The polls do not open until 12 noon in most of upstate New York
A grumpy person’s guide to the Presidential primary in New York:
1. If you’re not enrolled in a political party (Democratic or Republican), you can’t vote, because they are closed primaries. New York has, arguably, the most restrictive primary voting regulations in the country. New voters had to enroll in a party by March 25, but previously registered folks would have had to have switched their party affiliation by October 9 of LAST year. There is pending legislation to change that, but it won’t affect this year.
2. If you need to vote by absentee ballot, it’s too late to write the Board of Elections a letter requesting it. However, you can pick up an application, or print one out, and deliver the application in person no later than the day before the election, i.e., April 18.
3. The absentee ballot itself “must either be personally delivered to the board of elections no later than the close of polls on election day, or postmarked by a governmental postal service not later than the day before the election and received no later than the 7th day after the election.”
4. You may need that absentee ballot because the polls do not open until 12 noon in most of upstate New York, closing at 9 p.m. In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie, the polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.
5. You will have the opportunity to vote for the candidates and, on the Democratic side, also their delegates. Whether or not you vote for delegates, the candidates will get delegates proportionate to his or her votes. So if there are seven delegate slots, whoever get more votes, based on the allocation, will be the first one or ones chosen to go to the convention.
The candidates on the Democratic side are U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The candidates on the Republican side are business mogul Donald J. Trump, governor John R. Kasich (OH), surgeon Ben Carson, and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX).
Whenever your name does not appear in the official poll book, you will be offered an affidavit ballot.
New York is a closed primary state, which means only people registered to vote and enrolled in a political party can participate in the April 19 New York presidential primary for the Democrats and the Republicans. Check your party affiliation, and polling location, online by going to this state Board of Elections site.
I am registered, and enrolled!
If you were enrolled in a party, or no party, last year, it’s too late to change your party designation to vote on April 19. That deadline was October 9, 2015, which, I believe, was the earliest threshold in the country. Brand-new voters could register and enroll, but that deadline (March 25) has passed as well.
Anecdotal reports from New York State, as in other states, suggest that some voter registration records have gone from active to inactive, or from enrolled in a political party to nonenrolled. If your party affiliation was dropped or became inactive through the online registration process, check with your local board.
Upcoming deadlines:
April 12 – Last day to postmark an application or letter of application by mail for an absentee ballot.
April 18 – Last day to apply in-person for an absentee ballot
April 18 – Last day to postmark absentee ballot. It must be received by the local board of elections no later than April 26.
April 19 – Last day to deliver absentee ballot in-person to local board of elections.
Here’s a voters’ Bill of Rights. It notes: “Whenever your name does not appear in the official poll book, you will be offered an affidavit ballot.”
In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie, POLLS OPEN AT 6 AM – CLOSE AT 9 PM. In all other counties, POLLS OPEN AT 12 NOON and CLOSE AT 9 PM, which I hate, because I like voting first thing in the morning.
I would have supported Paul Simon, not the singer but the Senator from Illinois
Fred Harris
I almost always vote. I may have missed a school district vote in the early days, but I recall casting a ballot FIVE times in 1976: twice on the school budget, for the Presidential primary, for the non-Presidential primaries, and in the general election.
Voting in the primaries is something a LOT of people don’t do, and I find it mystifying. There ARE rules that allow people affiliated with the two major parties to vote, to the exclusion of those not enrolled, which is the way it works in New York State. That is why I’m registered in a political party. OK, in the Democratic party; I KNOW this is a shock to some of you.
On Facebook, a guy named Joe Mahoney posted this on February 10: “It should be pretty clear by now that these professional political analysts you see on TV — the people who were convinced a year ago it would be Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush in 2016, no question — have no more wisdom or insight than your typical cab driver or supermarket checkout clerk…”
For reasons of my own memory, I’ve decided to try to record who I voted for in each Presidential primary. This is not as easy as you might think, and not only because of my failing brain cells. June 20, 1972. My clear preference was Shirley Chisholm, the first black Congresswoman, who served part of Brooklyn. The problem was something Arthur mentioned about the 2016 Illinois primary: “Voters vote for committed delegates running in their Congressional District… However, not all candidates, especially minor candidates, are able to mount a full slate of delegate candidates in all Congressional Districts.”
I’m fairly sure Ms. Chisholm was not on the ballot in my upstate Congressional district. In fact, I’m not even sure there WAS a primary in my Congressional district; the state’s selection was the very last, so George McGovern may have locked up the nomination by then, losing badly to the incumbent Richard Nixon in November.
