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Actual Vote in New York

Watcher credential needed to access poll tapes on election night

Information current as of June 2026

This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in New York for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.

New York prints a results tape at every ballot scanner, but displaying it is optional — inspectors must “post the results tape or announce its contents or both” (Elec. Law § 9-102), any posting is on an interior wall, and access during the canvass belongs to candidates and accredited poll watchers rather than the general public. The reliable paths: get appointed as a poll watcher through a party or campaign, or capture the county board's election-night results posting, which must appear “in a public place and on the internet” (§ 9-126).

Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from New York yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain: everything on a poll tape is already public.

Get the app How Actual Vote works See an example analysis

This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in New York as of June 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.

If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in New York is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.

Your ways to participate in New York

In order of power — how early in the chain of custody the evidence is, how many tapes one person can capture, and how easy it is.

  1. 1

    Get a watcher credential and record from insideMost powerful

    In New York the realistic election-night route runs through a watcher/observer credential arranged in advance.

    See more details about Actual Vote for poll watchers and observers.

  2. 2

    Become a poll worker or observer

    Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count and the tape.

    See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.

    Sign up to be a poll worker →

  3. 3

    Visit or book an appointment at your county elections office

    Election offices can often provide many precincts’ tapes at once — a great way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.

    Email/phone script — book an appointment at your New York county elections office
    To: [your county] County elections office
    Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes

    Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.

    We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.

    Everything on these tapes is public records under the New York Freedom of Information Law (N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 87), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]

    Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

  4. 4

    File a public-records request for poll-tape images

    Poll tapes are public records under the New York Freedom of Information Law. You can request digital copies by precinct and voting method — available in every state, though it captures the tapes later in the chain of custody.

    Public-records request email — New York scanner poll tapes / canvass returns
    To: [your county] County Board of Elections
    Re: Public records request — [election, e.g. November 3, 2026 General Election] results tapes, [your county] County

    Dear [County] County Board of Elections,

    Under the New York Freedom of Information Law, N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 87, I’m requesting copies of public election records — specifically the scanner results tapes printed at each election district (also called “poll tapes”), and/or the Board’s official canvass returns showing the same district-by-district totals, meeting the following criteria:

    • From New York’s [election, e.g. November 3, 2026 General Election]
    • From all election districts in [your county] County
    • For each voting method — Election Day in-person, and, if tabulated separately, absentee/early ballots
    • Showing candidate-by-candidate vote totals — I don’t need zero or configuration tapes, though including them is fine
    • I understand posting the results tape at the polling place is optional under Elec. Law § 9-102 and access during canvass is generally limited to watchers, so I’m requesting the Board’s own copies as public records rather than asking to observe in person; I understand the Board’s election-night results posting is separately required to appear “in a public place and on the internet” under § 9-126
    • If for any district or method no tape was printed, simply omit it

    Digital scans (emailed or via a download link, in any common format such as .pdf or .jpg) would be ideal; physical copies for pickup or mail are also fine. These are public records, and the totals they show are already in the official published results. They’ll be used for legitimate, non-partisan vote-reporting auditing with Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — you can see exactly how it works, and why it’s non-partisan, at Start Here.

    If you must redact anything beyond district name, voting method, and results totals, please go ahead. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption and let me know the appeal options under the law. Please also tell me of any fee in advance — I request a fee waiver, as this analysis is in the public interest, contributes to election transparency, and is not for any commercial purpose.

    Because our analysis is most useful before results are certified, I’d be grateful for the data within about a week if possible; if you expect a delay, just let me know when to expect it.

    Thank you for considering this request. — [name], [email/phone]

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

  5. 5

    Live near a state line? Consider crossing it.If you’re near a border

    New York makes election-night recording hard — but a neighbor posts a results tape right on the outside of the polling place: Pennsylvania. If you live near the border, a short drive across it can be the highest-value Actual Vote move of the night. Honest caveat: a tape you record there verifies that state’s precinct, not your own — it complements your in-state options, it doesn’t replace them.

    See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.

Quick reference: tape access by role in New York

A companion to the options above. Whatever your role when the polls close — poll worker, appointed watcher, or member of the public — here’s who can see and record the results tape in New York, and how the state compares nationally.

Credentialed watchers only

Interior post-or-announce; the canvass is for credentialed watchers.

Recording: Access is via credential.
Key authority: N.Y. Elec. Law §9-102

See how every state compares →

Past Actual Vote poll tape recordings in New York

Here are some Actual Vote poll tape videos from previous elections by users in New York. You can make your own in the next election!

America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. We did the comparison analysis with these and other videos from these elections and found all matches. We didn't publish a report at the time, but look for one soon.

Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.

How we know this — and how you can check it

This reflects America Counts’s June 2026 primary-source review of New York’s election statutes and Secretary of State guidance. We’re finalizing the detailed, fully-cited "how we know this" write-up for New York. In the meantime, the surest way to confirm what applies at your polling place or elections office is to call them directly. Found something different? Help us verify it.

Find your county's election website

County sites carry polling locations and local contact information. Search "[your county], New York elections" if a link 404s.

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Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in New York.

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