Take Action

You have a few choices:

• You can download a form online at the NY State Board of Elections

• You can request a form be mailed to you from the NY State Board of Elections

• You can check your local post office to pick up a copy of the form

An absentee ballot can make second home voting easy. Voters can have an absentee ballot sent to their primary residence and vote by mail. Absentee ballots can be obtained at the Board of Elections, or online at https://www.elections.ny.gov/votingabsentee.html.

Remember, if you vote by absentee ballot, you must apply for an absentee ballot every year. You can find the Board of Elections office in your county at https://www.elections.ny.gov/countyboards.html.

As long as you meet the deadlines, you can change your registration in order to vote in the local election in NYC and then in the federal elections from your second home. Typically, you are required to have filed your application about two weeks before the upcoming election. Specific registration deadlines for upcoming elections are maintained at the New York State Board of Elections.

Here’s the data: in key portions of target swing districts in New York State, second homes make up from 10-50% of all housing stock. A large number of the second home owners have their primary residences in Manhattan and Brooklyn, both of which are overwhelmingly Democratic. By contrast, in 2022, Democrats elsewhere in New York State lost four seats in the House of Representatives by fewer than 10,000 votes each (the closest one was only 3,000+ votes) and held onto another seat by just over 2,000 votes.

If just a small percentage of Democratic second-home owners in New York register to vote where they have second homes in target swing districts (NY Congressional Districts 3, 4, 17, 18, 19 and 22), they will play a key role in helping the Democratic party to win these five seats – and in flipping the House.

New York State draws potential jurors from five different sources: the Departments of Motor Vehicles, Labor, Social Services, Taxation and Finance, and Board of Elections. So, you could be called for jury service at either your primary or second home address, depending on which source is being utilized. Jury service in one NYS jurisdiction counts as service in other NYS jurisdictions, so you would not not be at risk of being called for jury duty twice.

No. Only primary residences are eligible for STAR. Your primary residence stays the same no matter what your voter address is.

Even though people can and do register to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV records and Board of Elections records are different and separate. Your voter address doesn’t have to match the one on your driver’s license.

Tenants in rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments or lofts should consider their particular circumstances when deciding where to register. While in NY voter registration is not proof of primary residence, it could become an issue in a dispute with a landlord.