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Can I vote in the November 6 general election?
If you are registered to vote, you can vote in New York City’s November 6
general election, which will include races for various political offices and
state and local ballot proposals.
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I don’t know if I am registered to vote. How do I find out, and how do I register?
If you do not know whether you are registered to vote, call 866-VOTE-NYC, or, for the hearing impaired,
call (212) 487-5496 to find out.
If you are a registered voter, you should receive a notice from the Board of Elections telling you where
your polling place is. If you do not get a notice, you can call the BOE’s toll-free voter assistance number,
866-VOTE-NYC, to find out whether you are registered to vote.
October 12, 2001, was the last day to register for the November 6 general election. To register for future elections, you must
fill out a voter registration form and file it in person or by mail with any of the following
BOE offices:
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Voter registration forms are available at these offices. You can also get a registration form and other
information by calling 866-VOTE-NYC. You can download and print a registration form on the BOE’s Web site
www.vote.nyc.ny.us, or fill out a request online to have a form mailed to you. However they are obtained,
voter registration forms must be filled out, signed, and either mailed or hand delivered to one of the
offices listed above, because they must have an original signature (in ink) to be valid.
Please note: You cannot submit your voter registration form via the BOE’s Web site; you may only download
or request one.
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How long is my registration good for?
You are still registered to vote as long as you have voted in at least one election in the past five years.
Even if you have not voted in the past five years, you may still be able to vote this year because of a
federal law. Call 866-VOTE-NYC for more information.
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What if I have moved (within New York City)?
If you have moved since you last voted, you must change your address with the BOE by submitting a new voter
registration form and checking the box labeled “Address change.”
If you have moved within New York City and you have not changed your address with the
BOE, you may still
be able to vote by going to your new polling place and filling out a form that will be available there.
However, it is best to update your registration whenever you move by filling out a
voter registration form
with your new address and sending it to the BOE. Forms are available
online from the BOE at www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
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I don’t know which Council district I live in. How can I find out?
To find your Council district, see “Find
By Clicking on NYC Borough Map”
and click on your borough. The borough map will show the boundaries of the Council
districts in that borough
so that you can locate your Council district. You can also call the BOE’s toll-free voter assistance number,
866-VOTE-NYC to find out.
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What will I be
voting on in the November 6 general election?
You can vote for
(1) a candidate for each of the citywide offices (Mayor, Public Advocate, and
Comptroller) and (2) a candidate running for Borough President in your borough,
and (3) a City Council candidate running in your Council district. You may also vote for candidates for other offices that are on the ballot
but not covered by this Voter Guide, such as district attorney and judicial
offices. In addition, you may vote on ballot proposals, which are questions
placed before the voters to decide.
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Who will be on
the ballot in the November 6 general election?
Candidates
nominated by the eight political parties recognized by the New York State
Election Law—Republican, Democratic, Independence, Conservative, Liberal,
Right to Life, Green, and Working Families—may run in the general
election, and may appear on the ballot.
In addition,
candidates nominated by independent parties may run in the general election and
may appear on the ballot.
Candidates who
lost in a party’s primary election on September 25, 2001, may run for office
again in the general election if they have been nominated by another party or if
they run as independents.
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Does this Voter Guide contain information about all the candidates who will be on the
November 6 general election ballot?
Not necessarily. This Guide only has information about candidates running for the offices of Mayor, Public
Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. You
may be voting on
candidates for other offices, such as district attorney, delegates to judicial conventions, and party
positions, that are not covered in this guide.
Also, some candidates running for these offices may not have sent information to be included in the Voter
Guide, or may have sent that information in too late. However, the names of all
general election candidates
for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council known at the time
this Web Voter Guide was published are listed. Candidates who did not submit information for the Voter Guide, or did not do so
in time, have an asterisk next to their names indicating this.
Some candidates listed in the CFB’s printed Voter Guide do not appear in this
Web Voter Guide because they have been disqualified from the ballot or did not
win their party’s nomination in the primary election.
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Will all the candidates listed in this Voter Guide appear on the
November 6 general election ballot?
Not necessarily. It is possible that some candidates may drop out of the race
or be taken off the ballot for legal reasons. Candidates can be removed from the ballot, or put back on the
ballot, up until just a few days before the election. So there may be some candidates listed in this Guide
who do not appear on the final general election ballot. You should always check the sample ballot at your
polling place before voting.
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In what order
are the candidates listed?
A candidate’s
statement appears in the Voter Guide according to the party line on which the
candidate is running.
The order of the party lines as listed on the ballot is Republican, Democratic,
Independence, Conservative, Liberal, Right to Life, Green, and Working Families.
This order is set by the New York State Election Law.
There are also
independent parties. These parties are listed in the Voter Guide in the order in
which they filed their designating petitions with the Board of Elections, which
is the order in which they will appear on the ballot.
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How do I find
information about the City Council candidates running in my district?
