Registered Democrats in seven New York City congressional districts will be voting Tuesday to select a candidate to represent their party in the Nov. 8 general election for seats — one per district — in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are no Republican primaries taking place within city limits on June 28.
If you chose to sit New York's presidential primary out in April, or you discovered your record had been mistakenly purged from the voter rolls, you had until Friday, June 3 to register to cast a ballot in the state's federal primary Tuesday.
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Congressional races draw a significantly smaller percentage of eligible voters to the polls (and New York already ranks among the 10 states with the worst voter turnout), but the consequences of ignoring them can have a ripple effect. In 2010, the Republican Party took back the House, hamstringing President Barack Obama's agenda, and won a majority of state legislatures. Those legislatures then gerrymandered congressional districts in such a way that will likely keep the House under Republican control until at least 2022.
On Tuesday, District 13, which covers northern Manhattan and the southwestern edge of the Bronx, will host the most competitive U.S. congressional primary in the city, as nine Democratic candidates face off to clinch Rep. Charles Rangel's seat. Rangel was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1970.
The race in District 3 will also be noteworthy, considering that Democratic incumbent Steve Israel's voting record is non-partisan; the Cook Political Report rates the election as a toss-up between parties.
But New Yorkers voting in districts with less contentious races can still have an impact by adding to or subtracting from the winner's margin of victory: a politician with a greater mandate can pursue his or her agenda, while a politician with a smaller one will promote more moderate policies to secure re-election.
DNAinfo has the answers to all the questions you may have going into the state's second primary election of the year:
I’m not sure whether I’m registered to vote as a Democrat in New York. How can I check?
You can look up your registration here.
I'm registered to vote, but not as a Democrat. Can I vote on June 28?
No. This is a closed primary restricted to party members, and the deadline to change your party affiliation passed in October. If that sounds early to you, you're right: New York has the earliest change-of-party deadline among the 11 states in America with a closed primary system. Voting rights activists consider it the cutoff a mode of voter suppression.
I'm not registered to vote. How do I fix that?
You can register online, via mail, or in person. Check out our guide to the process here.
I'm a registered Democrat, but I'm not sure which congressional district I live in. How can I find out?
Your voter registration information includes your congressional district. Look it up here. You can also consult a map of the state's congressional districts here.
Why do the borders of my congressional district seem so arbitrary?
A panel of federal judges reluctantly revised the district lines after the State Senate and Assembly gave up trying in 2012. The state was obligated to reduce its total number of districts from 29 to 27 and draw up a new map as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census.
I live in District X. Who's on my ballot?
If you live in District 3 (Whitestone, Beechhurst, Little Neck and Glen Oaks), you have a choice of five candidates running to replace departing incumbent Steve Israel: North Hempstead Town Board member Anna Kaplan, Jon Kaiman, Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern, Tom Suozzi and Jonathan Clarke.
If you live in District 5 (The Rockaways, Jamaica, Cambria Heights, South Ozone Park, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens and Rosedale), you'll be voting for either incumbent Rep. Gregory Meeks or challenger Ali Mirza.
If you live in District 7 (Chinatown, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Ridgewood, Bushwick and Woodhaven), you'll cast your ballot for one of three candidates: incumbent Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Jeff Kurzon or Yungman Lee.
If you live in District 10 (Financial District, Battery Park City, TriBeCa, SoHo, West Village, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Clinton, Midtown West, Upper West Side, Bay Ridge, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park, Midwood, Dyker Heights, Kensington), you have your choice of incumbent Rep. Jerrold Nadler or Mikhail Oliver Rosenberg.
If you live in District 12 (Lower East Side, Union Square, Kips Bay, Flatiron, Murray Hill, Midtown East, Upper East Side, Yorkville, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Maspeth), you'll vote for either incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney or opponent Pete Lindner.
If you live in District 13 (East Harlem, Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Kings Bridge, Bedford Park and Fordham Hill), you have a crowded field of contenders to choose from. They include former State Assembly Member Adam Clayton Powell, State Assembly Member Keith Wright, Suzan Johnson Cook, Mike Gallagher, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, State Assembly Member Guillermo Linares, Clyde Williams and Sam Sloan. Outgoing Rep. Charles Rangel has given his endorsement to Wright.
If you live in District 15 (Mott Haven, Port Morris, Hunts Point, Clason Point, Unionport, Castle Point, Tremont, Belmont, West Farms and Melrose), you can vote for either incumbent Rep. Jose E. Serrano or challenger Leonel Baez.
I want to vote by absentee ballot. What do I have to do?
Your absentee ballot request must be postmarked by June 21, 2016, or submitted in-person by June 27, 2016.
The ballot itself must be postmarked by June 27, 2016 and received by July 5, 2016.
Where should I go to cast my ballot on June 28?
You can look up your poll site, which is based on your address, here.
Am I done with primaries this year after June 28?
Nope. There's one more on Sept. 13, for offices in the New York State Senate and Assembly.
