Board of Elections

Freedom of Information Requests (FOIL)

Policy Authority

Part 1401.2(b) of the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York and Section 6202 of the Official Rules and Regulations of the New York State Board of Elections.

Records Available

Most records maintained by the New York State Board of Elections are available for public access on this website. All other records, except those exempted from public access by law, shall be available by request and as described below, or for examination and copying in the public review areas of the State Board of Elections, 40 North Pearl Street, Suite 5, Albany, NY, on all regular business days from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. When requested, copies will be made by this agency at a charge of $ .25 per page.

Subject Matter List (pdf 417KB)

Contact Person

The following is the name and business address of the Records Access Officer of the New York State Board of Elections, who maintains a list of available records and to whom requests should be addressed:

John W. Conklin
Director of Public Information
New York State Board of Elections
40 North Pearl Street, Suite 5
Albany, NY 12207-2729
Tel: (518) 474-1953

The Director of Public Information must respond within five (5) business days.

Appeals

Any person denied access to any records of the Agency by the Director of Public Information may appeal within thirty (30) days of the denial directly to the FOIL Appeals Officer, who shall, within ten (10) business days of the receipt of the appeal, fully explain in writing to the person requesting the record the reasons for denial, or provide access to the records sought. The appeal should be addressed to:

FOIL Appeals Officer
New York State Board of Elections
40 North Pearl Street, Suite 5
Albany, NY 12207-2729
Tel: (518) 474-6367

How to Request Access to Public Records

Requests for Public Records (as distinguished from voter registration data above) should include the requestor’s name, address, email address, whether the request is made on behalf of the requestor or another entity/organization and what that entity/organization is, and lastly a description of the records requested.

How to Request Voter Registration Data

NYS Election Law Sec 3-103(5) prohibits using information derived from voter registration records for non-election purposes.

Requests for Voter Registration Data should include the requestor’s name, address, email address, whether the request is made on behalf of the requestor or another entity/organization and what that entity/organization is, the description of the data (for example, the political subdivision – Congressional District #, Assembly District #, County, etc. – any particular party enrollments – Democratic, Republican, All, No Party, etc., or All Voters, All Parties, Statewide), and a statement that the information requested will be used for an “elections purpose” in compliance with N.Y. Election Law Section 3-103.5. (An “elections purpose” has traditionally been interpreted broadly and among other things includes, campaigning, mailings, voter outreach, fundraising and academic research.)

Please Note:The information you requested has a large number of records - the entire state exceeds 11 million records - you must have software capable of handling very large files. The file will be provided in ASCII, comma delimited format and a file layout will be provided. The file will be zipped using a MS-compatible compression program. The data file is accurate as of the close of business the day before a request is processed.

Written requests for Public Records or Voter Registration Data may also be mailed to the Public Information Office at the following address:

Public Information Officer
New York State Board of Elections
40 North Pearl Street, Suite 5
Albany, NY 12207-2729

If you have any additional questions, please contact the Public Information Office at 518-474-1953 or via email at INFO@elections.ny.gov and we will be happy to assist you.

The Committee on Open Government

Housed in the NYS Department of State, the Committee is responsible for overseeing and advising with regard to the Freedom of Information Law, the Open Meetings Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law. For more information, visit http://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/.