To be eligible to register to vote in New York State you must:

• be a U.S. Citizen
• be 18 years old by the end of this year (you may pre-register to vote at 16 or 17 but cannot vote until you are 18)
• not be in prison for a felony conviction
• not claim the right to vote elsewhere
• not found to be incompetent by a court

Full voter registration requirements are listed on the New York State Board of Elections website.

Check Your Voter Registration Status

The New York State Board of Elections provides a website for New York State residents to check their voter registration status.

To register online you will need

• your New York State DMV issued driver license, permit or Non-Driver ID
  • it must be your most recently issued document - you will need the ID Number and document number (See sample documents)
• the ZIP Code currently on record with the DMV 
• the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number (SSN)

Register to vote

If you are having trouble registering online, make sure you enter the following correctly:

• your document number - it is easy to mix characters like the number '1' for the letter 'I' or the number '0' for the letter 'O'
• the 5-digit ZIP Code we currently have on record (we might not be aware of a recent move)

If you have a MyDMV account, you can also log into that to access the voter registration application.

Register to Vote as Part of a DMV Transaction

You can register to vote as part of many DMV transactions, such as when you apply for a permit driver license, or non-driver ID, or when you change your name or address.

DMV will display your name, residence and mailing addresses, date of birth, and gender from DMV records for you to confirm their accuracy. If they do not display your current information, you must first correct this information before processing an online Voter Registration Application.

You will be asked to do the following:

• answer a series of voter registration application questions related to age, citizenship, prior voting history, and political party selection, and also your phone number (optional) for the Board of Elections
• affirm to the Board of Elections Affirmation
• agree to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Attestation

When you have completed this, we will forward your voter registration application to your County or City Board of Elections for approval and processing.

If you do not want to change the information on your DMV records but still want to register to vote or update your voter registration information, complete the New York State Voter Registration Form (PDF) on the New York State Board of Elections website and mail it to your County Board of Elections.

The electronic voter registration application is transferred from DMV to your County or City Board of Elections for review. Please note: The DMV does not approve or deny voter registration applications. We only send the application to the County or City Board of Elections for their review. Once processed, your County or City will notify you either that you are registered to vote or additional information is needed to complete your application. (Please allow up to 6 weeks to hear from the Board of Elections in your County or City. If after 6 weeks you have not heard from them, contact them at the phone number or address provided on the New York State Board of Elections website.

Board of Elections Website

By Mail

To register by mail, visit the New York State Board of Elections website to download a Voter Registration Form. The form provides the mailing address for your local Board of Elections. 

In Person with the Board of Elections

You can register to vote at your county board of elections, or at a New York State agency - based registration center. The New York State Board of Elections website has. Visit the Voter Registration webpage at the New York State Board of Elections for more information.