Every Vote Counts

Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services; Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities; Department of Health; Department of Labor; Department of Social Services; Department of State; Division of Veterans’ Affairs; Military Recruiting offices; Office for the Aging Office of Mental Health; Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; State Universities of New York (SUNY); Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities; Workers’ Compensation Board. 

The only exception to the Oct. 10 deadline is if you have been honorably discharged from the military or have become a naturalized citizen since that date. Then you may register in person until Oct. 24.

In order to vote by absentee ballot, the voter must meet one of the following qualifications: unavoidably absent from his/her county on Election Day; unable to appear at the polls due to illness or disability; a patient in a Veterans’ Administration Hospital; detained in jail awaiting grand jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony. Absentee forms can be found on the aforementioned Web site.

The qualifications to register to vote are: be a United States citizen; be 18 years old by Dec. 31 of the year in which you file the form (note: you must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary or other election in which you want to vote); live at your present address at least 30 days before an election; not be in jail or on parole for a felony conviction and; not claim the right to vote elsewhere.