New York voting guide: How to register, find your polling station and more for 2024 races

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
·4 min read
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New York voters will cast weighty ballots in 2024 with a presidential race at the top, House races that will help decide control of Congress and every state Senate and Assembly seat up for grabs.

Voting is set to begin with primaries in April and June and conclude with the Nov. 5 general election.

Here are the rules of the road in New York for participating in those elections:

How do I find out where to vote and who's on the ballot?

New York voters can check an online database for their registration status, their assigned voting site and which offices and candidates are on their ballot for an upcoming election. Go to voterlookup.elections.ny.gov and enter your name — exactly as you wrote it when you registered — and birth date to find that information.

Voters enter the Living Christ Church polling station in South Nyack Nov. 5, 2019.
Voters enter the Living Christ Church polling station in South Nyack Nov. 5, 2019.

The database lists each legislative district in which voters live, from city councils to county and state legislatures and Congress. Those who want to see what areas their congressional and state legislature districts cover can find maps here: latfor.state.ny.us/maps.

How do New Yorkers register or change their registration?

Voters can register or change their party affiliation or registration address online at www.elections.ny.gov/OnlineVoterReg.html. They can do so in person at their county Board of Elections or at a Department of Motor Vehicles office and certain other state agencies.

To be eligible, a voter must be a U.S. citizen, 18 or older and a resident of New York and their particular county and municipality for at least 30 days before an election. Barred from voting are:

  • Prison inmates with felony convictions

  • Anyone found mentally incompetent by a court

  • Anyone with voting rights in another state.

Rachel Hollar fills out her ballot at East High School in Rochester on Nov. 7, 2023. (Credit: Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Rachel Hollar fills out her ballot at East High School in Rochester on Nov. 7, 2023. (Credit: Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Absentee ballots may be requested online or in person and are granted for specific reasons, such as when a voter expects to be away from home for an election or has an illness or disability.

In spite of those restrictions, any voters could vote by mail instead of in person under a 2023 law that restored an option New York voters were given for three years during the pandemic. Whether they get that choice is uncertain, though, because Republicans have sued to overturn the law.

Evelyn Aguila checks in voters at St. Catharine's in Blauvelt Nov. 7, 2023.
Evelyn Aguila checks in voters at St. Catharine's in Blauvelt Nov. 7, 2023.

Which offices are at stake in New York in 2024?

New York is set to hold Republican and Democratic primaries for President on April 2, with early voting beginning on March 23. That is fairly deep into the schedule of state primaries and caucuses that begin with Iowa on Jan. 15.

Only voters enrolled as Republicans and Democrats can participate their party's primaries for president and those that follow for House and state legislature seats on June 25. Independents and third-party voters can't vote in major-party primaries in New York.

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Voters will cast ballots in the Nov. 5 general election for President and the following offices:

  • The U.S. Senate seat held by Kirsten Gillibrand, who's seeking a third full term

  • All 26 of New York's House seats

  • All 213 seats in the state Senate and Assembly

Kristen Zebrowski, Democratic commissioner carries a tray of absentee ballots to be sorted at the Rockland Board of Elections in New City Nov. 4, 2020.
Kristen Zebrowski, Democratic commissioner carries a tray of absentee ballots to be sorted at the Rockland Board of Elections in New City Nov. 4, 2020.

Seven of those House seats are viewed as competitive and critical to determining which party controls that 435-seat chamber in 2025. Republicans hold a narrow House majority after wresting control from Democrats in the 2022 elections.

The current Congressional district lines were redrawn last year by a special master after a judge ruled the Legislature's previously approved map was skewed in the Democrats' favor. Those lines are once again embroiled in court proceedings and could be redrawn if the court so orders. Arguments are scheduled for Nov. 15, and a decision is expected after Dec 6.

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Each election is preceded by nine days of early voting at selected polling stations, which end two days before the election.

No statewide offices are on the ballot in 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who won her first full term last year, doesn't face re-election until 2026.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Elections 2024: NY voter guide on how to register, find poll sites