Voter Information

What’s Your Voting Plan?: a guide to voting prepared by artists Sharon Hayes and Andrea Geyer.

New York State Deadlines

MAIL REGISTRATION (N.Y. Election Law Section 5-210(3))
Applications must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2020 and received by a board of elections no later than October 14, 2020 to be eligible to vote in the General Election.

IN PERSON REGISTRATION (N.Y. Election Law Sections 5-210, 5-211, 5-212)
You may register at your local board of elections or any state agency participating in the National Voter Registration Act, on any business day throughout the year but, to be eligible to vote in the General Election, your application must be received no later than October 10, 2020. If honorably discharged from the US Military or have become a naturalized US Citizen after October 10, 2020, you may register in person at the Board of Elections up until October 24, 2020.

ONLINE REGISTRATION
If you are in possession of a New York State Driver License, Permit, or Non-Driver ID, you can register to vote, or update the information you have on file with the New York State Board of Elections, using the DMV Electronic Voter Registration Application.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS (N.Y. Election Law Section 5-208(3))
Notices of change of address from registered voters received by October 14, 2020 by a county board of elections must be processed and entered in the records in time for the General Election.

Should you wish to further research New York State voting regulations, please visit http://www.elections.ny.gov. Information about voting regulations for all 50 states can be found at https://vote.gov/.

Qualification to Register to Vote in New York State

  • be a United States citizen;
  • be 18 years old by December 31 of the year in which you file this 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 prison or on parole for a felony conviction and;
  • not be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court;
  • not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

Residency

Students are free to establish voting residency in the place they consider their principle home. A student’s principle “home” may be their current school address, or another permanent address (e.g. a legal guardian’s address) they still consider home. For a residence to be valid, individuals must live at the address at least 30 days before the election date. More information about the specific registration guidelines for each state can be found at https://vote.gov/.

Victims of Domestic Violence

N.Y. Election Law (5-508) allows victims of domestic violence who obtain a court order from NY Supreme Court in the county where they are registered to have their voter registration record kept separate and apart from other registration records and not be made available for inspection or copying by the public or any other person, except election officials acting within the course and scope of their official duties. Under a separate section of the law (11-306), you can also be excused from going to your polling place to vote and get a special ballot. For further information, you should contact your local board of elections for their confidential registration and special ballot procedures.

Absentee Voting

Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot

  • Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from said city, on Election Day.
  • Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
  • A patient or inmate 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.

Specific directions for how to vote by absentee ballot in New York State can be found at http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingAbsentee.html.

State-wide voting guidance, for all 50 states, can be found at https://www.usa.gov/election-office.

Where to Vote

If your voting residency is in New York City, you can use the NYC Poll Site Locator web application to identify where you are required to cast your vote. New York State residents can also identify their polling location by using the New York State Voter Registration Search. If you live outside of New York, a quick internet search should provide you with your voting location. If you have any difficulty locating your polling location, please contact the Office of Student Affairs for assistance.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.