Over five million U.S. citizens are unable to vote because of felony convictions -- including four million people who are no longer in prison. About 13% of the Black men in America are unable to vote because of these laws. We have got to change this.

The Strategy

To secure all the rights and attributes of citizenship, every person who can must register to vote. Te exercise all the rights and attributes of citizenship and to secure the benefits of citizenship, every on who can must vote.

Why Vote!

No class of men can, without insulting their own nature, be content with any deprivation of their rights. By depriving us of suffrage, you affirm our incapacity to form an intelligent judgment respecting public men and public measures; you declare before the world that we are unfit to exercise the elective franchise, and by this means lead us to undervalue ourselves, to put a low estimate upon ourselves, and to feel that we have no possibilities like other men. (Frederick Douglass - Excerpt of Speech Given at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, April, 1865)

So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind — it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact — I can only submit to the edict of others. (Martin Luther King, Jr. Speech given before the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington, May 17, 1957)

By ballot I only mean freedom. Don't you know that the ballot is much more important than the dollar (Malcolm X Speech delivered in Detroit, April 4, 1964)

Register to vote!

If you want to participate in the governance of your affairs

you have to register to vote.

You're qualified to vote in New York if:

You are a U.S. citizen;

You are 18 years old;

You have lived at your present address at least 30 days at the time of the election in which you wish to vote;

You are not in jail, prison or on parole for a felony conviction; and

You do not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

How to secure the right to vote if you are a formerly incarcerated person

Know the facts!

-If convicted of a felony and sentenced to incarceration, a formerly incarcerated person automatically regains the right to vote upon expiration of the maximum time to which he or she was sentenced, or upon discharge from parole, whichever occurs first.*

-If convicted of a felony but not sentenced to incarceration, or if the sentence was suspended, a conviction does not affect the right to vote.*

If you are on parole

how are voting rights restored?**

If you have been convicted of a felony, you lose the right to vote. This right is automatically restored when you complete your maximum sentence or are discharged by the Board of Parole. According to the New York State Division of Parole, if you have been issued a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities or a Certificate of Good Conduct while on parole, you may register to vote.

If you want registration form, write to us at Citizens or send us an email, and we will get one to you. If you have any questions or concerns, write or send an email and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Get information

On where to register and where to vote

Board of Elections General Office

32 Broadway, 7 Fl
New York, NY 10004-1609
Tel: 1.212.487.5300

Borough Offices

Manhattan

Troy Johnson - Chief Clerk
Timothy Gay - Deputy Chief Clerk
200 Varick St., 10 Fl
New York, NY 10014
Tel: 1.212.886.2100

Bronx

Anna Torres - Deputy Chief Clerk
Dawn Sandow - Deputy Chief Clerk
1780 Grand Concourse, 5 Fl
Bronx, NY 10457
Tel: 1.718.299.9017

Brooklyn

Diane Haslett-Rudiano - Chief Clerk
Mary Rose Sattie - Deputy Chief Clerk
345 Adams Street, 4 Fl
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 1.718.797.8800

Queens

Barbara Conacchio - Chief Clerk
Katherine A. James - Deputy Chief Clerk
126-06 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Tel: 1.718.730.6730

Staten Island

Sheila Del Giorno - Chief Clerk
Anthony Andriulli - Deputy Chief Clerk
1 Edgewater Plaza, 4 Fl
Staten Island, NY 10305

Tel: 1.718.876.0079

Our voter registration services are available without regard to the voter’s political preference. Information and other assistance regarding registering or voting, including transportation and other services offered, shall not be withheld or refused on the basis of support for or opposition to particular candidates or a particular party.

*U.S. Department of Justice, December 2000

**New York State Division of Parole

*Data and information used for this summary were taken from the NYS Department of Correctional Services. A detailed copy of the report entitled THE HUB SYSTEM: PROFILE OF POPULATION UNDER CUSTODY ON JANUARY 1, 2007, may be found at

http://www.docs.state.ny.us/Research/Reports/Hub_Report_2007.pdf

Why Vote!

Board of Elections General Office

Borough Offices

*Data and information used for this summary were taken from the NYS Department of Correctional Services. A detailed copy of the report entitled THE HUB SYSTEM: PROFILE OF POPULATION UNDER CUSTODY ON JANUARY 1, 2007, may be found at

Send mail to info@citizensinc.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 07/07/08

Why Vote!

Board of Elections General Office

Borough Offices

*Data and information used for this summary were taken from the NYS Department of Correctional Services. A detailed copy of the report entitled THE HUB SYSTEM: PROFILE OF POPULATION UNDER CUSTODY ON JANUARY 1, 2007, may be found at

Send mail to info@citizensinc.org with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: 07/07/08

Send mail to info@citizensinc.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 07/07/08