A Ballot Guide for New York 2024
Not a voter guide
Before thinking about how to vote, I want to discuss the nature of the ballot itself. Most voters will understand it well enough to fill in the bubbles, but many in New York State will walk out of their polling place feeling slightly confused.
Let’s walk through what you’ll likely see. Here’s my own blank ballot for reference,1 which I just filled out a few hours ago:
Why are candidates listed more than one time?
New York State has a system of fusion voting, which allows multiple political parties to endorse the same candidate. The affirmative case for fusion voting is that it allows voters to express desires beyond the two-party system, but without the third-party “spoiler effect.”2 All votes that a candidate receives, from all parties, are included in their total.
Most states do not allow fusion voting today, and most that do only allow it in certain races. New York allows it generally.
It produces surprising results! See this opening from “Political Parties in New York City” from a 1946 edition of The American Political Science Review3:
At both the city and state level, in the past and the present, fusion voting remains relevant. We’ve had mayors and other officials win by getting the nomination of both the Republican and Democratic parties, like Ed Koch in the 1981 mayoral election:
We have ballot propositions? Isn’t that for Californians?
A ballot proposition is an amendment to law that qualified electors (voters) approve or disapprove directly, rather than the usual path of enactment through a legislature. This is also called a referendum. We don’t do them as often as other states, especially California—the New York mind can hardly comprehend 15 city propositions and 10 state propositions.
Ballot propositions are usually more contested than elections for specific offices. Here’s the rule of thumb: if you’re voting for a law directly, your vote counts for more. If you’re voting for a person, your individual vote is…less effective, especially in New York City.
If you live in New York City, you will see two kinds of ballot propositions, both of which we have in the 2024 general election:
New York State Constitutional amendments
New York City Charter amendments
This year you’ll vote on one amendment to the state constitution (proposal 1), and five amendments to the city charter (proposals 2-6). Setting aside the merits of any individual proposal, or how they got on the ballot, you’ll notice that you don’t see any actual law on the ballot. You just see a “plain English” summary of the law:
There’s also a good chance that any voter guide you’ve seen only has “plain English” summaries as well. Hardly anyone trusts voters enough to give them the actual law to take a look at. And while I am sympathetic to the “plain English” summary—truly, I am, voters tend to not understand the law and need help (but then again, the people who make voter guides are of variable quality themselves)—it’s bad that the proposed text amendments to the law aren’t spread widely. Most people will struggle to find them even if they go looking for them.
So I will give them to you! Read for yourself and see what questions pop up. If you want to understand any future ballot props in the future, take The Foundations of New York City—you’ll learn what “the law” is, and you’ll know how to read these:
Here is prop 1’s actual text, and here is a link to the whole state constitution.
Here are prop 2-6’s actual text, and here is a link to the whole city charter.
I am voting for judges??
Yes, but they’re probably not competitive races (these ones are). If you’re in New York City, you will probably be voting for two kinds of judge, although occasionally you’ll vote for a third:
New York State Supreme Court. This is the third-highest court in the state, and is organized by county (so there are “62 Supreme Courts”). Our top court is called “The Court of Appeals.” The New York State Supreme Court is the equivalent of federal district courts.4
New York City Civil Court. New York City has two principal city courts: civil court (which contains housing court, small claims, etc), and criminal court. Civil court judges are elected, and criminal court judges are appointed by the mayor.
Surrogate’s Court (Queens residents only). “The Surrogate's Court hears cases involving the affairs of decedents, including the probate of wills and the administration of estates. It also handles adoptions.”
On your ballots, you will notice that judges are voted for in slates. The ballot will say something like “vote for any seven,” or something similar. You will also notice that you are usually never given more choices than the amount you can select. So if you have to select seven, you will have seven choices. See the Supreme Court race on my ballot as an example:
If you would like to know more about how judges get on the ballot, please see Judicial Selection Methods in the State of New York: A Guide to Understanding and Getting Involved in the Selection Process from the New York City Bar Association. The process, especially for Supreme Court judges, is heavily criticized. I agree with the criticisms generally.
The New York City Bar also publishes a judicial evaluation of all judges on the ballot this year, although most of the races aren’t competitive.
Any other questions you have about your ballot?
You can find your sample ballot by entering your address here. Note: you need to enter the address at which you are registered to vote, which might not be where you currently live.
At the very top of the next page (it’s easy to scroll past), click “click Here” to get your sample ballot.
Happy voting!
Posting your completed ballot is illegal in New York State. But this isn’t a completed ballot!
If you want to form a political party in New York State, you must first pass the 2% test laid out in New York State Election Law:
ELN §1-104(3): “The term "party" means any political organization which, excluding blank and void ballots, at the last preceding election for governor received at least two percent of the total votes cast for its candidate for governor, or one hundred thirty thousand votes, whichever is greater, in the year in which a governor is elected, and at least two percent of the total votes cast for its candidate for president, or one hundred thirty thousand votes, whichever is greater, in a year when a president is elected.”
Bone, Hugh A. “Political Parties in New York City.” The American Political Science Review 40, no. 2 (1946): 272–82. https://doi.org/10.2307/1950681.
New York State’s court system is often called “byzantine.”
I had never seen fusion voting before moving to NYC, and until today I didn't know it was called fusion voting. Super helpful!
Also re: ballot props and California, that was my reaction exactly 😂
For the slate where you can select up to seven out of seven. Are there seven judges at the end? Or they’re picking the top-voted four or three or whatever? Put differently, does voting on these do anything?