Fordham Law Adjunct Professor Jerry H. Goldfeder, director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project, is quoted in this Dan’s Papers article clarifying whether there are ramifications for New York City/East End homeowners who switch their registrations in order to vote in the November 2025 mayoral election (see pages 50-51 in PDF).
For East End homeowners or renters who are currently registered Suffolk County voters and also own or rent a New York City residence, changing their registrations to, say, their Manhattan or Brooklyn homes is a simple and straightforward process. And according to attorney and election law expert Jerry Goldfeder, as long as a voter owns or rents a “bona fide residence” in New York City, they have every right to change their voter registration address at will.
Goldfeder, who currently serves as Director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project and chairs the New York State Bar Association’s Voting Rights and Democracy Task Force, stresses that changing one’s voter registration does not in any way affect a voter’s primary residence status — which would be a potential source of concern for some dual NYC/East End homeowners.
“For the purposes of election law, changing your voting address from one bona fide residence to another doesn’t impact your tax situation, your DMV situation, your rent regulation situation or your mortgage situation,” Goldfeder explains. “Voter registration is only one indicator of residence for the purposes of other laws — tax laws, DMV, mortgage regulation and so on.”