New Yorkers: Apply Now For Your Absentee Ballot

Jersey voters: You might get one sent to you automatically [View this email in your browser]( [Politics Brief from WNYC + Gothamist] [Keep friends and family informed. Forward the Politics Brief.]( New York: You Can Vote With An Absentee Ballot, But You Have To Ask For One By [James Ramsay]( [a poll worker in Ohio carries a stack of absentee ballot applications] Thurayya Umb, a Cleveland poll worker, carries a stack of absentee ballot applications ahead of last month's primary. New York is also fielding requests for absentee ballots. (Tony Dejak/AP) On Monday, the New York City Board of Elections began mailing absentee ballot applications to 3.6 million registered voters in the five boroughs. The key word there is "applications," as in, you still have to submit an application in order to then receive a mail-in ballot. But doing all of this via snail mail isn't the only option. WNYC's Brigid Bergin put together [a comprehensive guide to voting via absentee ballot in New York's June 23rd primary](. Here are some key highlights: Who Can Vote In The Primary? Because the state of New York holds closed primaries, you can only participate if you're already a registered member of the party whose primary you're trying to vote in. If you were already registered to vote but wanted to change your party affiliation in order to cast a ballot in that party's primary, sorry — [the deadline has already passed](. If you haven't yet registered to vote in New York, you can still do so in time for the primary — [registration forms]( must be postmarked no later than May 29th. How Can I Vote By Mail? If you're a registered voter and the city's Board of Elections has your proper address on file, you can wait for an absentee ballot application — complete with a postage-paid envelope — to show up in your mailbox. Then, simply fill it out with blue or black ink and stick it back in the mail by June 16th. BUT, there are a few different options: - You can fill out your absentee ballot application and submit it in person at a Board of Elections office by June 22nd. - You can apply for an absentee ballot NOW, online, at [vote.nyc](. The deadline for that is June 16. - You can apply for an absentee ballot over the phone by calling 1-866-VOTE-NYC. That's 1-866-868-3692. The deadline for that is also June 16th. Because of an [executive order]( signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month, anyone can cite "temporary illness" as their reason for requesting an absentee ballot, and that covers both people who have the virus and those who don't want to be exposed to it. After I Successfully Apply For An Absentee Ballot, What Happens Next? When your application is received, a bipartisan team (meaning a Democrat and a Republican) has to review your application to confirm that you are in fact eligible to receive an absentee ballot. Once the application is verified, they'll send that information to two vendors upstate that are printing and mailing the ballots. Though the Board of Elections has mentioned concerns about envelope shortages, a top official said absentee ballots should start getting mailed out the week of Memorial Day. What Exactly Are They Sending Me? You'll definitely receive a ballot for your party's congressional and state legislative primaries specific to where you live. If you're a Democrat, then you will receive a separate ballot for the Democratic presidential primary. After all the back and forth about potentially cancelling the primary, we can say [it is officially happening](. And just a heads up: It might have the original April 28th primary date printed on it. Don't worry about that, it will still work just fine. What If I Need More Information? [Read Brigid's entire guide](. [NYC Votes]( which is part of the city’s Campaign Finance Board, is leading a coalition sharing information about absentee ballots. You can also check the websites of the [New York State]( and [New York City Board of Elections](. New Jersey Has A July 7th Primary. Most Voters Have No Idea. A newly-released [Rutgers-Eagleton poll]( found that only 6% of New Jersey voters knew there was a primary scheduled for July 7th, while another 10% said they knew it would happen some time in July. This, even though 10 out of 12 congressional districts are hosting contested primaries for at least one party. But if residents don't know about the election yet, many soon will — the state plans to automatically send mail-in ballots to most registered Democrats and Republicans. Voters with no party affiliation and those deemed "inactive" — meaning, they haven't voted in the last two federal elections — will receive applications for mail-in ballots. In all, 6.1 million New Jerseyans will get voting materials in the mail. Come Primary Day, each county will open half of its polling places, so people can drop off ballots in person or use voting machines if they need to. Gov. Phil Murphy has also extended the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots to seven days after the election, due to pandemic-related delays with the postal service. This means the results won't be announced until mid-July. ([NJ Spotlight]( Two Years After Breakaway Democrats Were Booted From Albany, One Might Be Going To Congress In New York's 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Rockland County and a big chunk of Westchester, Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey is not running for re-election, meaning the seat will be open for the first time since 1984. And the candidate currently leading in the polls to replace her is David Carlucci, a state senator who was once a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of moderate Democrats who caucused with Republicans in Albany. In 2018, six former IDC members lost primaries to progressive challengers. Carlucci held onto his seat, but barely. And now, he is poised to go to Washington if he beats the seven other Democrats in the June 23rd primary. (The district is firmly Democratic.) The candidate currently in second is Adam Schleifer, a former prosecutor and the heir of a multi-billion-dollar biotech fortune, who was trailing far behind in the polls before he started spending considerably on TV ads. For Carlucci, the question is whether his IDC association will be a turn-off for voters in Westchester County — his state senate district mostly covers Rockland County — or if he'll get enough support from people who either never cared or think it's old news in 2020. "I’m sure there’s people that will still be holding that against me," Carlucci told City & State. "However, that’s what elections are about." In addition to his polling numbers, there's one other big sign that he has support where it matters: While he's not leading in fundraising, he's the only candidate who has received more than half of their contributions from within the district. ([City & State]( How One First-Time Candidate Is Handling The Transition To Digital Campaigning [a screenshot of Mondaire Jones' zoom town hall] Mondaire Jones/[Twitter]( According to Mondaire Jones, a first-time candidate who's also running for the Democratic nomination in New York's 17th Congressional District, there's no substitute for knocking on doors. As a 33-year-old with limited name recognition, he had hoped to be doing that himself. "But even before COVID," he told The Takeaway's Amy Walter, "there was only so much door-knocking that a candidate could be doing. "As my campaign manager told me early on in this race, there’s one thing on the campaign that literally no one else can do nearly as effective as the candidate, and that is raising money," he said. "Unfortunately, in the absence of a public financing system — which is something i’m going to be fighting for when I get to Washington — that has to take up the vast majority of my time." He said that since 80% of his contributions are small-dollar donations, he's able to raise most of what he needs online, without in-person fundraisers. And between Zoom town halls and more sophisticated social media outreach strategies, he's able to get his name out there. Without in-person campaigning, though, it's hard to judge how he's connecting with voters who aren't as digitally hooked in. "It remains to be seen whether we are reaching more people than we would have pre-COVID," he said, "but I can tell you I’m not feeling pessimistic about it." [Hear Mondaire Jones' full conversation with Amy Walter](. [the logo for Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast] Why Are Countries Led By Women Handling COVID-19 Better? Germany, Finland, Taiwan and New Zealand have at least two things in common: women heads of state, and relative success battling the coronavirus pandemic. Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](