To Vote in This Summer's Primary, Pick Your Party Now
The 2025 mayoral race is well underway, with lots of candidates lining up — and fundraising — to challenge Mayor Eric Adams. Lots of other races are on the ballot this year, too, including the whole City Council.
But if you want to weigh in on who gets the major-party nomination for any of those offices, you’ll need to vote in the June primary elections. And to do that, you may need to make a big change in your voter registration now: the deadline to switch parties for the primary is Feb. 14.
New York City has what are called “closed primaries,” which means that only members of the candidates’ political party can vote for which candidate should become the nominee. That means you have to be a registered Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary, and a Republican for that party’s primary.
It also means that if you registered to vote without a party — known to the Board of Elections as a “blank,” or independent — or if you are registered with the Working Families or Conservative parties, you won’t be able to vote in the June major-party primaries.
https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/01/29/switch-party-voter-primary-deadline-registration/