Absentee Voting

Qualifications

Qualifications to vote by absentee ballot:
  • Absent from your county on Election Day.
  • Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability(temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19);  or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
  • A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital.
  • Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.

How to Vote by Absentee Ballot


  1.  You may apply using the online Absentee Ballot Application portal   https://absenteeballot.elections.ny.gov/
  2.  Download the NYS Absentee Application and mail to our office address listed below.
  3. Contact Madison County Board of Elections at boecommissioners@madisoncounty.ny.gov or (315)-366-2231 for an application to be mailed or emailed to you.
  • In Person Absentee Application must be personally delivered to your county board of elections not later than the day before the election. By Mail -  Absentee Application must be received by  your county board of elections no later than the 15th day before the election. 
      Upon completion applications must be mailed to:
  • Madison County Board of Elections
    P.O. Box 666
    Wampsville NY 13163
  • The Absentee ballot itself must be personally delivered to your county board of elections or any Madison County poll site no later than close of polls on election day, or postmarked by a governmental postal service not later than the day of the election and received no later than 7 days after the election. 
If you are permanently ill or disabled, you have the right to receive an Absentee Ballot for each subsequent election without further application. Simply file an application with your county board of elections indicating permanent illness or physical disability. You will then automatically receive an absentee ballot for every election until your registration is canceled.

Accessible Absentee Ballot Application for Voters with Visual Disabilities

Voters using the accessible absentee ballot system in need of printing services in order to print their ballot can access such services at certain public printing resources, including but not limited to, libraries, print stores, shipping stores, and office supply stores.  Voters should contact their local printing resources for details on the printing services offered.   Voters using the accessible absentee ballot system can also print their absentee ballots at the County Board office. 

 

In-person voting using an accessible Ballot Marking Device (“BMD”) during early voting or on Election Day is still available to voters with a disability who do not want to vote by absentee ballot using the accessible absentee ballot system.


Voters with disabilities can visit absenteeballot.elections.ny.gov/home/accessible to request an accessible absentee ballot. Once there has been a request, we will provide a set of postage paid return envelopes via mail.


New 2022 Absentee Ballot Procedure

 
  • Due to a recent change in law, New York State voters are no longer permitted to cast a ballot on a voting machine if they have already been issued an absentee ballot for that election. Voters who have already been issued an absentee ballot can still vote in person using an affidavit ballot. The affidavit ballot will be kept separate until the election is completed. Election officials will verify whether the voter's absentee ballot has been received. If the voter's absentee ballot has been received, the affidavit ballot will not be counted. 
  •  If the voter's absentee ballot has not been received, the affidavit ballot will be counted. If a voter requests a second absentee ballot, any previously issued absentee ballot that is returned by the voter will be set aside unopened to provide the voter a chance to return the second ballot, unless the first ballot has already been opened. If both ballots are received before the return deadline, the ballot with the later postmark date is accepted and any other ballots that have been received are rejected, unless the first ballot has already been opened. If a voter submits more than one timely absentee ballot and cast an affidavit ballot, the last received ballot, either submitted in person during the election or by mail within the absentee return deadline, will be canvassed.