Election Law – The New York City 2013 Electoral Race

As many of you are aware, the New York City electoral race is a hot ticket right now. The Office of the New York City Mayor is up for election, with a new mayor to be elected to succeed Mayor Michael E. Bloomberg, a three-term holder of that position. The two candidates in the running are Mr. Bill deBlasio, a Democrat, and Mr. Joe Lhota, a Republican.

The candidates squared off for the first of three Tuesday night debates earlier this week, and you can see a live fact checking chat that the New York Times ran simultaneously with the debate here. The New York Times is also offering e-mail alerts as news occurs in the New York Mayoral contest. You can sign up and follow the election race here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/trailside-to-go.html#step0

Residents of New York City will also have the opportunity to elect a new New York City Comptroller and New York City Public Advocate, all five Borough Presidents, and seats on the New York City Council.

If you are a resident of New York City, you can find out exactly who’s on your ballot by visiting the "Who's on Your Ballot?" website: http://whosontheballot.org/ and entering your address. (Your address will not be stored.) The site is under the auspices of a not-for profit project of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. It also provides updates on the election contest and useful links to election resources, including the New York City and New York State Board of Elections.

Check back soon for our next blog post to highlight resources on this topic.

In the meantime, keep calm and read on.