If you are registered to vote in New York City, you can (and should) vote on November 8th. Registered voters usually get a notice in the mail from the Board of Elections (BOE) with the address of their polling site. If you didn’t get a notice, you may not be registered. Call the BOE’s voter hotline, 866-VOTE-NYC, to find whether you are registered and where you should vote.

You can vote for one candidate for each office on the ballot. You can vote for any candidate running on any party line, no matter what party you are enrolled in. You can also vote “yes” or “no” for each City and State ballot proposal.

This Guide contains profiles submitted by candidates for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. The names of all the candidates for these offices who - at the time this Guide went to press - were expected to be on the ballot are listed in this Guide, but some of the candidates did not submit a profile, or did not submit in time to be included in this Guide. Some candidates listed in this Guide may have been removed from the ballot or dropped out of the race after this Guide was printed. Up-to-date information about which candidates are on the ballot can be found by contacting the BOE. In addition, you may be voting for candidates for other offices that are on the ballot but are not covered by the Voter Guide, such as district attorney or judicial offices.

This Guide also contains a "Ballot Proposal" section with information about each ballot proposal you will be voting on in this election.

Fill out a voter registration form and file it in person or by mail with any of the BOE offices. You can pick up a registration form at those offices, call the hotline to request one be mailed to you, or download the form from the BOE’s Web site, www.vote.nyc.ny.us. However, October 14, 2005 was the last day you could postmark or personally deliver your registration form and still be eligible to vote in this year’s general election.

If you move, you must change your address with the BOE by submitting a new voter registration form and checking the box labeled “Address change.” Fill in your new and old address, check off the correct box for the party you wish to be enrolled in (do this even if you were already enrolled in a party), and provide any other requested information. If you didn’t change your address with the BOE, you may still be able to vote by going to your new polling place and filling out an affidavit ballot. However, you are required to update your registration whenever you move.

If a printed Guide was mailed to you at your current address, your Council District number is printed on the address label on the front cover (below your name and address), along with your Assembly District and Election District (AD/ED) numbers.

Otherwise, contact the BOE, or enter your address to view customized candidate information based on your district.

The notice sent by the BOE has the address for your polling site. You can also call 866-VOTE-NYC, or use the new
Poll Site Address Locator on the BOE’s Web site.

If you are not on the poll list, but you believe that you are eligible to vote, ask a poll worker for an affidavit ballot, which is a paper ballot with an envelope. Complete the envelope and mark your votes on the ballot in pencil or with a blue or black pen, filling in the ovals near your choices. Do not make any other markings on the ballot. Seal it in the envelope and give it to the poll worker. After the election, the BOE will check its records and your vote will be counted if you are indeed eligible to vote; otherwise, the BOE will send you a registration form with its notice that you were not eligible to vote.

You can usually vote by absentee ballot if you are unable to get to your polling place. Call 866-VOTE-NYC to find out.

To vote by absentee ballot, follow these two steps:

1. File an Absentee Ballot Application. You can have an absentee ballot application mailed to you by calling 866-VOTE-NYC. You can also pick up an application at any of the Board of Elections’ offices, or download and print one from the BOE’s Web site, www.vote.nyc.ny.us. Fill out the application and mail it or deliver it in person to the BOE office in your borough. For this election, completed absentee ballot applications must be postmarked by November 1st or personally delivered to your local BOE office by 5:00 p.m. on November 7th.
2. Send in your Absentee Ballot. If you submit the application in person at your borough’s BOE office, you will receive your absentee ballot immediately. You can also have it mailed to you. Fill it out and mail or hand deliver it to any of the BOE’s offices. For this election, completed absentee ballots must be postmarked by November 7, 2005 or personally delivered to the BOE’s office in your borough by 9:00 p.m. on November 8, 2005.

You can also vote in person ("In Person Absentee Voting") at the BOE’s office in your borough. Absentee voting in person begins as soon as the ballots are available (at least 32 days before an election) and ends on Election Day. It is conducted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and on the weekend before Election Day, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m on Election Day. Call 866-VOTE-NYC for more information.