Check the status of your absentee ballot request

Apply for an absentee ballot

Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot 

1. Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from the five boroughs, on Election Day.
2. Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability (temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19).
3. Unable to appear because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
4. A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration hospital.
5. Detained in jail awaiting grand jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.

Due dates

• Oct. 24: Last day for board of elections to receive application, letter, telefax, other written instrument or absentee portal request for general election ballot.
• November 7: Last day to apply in-person for absentee ballot.
• November 8: Last day to postmark ballot. Must be received by us no later than November 15. Military voter ballots must be received no later than Nov. 21.
• November 8: Last day to deliver ballot in-person to us or to any poll site in our county.

How to Vote by Absentee Ballot 

1. Once your receive the ballot, mark the ballot according to your choices for each office following the instructions on the ballot
2. Once you have completed marking your ballot fold it up and place it in the Security Envelope. (This envelope will have a place for your signature.)
3. Sign and date the outside of the security envelope.
4. Seal the security envelope.
5. Place the security envelope in the return envelope. (This envelope will have the return address of your county Board of Elections on the outside and should have a logo that reads, “Official Election Mail”)
6. Seal the return envelope.

Absentee Cures

There are certain errors or problems that can occur when a voter completes an absentee ballot envelope. Many of these errors or problems are curable by means of filing a cure statement with your board of elections. If your ballot envelope has a curable defect, you will receive a notice from the board of elections. The cure process is described here.

Absentee Drop Off

Absentees can be mailed or dropped off at any time on or before June 28 (primary) and November 8 (general election). PLEASE DO NOT WAIT! 

Before election day: You can drop your ballot off at our office.

Early Voting Days: You will not have to wait in line to drop your ballot off at the early voting site during any of our early voting hours. Please come to our office on the first floor and we will stamp it and secure it for you.

Election Day: You will be able to drop in a secured Absentee ballot bag without having to wait in line at any of our poll sites. You can also drop your ballot off at our office.

New Absentee Ballot Procedure

Due to a recent change in law, New York State voters are no longer permitted to cast a ballot on a voting machine if they have requested to vote by absentee ballot for that election. Voters who have requested to vote by absentee ballot can still vote in person using an affidavit ballot. The affidavit ballot will be kept separate until the election is completed. Election officials will verify whether the voter’s absentee ballot has been received. If the voter’s absentee ballot has been received, the affidavit ballot will not be counted. If the voter’s absentee ballot has not been received, the affidavit ballot will be counted. The voter’s first received ballot is the ballot that will be counted for that election.

(This has nothing to do with absentee ballots. But just in case you were wondering, polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on election days.)

Accessible Absentee Ballot

Voters using the accessible absentee ballot system in need of printing services in order to print their ballot can access such services at certain public printing resources, including but not limited to, libraries, print stores, shipping stores, and office supply stores.  Voters should contact their local printing resources for details on the printing services offered.   Voters using the accessible absentee ballot system can also print their absentee ballots at the County Board office. 

In-person voting using an accessible Ballot Marking Device (“BMD”) during early voting or on Election Day is still available to voters with a disability who do not want to vote by absentee ballot using the accessible absentee ballot system.

Voters with disabilities can visit absenteeballot.elections.ny.gov/home/accessible to request an accessible absentee ballot.

Press Release for Accessible Absentee Voting