April 1976. My clear preference was Fred Harris, the rumpled iconoclast Senator from Oklahoma. But was he on the ballot in New York? If not, I might have voted for Congressman Mo Udall (AZ) or Senator Frank Church (ID) instead, but surely not Jimmy Carter. There was some arcane thing that the Carter forces did in New York to keep someone off the ballot, and it ticked me off.
March 25, 1980. Both Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) and Governor Jerry Brown (CA) challenged the incumbent President Carter. Despite the horrible incident in Chappaquiddick, I supported Ted, who actually won New York. At the same time, I was afraid for him. Every President elected, or re-elected, in a year ending in zero had died in office. Moreover, all of Teddy’s brothers had died violently, Joe in World War II, and JFK and RFK via assassins’ bullets. Of course, Jimmy Carter was renominated, but lost the general election. President Ronald Reagan was shot in March 1981, but survived.
April 3, 1984. I actually liked Walter Mondale (MN), Jimmy Carter’s Vice-President, and the eventual nominee who lost to Reagan. But I thought he was too much tied to that failed administration. So I supported Senator Gary Hart (CO). I DIDN’T support the Rev. Jesse Jackson because of an ethnic slur he had made three months earlier, then denied saying for a time.
Paul Simon, not the singer
1988. If he were on the ballot, in New York, I would have supported Paul Simon, not the singer but the Senator from Illinois. Governor Michael Dukakis (MA) won the nomination, but lost the general election to George H.W. Bush.
April 7, 1992. Former Senator Paul Tsongas (MA) was my guy, but he quit the race three weeks before the primary. Did I vote for him or did I switch to Jerry Brown? I DIDN’T vote for Bill Clinton in the primary, but did when he won the general election.
1996. If perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche even forced a primary in New York against the incumbent Bill Clinton, I’d be mighty surprised.
March 7, 2000. I voted for former US Senator (and former New York Knicks basketball player) Bill Bradley (NJ) over Vice-President Al Gore (TN). After he lost New York by nearly 2-1, and several other states on that day (my birthday), Bradley withdrew two days later. Of course, I voted for Gore v. George W. Bush, and of course Gore wonlost.
Dennis Kucinich
March 2, 2004. In a primary, sometimes one votes one’s heart. I voted for former Cleveland mayor and then-current congressman Dennis Kucinich (OH), knowing that it was a quixotic campaign. If I were to have voted for someone who I thought might have had a chance to WIN, I might have picked Senator John Edwards (NC), who became John Kerry’s running mate when they lost to Bush/Cheney.
February 5, 2008. On Super Tuesday, the day “on which the greatest number of states hold primary elections”, I voted for Barack Obama against my former US Senator Hillary Clinton, though I had voted for her when she ran for the Senate in 2000. Clinton won New York, but, of course, eventually lost the nomination.
Obviously, Obama was the first Democrat who I ever voted for who actually won the nomination, and, as we know, he became the 44th President when he beat Senator John McCain (AZ). 2008 was only the second time the candidate I supported in the general election won, the first being 1992 with Bill Clinton.
2012. Obama was unopposed in New York State, though he faced token opposition elsewhere. He was reelected President, beating former Governor Mitt Romney (MA).
Well, THAT was more difficult than I thought it would be.
I think Robert Reich said it best: “Clinton would make the president for the country we have now. Sanders would make the best president for the country we want to have.” And he’s been at it for a long time. Check out this Doonesbury comic from 1981.
Someone on Facebook – sorry, I’ve forgotten who wrote:
I’m getting tired of all these “thoughtful” pundits who claim that Sanders just can’t win and that he’ll never get anything done that he wants to do, etc. If they are trying to get folks to switch to Hillary, they’re doing it all wrong. All they are doing is pissing Sanders supporters (and those who are not totally decided) off. It’s a stupid strategy, unless it’s right wing trolls who want Sanders supporters to stay home if he loses. You want people to get behind Hillary? Fine. Convince me. Don’t bash Sanders.
Yes, there is some Hillary-bashing from some Bernie people, but it’s a different argument, and in any case, not one I’ve ever made. If the Republican candidate is Ted Cruz, winner of the Iowa caucus, or Donald Trump, likely winner of the New Hampshire primary, or Marco Rubio, waiting for those two to collapse, or actually all the remaining GOP candidates, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Democratic nominee, know that I will surely vote for her.
But the primary, I think, means voting with one’s heart. I’ve signed Bernie’s petition to get on the ballot in New York State in April. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, that’s who I’ll be voting for this spring.
A grumpy person’s guide to the Presidential primary in New York:
