New York Election Results & Exit Polls
The state of New York does not actually have the official voting results on the day of the election. There are many things to consider when tallying the total votes for the state, such as early voting, absentee ballots and election day votes are counted at different times. Once all forms of votes have been completely finished and accounted for, the state then tallies and releases the official numbers and the state is officially called.
Unlike with absentee ballots, in-person voting will be counted immediately both before and on election day itself. This leads to a process much more likely to not have any delays or large discrepancies on/after election day.
You can keep up with live New York voting results via:
Reuters
New York Times
Washington Post
CNN
New York Voting Exit Polls
Exit polls conducted in New York are given immediately after voters exit polling facilities, thus the term "exit poll". In short, this process is given to determine which candidate a person voted for, and why. A typical exit poll survey consists of questions such as the voter's age, race, gender and level of education, as well as who they voted for. Exit poll surveys are conducted completely at random and require participation of the voter.
New York Early & Absentee Voting
The state of New York allows for both early voting and absentee mail-in voting. Voting systems are in place and available to all registered New York voters.
Voter Registration Requirements for the State of New York:
- Must be a United States Citizen.
- Must be a resident of the county in which they are voting for at least 30 days prior to election day.
- Must be 18 years of age prior to election day. (in NY you can pre-register at the age of 16 or 17, though cannot officially vote until the age of 18).
- Must not be serving a felony sentence or on parole for a felony conviction.
- Must not be adjudged mentally by a court.
You can register to vote here. You may also check your voter registration status here.
Absentee Voting
Unlike several other states, New York does not automatically send out absentee ballots. Instead, the state sends out ballots to those who are not able to vote in person. All other voters are expected to use either the NY early voting system or vote in person on election day. Being that NY does not send out ballots to all registered voters, you must request one. You can request your absentee ballot through the official NY.gov website, or review the New York Absentee Ballot Application to see if you qualify.
The deadline to request your absentee ballot by mail is October 27th. Once received you must fill out your ballot completely and correctly. When returning your ballot (by mail) it must be postmarked by November 3rd and received no later than November 10th. You may also return your ballot to a polling station no later than November 3rd by 9pm.
Early Voting
New York offers early voting to all registered voters. This period of early voting begins on October 24th, and runs all the way until November 1st. Please note, not all counties in NY share the same early voting period dates. You can check with your local polling facility to verify early voting dates. All information for your specific county can be found here.
Election Winners & Recounts
New York will become officially "called" when it's clear that one candidate received a majority of votes. When it comes to the president and vice president elections, the electoral college is responsible for curating the votes and determining the outcome for each individual state. The Electoral College is made of of 538 electors. A majority 270 vote of those 538 electors is required to be elected for president. Each state is given their number of electors based on the number of state representatives and senators that state has. With regards to New York, the state has 29 Electoral College votes. This number is derived from New York's 27 Congressional Districts, and it's 2 senators.
A candidate may decide to concede from the race and give a concession speech if at any point their losing position becomes clear. Once one candidate decides to give a concession speech, the winning candidate may then give their victory speech. The races and winners are typically called via Reuters or the Associated Press.
NY Election Recounts
Automatic and requested election recounts are determined and implemented at the state level. This means each state has the right to choose whether they implement automatic recount triggers if there is a small margin of victory or loss for either candidate.
The state of New York requires automatic recount triggers if the total number of votes tallied does not exactly match the total number of ballots cast. While other states allow a small margin of error, New York requires the number to be exact. If not, this triggers a recount. New York also requires a manual audit of 3% of each type of voting machine no later than 15 days after a general election, 13 days after a primary election and 7 days after a village election. If there are any discrepancies found here it may trigger a binding recount.
A court or candidate in a village election may also request a recount. If decided upon, the village candidate must request a recount no less than 2 days after the election. The recount must be completed in no more than 5 days after the recount request. The state of New York does not pay for election recounts and is not responsible for refunding the cost of a recount.