You get nine days to vote early in person

If you’re registered to vote in New York, you don’t have to make it to the polls on Election Day. For elections covered by the law, including general, primary, and special elections, you can vote in person on any of the nine days that start on the 10th day before the election and end on the 2nd day before. That covers two weekends. You don’t need a reason or a separate early-voting application. Look up the early-voting site or sites assigned to you before you go.

Every county has to open at least one site for a general election, and bigger counties have to open more. Sites must open at least eight hours each day. On at least two weekdays, every voter must have access to a site open until 8 p.m. Counties can add sites and hours.

Republicans who controlled the state Senate blocked early voting for years. Assembly Election Law chair Charles Lavine got an early voting bill through the Assembly in 2018. After Democrats won the Senate, Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s bill was the first one the Legislature passed in 2019. It cleared the Senate 48–13 on January 14, with eight Republicans joining every Democrat, and passed the Assembly the same day. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it on January 24, 2019.

That November, 58 county boards opened 248 sites and more than 256,000 people voted early. Early voting is still running: in the 2026 general election, more than 165,000 New York City voters cast ballots in the first two days.