New York's Election Protection Hotline is available as early voting begins Saturday, offering help with mail ballots, registration problems and difficulties at polling places before the Nov. 3 general election.
Voters can call 866-390-2992 or request assistance online, Attorney General Letitia James said in announcing the hotline's schedule.
Phone hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. throughout early voting, which runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, the hotline will operate from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., matching the hours New York polling places must remain open.
The phone line will also be staffed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and Wednesday, Nov. 4. Written requests can be submitted through the online complaint form at any time.
Attorneys and staff in the attorney general's office process the calls and written requests. They can help troubleshoot voting by mail, problems encountered during in-person early voting and issues on Election Day.
Help with access and intimidation
The attorney general's office also offers a frequently asked questions guide to voting options and problems at the polls.
All registered voters have the right to accessible elections and to vote without coercion or intimidation by election workers or anyone else, the attorney general's office said.
Anyone in line at a polling place before it closes on Election Day must be allowed to vote. The office will receive and respond to complaints involving laws it enforces, including the New York Voting Rights Act.
Hotline has operated since 2012
The attorney general's office has operated an election hotline since November 2012. In prior elections it has handled hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of complaints statewide while working with local election officials and other partners.
Its election work has also included legal actions over voter-registration purges and access to early voting. This year's hotline is coordinated by the office's Voting Rights Section within the Civil Rights Bureau.
File photo of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
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