The next sixty days are the busiest stretch on the New York City voting calendar in 2026. Between today and mid-July, the city moves from a quiet pre-primary window straight into the June 23 Primary Election — the contest that decides nominees for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, the five Borough Presidents, and every City Council district. If you intend to vote in that primary, every action you need to take is bunched into a narrow set of dates in June. This guide walks through every event the NYC Board of Elections has placed on the public calendar between May 17, 2026 and July 16, 2026, drawn directly from the Board’s official upcoming-elections page at vote.nyc/elections and its all-important-dates page at vote.nyc/page/all-important-dates.
The 60-day window at a glance
For the period beginning Sunday, May 17, 2026 and ending Thursday, July 16, 2026, there is one citywide election on the calendar: the New York State and New York City Primary Election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Every other date in the window is a deadline tied to that primary — a registration cutoff, a mail-ballot application deadline, the start or end of early voting, or the final return window for mail and absentee ballots. There are no general elections, runoffs, special elections, or scheduled charter referendums in this window. The next event after the primary is the General Election on November 3, 2026, which falls outside the 60-day horizon and is covered in a separate Civic Calendar entry closer to that date.
For readers who want only the dates, the next sixty days look like this, in chronological order:
- Saturday, June 13, 2026 — Voter registration deadline for the Primary. The last day a voter-registration application can be received by a county Board of Elections in order to be eligible to vote in the June 23 primary.
- Saturday, June 13, 2026 — Early voting begins. Early-voting poll sites open across all five boroughs.
- Saturday, June 13, 2026 — Last day to apply online or by mail for an early-mail or absentee ballot.
- Sunday, June 21, 2026 — Early voting ends. The final day of the nine-day early-voting period.
- Monday, June 22, 2026 — Last day to apply in person for a mail or absentee ballot at a county Board of Elections office.
- Tuesday, June 23, 2026 — Primary Election Day. Poll sites open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mail ballots must be postmarked no later than this day, or dropped off in person at a poll site or county Board of Elections office by 9:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, June 30, 2026 — Mail-ballot receipt deadline. Postmarked ballots must arrive at the county Board of Elections by this date to be counted.
No other dates inside the 60-day window are published on vote.nyc as official voter-facing milestones. The remaining sections walk through each event in plain language.
May 17 through June 12: the quiet stretch
The first four weeks of the window are intentionally quiet on the public-facing voter calendar. There is no election, no early voting, and no candidate filing event that affects rank-and-file voters during this period. The work happening behind the scenes — ballot certification, poll-worker training, mail-ballot printing — is on the Board of Elections operational schedule rather than the voter-action calendar.
For voters, this is the prep window. Three actions are worth taking now rather than later:
Check your registration. Use the Board of Elections’ “Am I Registered?” lookup at vote.nyc/page/am-i-registered to confirm that your name, address, and party enrollment are current. New York is a closed-primary state, which means only voters enrolled in a political party can vote in that party’s primary. If your enrollment is not what you expect — for example, you moved and never updated your registration, or you registered without a party affiliation — fixing it before June 13 is the only way to take part in the June 23 primary.
Decide whether you need a mail ballot. Any registered New York voter may request an early-mail ballot for any reason. Voters who are unable to appear in person on Election Day for one of the statutory reasons may request an absentee ballot. Both ballot types are requested through the same online portal and have the same return rules. The earliest a primary mail ballot can be requested is the period running into June 13 — but it is also the latest a mail or online application can be received. Waiting until the final week introduces avoidable risk.
Look up your poll site and your districts. The Board’s poll-site lookup at findmypollsite.vote.nyc shows both your early-voting site and your Election Day site — they are often different addresses. The same lookup shows your City Council district, Assembly district, and State Senate district, which determines which races appear on your ballot.
Saturday, June 13: four deadlines on a single day
June 13 is the most consequential day on the entire calendar for any voter who is not already registered or who plans to vote by mail. Four separate deadlines fall on this date:
Voter-registration deadline. A completed New York voter-registration form must be received by a county Board of Elections by the close of business on June 13 for the applicant to be eligible to vote in the June 23 primary. Online registrations submitted through the New York DMV’s MyDMV portal must be completed by this date. Applications mailed to a county Board must arrive by this date — postmark alone is not sufficient for registration. In-person registration at a county Board office is also accepted on or before June 13.
Last day to apply online or by mail for an early-mail or absentee ballot. The Board of Elections must receive a primary mail-ballot application — whether submitted online at vote.nyc/RequestBallot or sent through the mail — by June 13. After this date, online and mail-in applications are no longer accepted. The only remaining option for a mail ballot is an in-person application at a county Board office, which is available through June 22.
Early voting begins. Beginning at 9:00 a.m., early-voting poll sites open across all five boroughs. According to the Board’s published schedule, early-voting hours on the opening Saturday are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The location list and a voter’s specific early-voting site are available through the poll-site lookup.
Mail-ballot drop-off window opens. Voters who already have a mail ballot may begin dropping it off at any early-voting poll site in their county on June 13.
The early-voting period: June 13 through June 21
The early-voting window runs for nine consecutive days. Hours vary by day:
- Saturday, June 13: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Sunday, June 14: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Monday, June 15: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, June 16: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, June 17: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- Thursday, June 18: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- Friday, June 19: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Saturday, June 20: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Sunday, June 21: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
These hours come directly from the published early-voting schedule on vote.nyc. Any registered voter may vote during the early-voting period at their assigned early-voting site — which, again, may not be the same address as their Election Day site. Early-voting sites use the same paper-ballot, scanner-tabulated process as Election Day sites. Voters in primaries that use ranked-choice voting will see the ranked-choice format on the early-voting ballot.
