| You must be a
citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age, and have established New York
State as your voting residence in order to register to vote. Registration,
which is by mail-in form, must be done by 30 days before the General
Election, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November. After that time, registration may be done in person at the Westchester County Board of Elections at 25 Quarropas Street in White
Plains. Registration forms are available at the New Castle Town Hall or can
be downloaded from the NYS Board of
Elections website.
Mail-in Registration Forms
may be downloaded from the State Web site (www.elections.state.ny.us)
or are available at the New Castle Town Hall, at the branches of the
Department of Motor Vehicles, in libraries throughout Westchester County,
and in other venues. For further information call the New Castle Town Clerk's Office, (914)
238-4772 or the County Board of Elections, (914) 995-5700.
Voting in Primary Elections
In New York State, primaries
are considered the voter's opportunities to help select the candidates of
the party of which they are members. Therefore, in order to vote in a
political party's primary, you must be enrolled in that party. You may
enroll in a party when you first register to vote, and be able to vote in
that party's next primary. However, if you already are registered, but
have not enrolled before, or if you wish to change your party enrollment,
you must do so by filling out a new registration form before the November General Election in order to vote in
party primaries the following calendar year. For instance, if you did
not enroll as a Republican when you first registered, you must have enrolled
as a Republican before the 2003 General Election in order to vote in a
Republican primary in 2004.
Absentee Voting
If you will be away from the
county, or will be unable to get to the polls because of illness or
disability on Election Day, you may apply for an absentee ballot. You
may call the County Board of Elections (914) 995-5700 to have an application
mailed to you; download the Absent Ballot Application form from the State
Board of Elections Web site (www.elections.state.ny.us);
or get one at the Town Clerk's office at the New Castle Town
Hall, 200 South Greeley Avenue in Chappaqua. When the County Board of
Elections receives your application, they will automatically mail you an
absentee ballot as soon as it has been printed (usually about three weeks
before the election).
Or, after the ballots have been printed, you may go to the County
Board of Elections, at 25 Quarropas Street in White Plains, in person, fill out
the applications and then vote there right away.
All absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before Election Day
and received by the Board of Elections by the Tuesday following Election
Day, in order to be counted among the ballot totals.
Absentee voting is also
possible for party primaries. A similar procedure should be used.
School District Elections
School district elections can
be for members of the Board of Education, or
on financial referendums, such as school budgets or bond issues. If
you are registered for the General Election, that registration is picked up
for school district elections. If you are not, you must register
specially in order to vote on school-related issues. For regulations regarding
school district elections, please
contact the Chappaqua Public Schools at the Education Center, 66
Roaring Brook Road, Chappaqua, NY, (914) 238-7200.
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