away from New York, or you will be during the primary election, it’s best to mail those ballots earlier, rather than later.
So there you have it! Remember, if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain about the outcome of the election, so be sure you get to the polls to secure your complaining rights.
Yay for democracy!
Cover photo credit: Disney | ABC Television Group/Flickr