Friday, June 19 is Juneteenth, a federal and New York State holiday. Early voting remains open that day according to the Board’s published schedule, with hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, June 22: the in-person mail-ballot deadline
For voters who missed the June 13 online and mail deadline, June 22 is the final opportunity to apply for a mail or absentee ballot. The application must be submitted in person at the applicant’s county Board of Elections office — not at an early-voting site, and not online. The five borough office addresses are listed at the bottom of every page on vote.nyc and are available at vote.nyc/page/contact-us. Voters who use this last-day option typically receive the ballot at the office and either complete it on the spot, return it to the office, or carry it to a poll site by 9:00 p.m. on Election Day.
Tuesday, June 23: Primary Election Day
Polls are open citywide from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Any voter in line at 9:00 p.m. is entitled to cast a ballot.
The offices on the primary ballot are set by the city’s election cycle. The 2026 primary covers the four citywide offices — Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, and the five Borough Presidents — and every City Council district. Whether any individual office actually appears on a given voter’s ballot depends on two factors: which party the voter is enrolled in, since New York runs closed primaries; and whether there is a contested primary in the voter’s district, since uncontested races may not appear at all.
Citywide and council offices on the primary ballot are decided by ranked-choice voting, in which a voter may rank up to five candidates in order of preference. For a complete walkthrough of the ranked-choice ballot, see the HelpNewYork ranked-choice-voting explainer.
Mail and absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than June 23, or hand-returned to a poll site or a county Board of Elections office by 9:00 p.m. that night. Voters who already received a mail ballot are entitled to return it in person on Election Day rather than mailing it — and for last-minute submissions, in-person return is the safer option because mail postmarks are not always applied on the same day a piece of mail is dropped off.
For voters who need to confirm their assigned Election Day poll site, hours, or accessibility features, the HelpNewYork polling-site finder explainer walks through the lookup process and what to bring.
Tuesday, June 30: mail-ballot receipt deadline
A mail or absentee ballot postmarked on or before June 23 must be received by the voter’s county Board of Elections by June 30 to be counted. Ballots postmarked on time but received after June 30 are not counted. Ballots without a postmark, or postmarked after June 23, are also not counted.
The Board begins canvassing mail ballots after the in-person counts are reconciled. Unofficial ranked-choice tabulation rounds are typically released in the week following Election Day, with each subsequent round published as additional mail and affidavit ballots are processed. Final certified results follow several weeks later.
What is not on the 60-day calendar
It is worth being explicit about events that are not on the official voter-facing calendar during this window:
- There is no special election scheduled in any City Council district during the window. The most recent special election — for the 3rd City Council District in Manhattan — was held on April 28, 2026, before the window opened.
- There are no scheduled charter-revision or ballot-question votes during the window. Charter-revision questions, when they appear, are generally placed on the November general-election ballot.
- There are no scheduled judicial primaries that fall outside the June 23 primary cycle.
- There are no scheduled run-off elections in the window. New York City’s primary contests for citywide and council offices are resolved through ranked-choice tabulation rather than a separate run-off.
If any of the above changes — for example, if a vacancy in a City Council seat triggers a special-election proclamation by the Mayor’s office — that event would be added to the Board’s calendar. As of the date this calendar was compiled, no such event is on the public schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most important date in the next 60 days for someone who has never voted in New York City?
Saturday, June 13, 2026. That is the deadline for voter registration, the deadline for online and mail applications for a primary mail or absentee ballot, and the first day of early voting. Missing June 13 means losing the ability to register for the primary and losing the ability to apply for a mail ballot by anything other than an in-person visit to a county Board office.
Can I register and vote on the same day in New York?
No. New York does not have same-day registration. A voter must be registered by June 13 to vote in the June 23 primary.
Do I need to be in a political party to vote in the June 23 primary?
Yes. New York is a closed-primary state. Only voters enrolled in a political party may vote in that party’s primary. Voters with no party enrollment cannot vote in the June 23 primary, though they may vote in the November general election.
Where do I vote during early voting?
Your assigned early-voting poll site is found through the poll-site lookup at findmypollsite.vote.nyc. It is often a different address from your Election Day poll site. Both addresses appear on the same lookup result.
Is my Election Day site the same as my early-voting site?
Not necessarily. Many voters have one assigned location for early voting and a different one for Election Day. The lookup at findmypollsite.vote.nyc shows both.
What is the deadline to mail a primary mail ballot?
The mail ballot must be postmarked no later than June 23, 2026, and must be received by your county Board of Elections by June 30, 2026.
Can I drop off my mail ballot at a poll site?
Yes. Mail and absentee ballots may be dropped off at any early-voting poll site in your county between June 13 and June 21, or at any Election Day poll site on June 23 by 9:00 p.m., or at a county Board of Elections office during business hours.
What is ranked-choice voting and does it apply to the June 23 primary?
Ranked-choice voting allows a voter to rank up to five candidates in order of preference for a single office. It applies to primaries for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. A walkthrough of the ranked-choice ballot is available at the HelpNewYork ranked-choice explainer.
What if I’m out of town on Election Day?
An early-mail or absentee ballot may be requested. The deadline to apply online or by mail is June 13. The deadline to apply in person at a county Board office is June 22. The ballot must be postmarked by June 23 and received by June 30.
What is on the calendar after July 16?
The next scheduled citywide event is the General Election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with an early-voting period from October 24 through November 1. That event falls outside this 60-day window and is covered in a separate civic-calendar entry closer to the date.
Sources
Every date in this calendar is drawn directly from the NYC Board of Elections. Primary sources, fetched on the day of publication:
- Upcoming Elections 2026 — NYC Board of Elections
- All Important Dates — NYC Board of Elections
- Registration Deadlines — NYC Board of Elections
- Request a Ballot — NYC Board of Elections
- Find My Poll Site — NYC Board of Elections
