You Have Until Sunday to Change Your Voter Affiliation

If you are interested in voting in the upcoming June 22nd New York State primary, you're running out of time to ensure that are you eligible to vote in that election.

New York has what is called a closed primary system. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a closed primary is defined as:

a primary at which members of only one political party vote
-Merriam-Webster Dictionary

This means you need to be a registered Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary, a Republican to vote in the Republican primary, and so forth. So in a city like Buffalo, for example, where all of the announced candidates are in one political party, if you aren't registered in that same party, you won't be able to cast a vote in that primary election.

If you are already registered to vote in New York, then you have until Sunday, February 14th to change your political affiliation if you are not already a member of the particular political party.

A change of enrollment received by the BOE not later than Feb. 14th or after June 28th is effective immediately. Any change of enrollment made between Feb 15-June 28th, shall be effective on June 29th
-Change of Enrollment Rules, New York State Board of Elections

If you need to update your political affiliation, its not too difficult to do. You just need to file an updated voter registration form with the Board of Elections. Or, if you have a New York State ID, you can update your registration online at the New York State DMV Website.

If you are not yet registered to vote, you have a little more time to get things in order. But why wait until May 28th to complete your registration? Registering to vote in New York is easy, you just need to complete a voter registration form.

For more information about the primary, you can visit the Erie County Board of Elections here, the Niagara County Board of Elections here, or the New York State Board of Elections here.

I look forward to seeing you at the primary.