Voter Information

The voter registration form should be used. Address changes from registered voters received by our office at least 15 days before a special, primary or general election will be processed and entered in the records in time for that election.

To be removed from the voter rolls in Dutchess County an original signature and your date of birth must accompany your written request. You may also submit a cancellation form to our office. Send a personally signed letter or cancellation form to:

Dutchess County Board of Elections, 112 Delafield Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Election Law 5-400 section 2(a)

You must be enrolled in one of the parties recognized in New York State (i.e. Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Working Families) and that party must be having a primary.

You use the same form as you do for registering to vote. In the “Political Party” Section, indicate which party you would like to enroll in.

Each year you will receive a postcard (“mailcheck card”) from the Board of Elections verifying your current address. This card also indicates the location of your polling place. If you have any questions about the information provided, call the Dutchess County Board of Elections at (845) 486-2473.

Yes. A voter may have the assistance of anyone of their choice, so long as the person providing the assistance is not the voter’s employer or union agent. If the voter requests assistance from inspectors at the polling place, one from each of the two parties represented there will help.

Yes. Generally, New York State employees are eligible for up to two hours of paid time off to vote if they do not have “sufficient time to vote.” An employee is deemed to have “sufficient time to vote” if an employee has four consecutive hours to vote either from the opening of the polls to the beginning of their work shift, or four consecutive hours between the end of a working shift and the closing of the polls.

For example, if an employee is scheduled from 9 am to 5 pm, and the polls are opened from 6 am to 9 pm, the employee is not eligible for paid time off to vote, because the polls are open for four consecutive hours after the employee’s shift ends at 5 pm. However, if an employee is scheduled to work from 9 am to 6 pm, then the employee is eligible for paid time off to vote, because the employee only has three consecutive hours off in the beginning of their shift and end of their shift.

To vote for a candidate already on the ballot, completely fill in the oval by the candidates’ names.

To write in a name not on the ballot, simply write the name in the write-in box. The write-in box is the lowest box on the ballot in the column, under the candidates’ names for that office. If you ask, an inspector will show you on the posted sample ballot which box you must use to cast a write-in vote.

Be aware, however, that once you mark the write-in box, you will not be able to vote for a name already on the ballot. If you change your mind you may return the incorrectly marked ballot to an inspector (it will be “spoiled”) and you can get a new ballot.

Your vote is protected through a system of technical and administrative safeguards. For example, the ballot box of the voting machine is locked and sealed for security and can only be opened/closed by a bipartisan team of inspectors. When the machine is shut down at the end of the day, only totals show on the tape, not individual votes.
The number assigned to each voter by the inspectors in no way reveals for whom you voted. This sign-in procedure makes it possible to keep an exact record of the number of ballots issued and number of votes cast on the machine, to prevent improper casting of ballots.

If you will be absent from the county on election day you can request an early mail or absentee ballot for any primary, special or general election if otherwise eligible. Please visit the NYS BOE’s Request a Ballot page for additional information.

Also, early voting is available to those in Dutchess County within 10 days of an election.

Voters with special needs or disabilities have the option of using the ImageCast Ballot markers. Once marked by the machine, the ballot will be printed and then scanned via the ImageCast Ballot Scanner.

If you are unable to vote in person because of illness or physical disability, you may vote by absentee ballot. Normally, applications for absentee ballots must be mailed to the Board of Elections not later than ten days before the election. However, if you become ill or disabled within ten days of the election, you may submit the application up to and including the day before the election.

N.Y. Election Law (5-508) allows victims of domestic violence who obtain a court order from NY Supreme Court, Family Court or County Court in the county where they are registered to have their voter registration record kept separate and apart from other registration records and not be made available for inspection or copying by the public or any other person, except election officials acting within the course and scope of their official duties. Under a separate section of the law (11-306), you can also be excused from going to your polling place to vote and get a special ballot. For further information, you should contact your local board of elections for their confidential registration and special ballot procedures.