To find your
Council district, see “Find
By Clicking on NYC Borough Map” and click on your borough. The borough
map will show the boundaries of the Council districts in that borough so that
you can locate your Council district. If you do not know your Council
district, you can find you Council district by clicking here
or by calling 866-VOTE-NYC.
The notice sent to registered voters by the Board of Elections also tells
you which Council district you live in.
Click on your
Council district to receive a customized voter guide for that district. The
customized voter guide page will include a listing of all candidates you can
vote for in that district. Remember, you may vote for only one of the candidates who are running for City
Council in your district.
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What if there
is only one candidate in my Council district?
It is possible
that in some districts there will only be one Council candidate on the ballot.
All Council candidates who submitted a Voter Guide statement and are on the
ballot will appear in this Guide — even if they do not have an opponent on the
ballot. If there is only one candidate running for City Council in your district and you do
not wish to vote for him or her, you may “write in” a candidate instead (see
“A Note About Writing In Candidate’s Names” for information on how to write in a candidate’s name).
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If I belong to
a political party, do I have to vote for the candidate nominated by my party?
No. In the general
election you may vote for any candidate you choose for Mayor, Public Advocate,
Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council member, no matter what party
you are enrolled in. All voters, including independents, may vote for whomever
they choose in the general election, including write-in candidates.
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Will I be
voting on anything in the general election other than political offices?
Yes. You will be
voting on ballot proposals, which are questions placed before voters to decide.
Ballot proposals will appear on the right-hand side of the ballot. The “Ballot Proposals” section of this Guide provides information
about New York State and New York City ballot proposals as of the time the
CFB’s printed Voter Guide went to press.
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Where do I go to vote?
You vote at your local polling place. If you are a registered voter, you should receive a notice from the
Board of Elections telling you where your polling place is. Read the notice carefully. If you do not have
your postcard or you do not know where to vote, call 866-VOTE-NYC.
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When I get to my polling place, where do I go?
The notice you receive from the Board of Elections tells you what Assembly District (A.D.) and Election
District (E.D.) you live in. These numbers are important because they tell you which voting booth to use.
If you forget your A.D. or E.D. on election day, one of the election clerks will be able to tell you which
booth to use.
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What if my name is not on the list when I get to my polling place? Will I still be able to vote?
If you are not on the poll-list, it may be because your registration form was not received. If you believe that you are eligible, you can still vote. Ask for an
affidavit ballot, which is a paper ballot. After the election, the Board of Elections will check its records
and your vote will be counted if you are indeed eligible to vote. If not, you will receive a notice
that you are not eligible, along with a registration form for future elections.
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Can I vote if I can’t get to my polling place on election day?
You can vote by absentee ballot for a number of reasons, such as if you are going to be away at school, on
vacation, or a patient in a hospital. Call 866-VOTE-NYC to find out if you can vote by absentee ballot, and
to request an application for an absentee ballot.
To vote by absentee ballot, follow these two steps:
1. File an Absentee Ballot Application. You can
have an absentee ballot application mailed to you by calling 866-VOTE-NYC. You can also pick up an application
at any of the Board of Elections’ offices,
or download and print an absentee ballot application from the BOE’s Web site, www.vote.nyc.ny.us. For the
general election on November 6,
2001, completed absentee ballot applications must be postmarked by October 30, 2001, or must be personally
delivered to the BOE’s office in your borough by 5:00 p.m. on November 5, 2001.
2. Send in your Absentee Ballot. After you submit the absentee ballot application, you will receive an absentee
ballot on which to cast your vote. You can have the ballot mailed to you by including a mailing address on your
application, or you can pick up the ballot at your Board of Elections borough office after you have filed the
absentee ballot application. For the general election, absentee ballots must be postmarked by
November 5, 2001
or personally delivered to the BOE’s office in your borough by 9:00 p.m. on
November 6, 2001.
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How can I get more information?
The Board of Elections has a toll free voter assistance telephone number to answer questions from voters.
To learn more about voting in this election, call 866-VOTE-NYC (866-868-3692), or, for the hearing impaired,
(212) 487-5496. There is also information available on the BOE’s Web site, www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
The Voter Assistance Commission is a nonpartisan government agency created to encourage more New Yorkers to
register and to vote. The Commission identifies historically under-represented groups and works with other
public agencies, private groups, and community-based organizations to encourage registration and voting.
The Commission holds an annual public hearing after the general election to learn about experiences with
voting in New York City and to make recommendations for improvements. The Commission also holds public
meetings prior to the general election to discuss other voting issues. To find out when the annual
public hearing will be held or to get more information, call (212) 788-8384, write to the Voter Assistance
Commission, 51 Chambers St., Room 515, New York, NY 10007, or visit its Web site at
www.ci.nyc.ny.us/voter.
The Campaign Finance Board’s Web site has a searchable database
with up-to-date contribution and expenditure information on Campaign Finance Program participants.
A summary
of this information is also available.
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