Registering to vote

Voter registration is required in the Ogdensburg City School District. If you are not registered with the school district or the county, you must do so before the vote. You can register to vote with the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections during their normal business hours. For more information, please contact Rachel Barr, Secretary to the Superintendent, at 315-393-0900.

Voter eligibility and locations

• To vote, you must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and a resident of the Ogdensburg Central School District for at least 30 days prior to the vote.

• You must vote at the elementary school in the zone where you live. For more information, call the district office at 315-393-0900.

Absentee ballots

Absentee ballots are issued, upon request, to residents of the school district. A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter, if during all the hours of voting on the day of the election, the voter will be:

• absent from the county of their residence; or

• unable to appear at the polling place because of illness or physical disability, or duties related to the primary care of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because the voter will be or is a patient in a hospital, including, but not limited to, instances when a voter is unable to appear personally at the polling place of the school district in which they are a qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease that may cause illness to the voter or to other members of the public; or

• an inmate or patient of a veteran’s administration hospital; or

• absent from their voting residence because they are detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than a felony, provided they are qualified to vote in the election district of their residence.

To vote via absentee ballot, district residents must first complete and sign an absentee ballot application.

If you are unable to access the absentee ballot, please contact Rachel Barr at 315-393-0900 to have one mailed to you.

Q: Will absentee ballots be mailed to all registered voters?

A: No. Absentee ballots will not be mailed to all registered voters as they were for last year’s unprecedented school budget vote. Qualified voters who would need to vote by absentee ballot must submit an application.

Q: Who can request an absentee ballot?

A: Qualified voters can request an absentee ballot if they will not be able to vote in person due to illness or physical disability, hospitalization, incarceration (unless incarcerated for a felony), travel outside the voter’s county or city of residence for employment or business reasons, studies, or vacation on the day of the election.

Q: How and when can I request my absentee ballot?

A: To vote by absentee ballot, you must fill out an application. You can download the absentee ballot application to fill out and send to the district, or contact Rachel Barr at 315-393-0900 to have one mailed to you.

Q: When should I submit my absentee ballot application?

A: Applications may not be submitted more than 30 days prior to the election.

If you would like your absentee ballot mailed to you, you must submit your application at least seven days before the vote. If you want to pick your ballot up from the district, you must submit your application one day before the vote.

Voters who wish to vote in the school budget vote and board election via absentee ballot are encouraged to submit their application as soon as they have filled it out.

Q: I received my absentee ballot. Now what?

A: Once you receive your ballot, carefully read and follow the directions for filling out the ballot. Then, sign and date the envelope where indicated. If your envelope is unsigned, your vote can not be, legally, counted.

Q: I made a mistake. Can I get a new ballot?

A: If you tear, deface or wrongly mark your ballot, contact the superintendent's office at 315-393-0900 immediately for instructions on how to obtain a new ballot.

Q: How should I send my ballot back to the school district?

A: Ballots may be returned by mail to:

Secretary to the Superintendent

Ogdensburg City School District

1100 State St.

Ogdensburg, NY 136698

If your ballot does not arrive at the district by 5 p.m. on the day of the vote, it will not be counted.

Q: What happens when the district receives my ballot?

A: The district will collect and hold onto all the ballots until the day of the vote. Ballots will be separated from the envelope that bears your name, return address, or other personally identifiable information before they are counted.

Q: Why do I have to sign my name on the envelope?

A: Just as voters are asked to sign a register when they vote in person, voters using absentee ballots are asked to provide a signature. This signature constitutes an affidavit — you are attesting to your identity as a voter who is qualified to cast a ballot in this election. This information is recorded on the district’s voter rolls — a list of names of all the people who cast ballots.

Q: Is my vote still confidential?

A: Yes. While your name will be registered on the district’s voter rolls, your ballot will be separated from the envelope that bears your name, return address, or other personally identifiable information before the envelope holding your ballot is opened.

Q: How can my vote be confidential if the count is open to the public?

A: Since ballots are separated from personally identifiable information before they are counted, the public counting process is anonymous. No one viewing the counting of ballots will be able to match a voter’s personally identifiable information with their specific ballot.