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The Complete Voter’s Guide To Voting in NY Today (If You Should Encounter Problems, which only 99.99% of the population to date have)

Provisionals are unlikely to count in today’s NY state vote, as per the video (below) from those in attendance at the lawsuit for Election Justice today, although there is a “long shot” that they may. I’ve been handling this since 3:30 am PST… and within an hour or two, it was apparent that something smelled rotten in the Big Apple.

At this point, if you want to ensure that your vote counts, the best thing to do is actually sue to vote (info below). However, read this guide in full. I have also been speaking to friends and family all day in Downstate NY/NYC. Several have, or know of close friends, who have had difficulty voting. One sued.

I wrote this guide to help others based on the problems I have heard reported and have tried to help answer; I have updated it all day. I hope it helps someone; I’ve been passing it along to many off of this site and welcome your passing it along further however you see fit. See the updates.

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There are a lot of problems already reported with voting, which began at 6am, but please pass this all along to NY voters if you hear of any problems:

1st -- ask to check other district books. You may simply be listed in the wrong district book. This is widely reported today.

Sanders’ Campaign HQ:

IF YOU HAVE ANY SERIOUS ISSUES CALL THE CAMPAIGN VOTER HOTLINE FIRST: phone -- 347-379-4298 / Email -- berniesanders.com

If the poll workers are unable to find you in their book, have them check other books to see if you are listed. If they are unable to find your registration call this number 1.866.868.3692 (1.866.VOTE-NYC) and have them confirm polling location and which book you are listed in and in many cases that will resolve the issue so you can cast another ballot. You may have to go to another polling location if you are at the incorrect one. Only accept an affidavit ballot as a last resort, but do everything you can to get a regular ballot!

If you have any questions about voting in New York you may contact your state elections office for more information. New York Elections Office -- Phone: (518) 474-6220

Other info from various sources about what to do in NY if you have voting problems: New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has a telephone hotline set up at 800-771-7755 for anyone encountering problems at the polls.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office will also be operating a voter complaint hotline, at 212-637-0840.

Please call these numbers. Also tell them that there are reports of people not being found in their polling places poll books, but they looked in the other district books and were found there. Note: people are reporting good luck contacting the AG's office in some cases today. Still, Sanders' campaign asks you contact the hotline (above) first.

NYers who face problems at the polls, have the right to go to the BOE (Board of Elections) office on election day to see a judge who can grant them the right to vote in the NY primaries:

www.nypirg.org/...

AT THIS TIME, THIS IS THE MOST RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION TO TAKE. It may take a few hours, but it will ensure your vote is counted.

EDIT: see the bottom of this post for new information. It is much better to attempt to SUE to vote, and the lawyer for the case is on video stating this:

Finally, and IMPORTANTLY, Election Justice filed an emergency 9 am court hearing to deal with voter registration changes in NY State that were potentially disenfranchising to a huge number of voters (Mayor DeBlasio has expressed serious concern):

They recommend the following (to the best of my ability to understand this clearly):

If you believe your registration was switched and you are really a Democrat, vote on affidavit and sign section asserting that you are. If you are an independent who just wants to vote if the primary happens to be opened by the lawsuit, vote by affidavit but DO NOT SIGN that section. "We are encouraging all independent and disenfranchised voters to VOTE tomorrow by provisional ballot," Nelson said. "They should tell poll workers that there is a motion pending in Federal District Court to declare the Primary open, and they are casting their vote in the expectation of a favorable ruling by the judge tomorrow." (Shyla Nelson, spokeswoman EJUSA)

WHEN SOMETHING JUST SEEMS WRONG: 1.) Get the poll workers' name; 2.) Record it; and 3.) Upload it TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND TO THAT THREAD. You may also wish to use it to go before a NY Judge today to "sue" to vote (as above). You may also wish to present it to the BOE (Board of Elections). The NY ACLU is another resource you may wish to pursue if you have exhausted all other channels, as they also help with voting rights: (212) 416-8250

Update: 12:40 pm EST -- due to so many people forced to cast provisional ballots and sign affidavits, there is a high probability that all provisional ballots will be counted, as per Election Justice's lawsuit and spokesperson Therefore, if you ARE an independent, get out and VOTE in NY today, just don't sign the affidavit portion of the provisional ballot More info will be available after 2pm EST when court re-convenes. I will update then. Update X1: The injunction is ONLY seeking to prove registered Democrats are such. They do not intend to open the primary to independents. This is prior to the court re-convening and is based off of an interview with Election Justice. -- doing so could be voter fraud -- this directly conflicts with what Shyla Nelso from EJ said above, so take it with a grain of salt.

Update X2: 2:34 pm EST -- a personal, close, long-term friend of mine was unable to vote today despite not moving and being a lifelong registered Democrat. His voting info was purged. He is in the 'burbs. He sued to vote, today said it took him half the morning, and the room was packed with people, but he was given an affidavit by the judge and took to the polls where he voted on a non-provisional regular ballot, so that 100% worked.

Update X3: CRITICAL 3:36 pm EST -- "The lawsuit did not go as planned. Judge scheduled for a later hearing date "NYPrimary election lawsuit: Judge orders hearing 4 later date, instructs plaintiffs to name every single NY county as Defendants and give each county notice that they have to appear in court to defend their voter registration process (over 60 counties) NY Board of Election said they have nothing to do with the problems, are "not responsible for the counties" -- per Jordan from TYT twitter account @JordanChariton -- what this means is still slightly unclear, but keep voting and if you can, please try to SUE for your vote over signing off on a provisional with an affidavit. -- I will keep updating as more info comes in so do check back.

Update X4: CRITICAL 4:30 pm EST -- You should sue before a judge to be able to vote today if at all possible. It is unlikely provisional ballots will be counted unless a future judge rules in favor of the suit, which is possible but not probable per se. Still, do go vote. Do whatever you can, however, to avoid accepting a provisional ballot. See this video of Election Justice's lawsuit update (skip the guy talking in the middle if you are short on time): www.facebook.com/...

Update X5: 5:30 pm EST -- “AMID WIDESPREAD REPORTS OF VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT AND POLLING PROBLEMS, COMPTROLLER STRINGER ANNOUNCES AUDIT OF BOARD OF ELECTIONS”