The Jury Duty Myth, Debunked

Myth #1: You Won’t Be Called for Jury Duty if You Don’t Register to Vote

Potential jurors were once pulled from voter registration lists and you could avoid serving simply by choosing not to vote. Things have sinced changed, however, and whether or not you vote has little impact. Nowadays, procuring a state-issued ID or driver’s license, buying a home, and/or filing tax returns can get you on the list as well. Basically, if you’re an active citizen of the United States you can expect to be called someday.

For more myths about voting, click here.

Only 10% of the Crown Heights Jewish Community who are eligible to vote are registered.  If we want to effect change, we will need to register to vote  and it goes without saying, we go on to vote on election day.

So how powerful are we as a community? There are an estimated 2,500 voters eligible to vote in the Crown Heights Jewish community elections. Of those, 2,064 cast their ballots in the 2010 elections for the Vaad Hakohol and 770 Gaboim. Now get this: to be eligible to vote in those elections one must be male, and either married or over 30. That’s 4,128 (double) voters for political elections just for counting female voters. Now add all our adult children ages 18 to marriage, (include out of town boys and girls living in our community basements, who are US citizens from other states now legally living here who, upon applying for social programs (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid, etc.) can simply check a box thereby registering themselves to vote), and it’s safe to assume that we can triple the original number to (4,128+2,064=) 6,188. Consider also, that these numbers are four years old. If we apply this supposition to the number given as an estimate of eligible voters (2,500), we reach a grand total of 7,500! Ok, we are five thousand for sure. Of course, these numbers do not exist in the minds of office-seekers. They only count the ones who vote, and by the looks of it, that’s not many. (from Op-Ed: Should We Vote by PAC Or in Packs?)

Believe it or not, in a few months time, we will start to see candidates, followed by debates for the next presidential elections, it’s around the corner. Get with the program!!!

Regarding Jury Duty: It’s not the worse thing being picked as a Juror. You might actually learn something about real life, it’s a good experience.

Register to Vote

Qualifications to Register to Vote

• be a United States citizen;
• be 18 years old by December 31 of the year in which you file this form (note: you must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary or other election in which you want to vote);
• live at your present address at least 30 days before an election;
• not be in prison or on parole for a felony conviction and;
• not be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court;
• not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

How and Where to register to Vote (Deadlines)

• You can register in person at your county board of elections
• or at any New York State Agency-Based voter registration center.
• You can enter your name directly into our mailing list database to have a New York State Voter Registration Form mailed to you. (NOTE: The same form can be downloaded, using the link below.)
• You can call our 1-800-FOR-VOTE hotline to request a voter application.
• You can download a PDF version of the New York State Voter Registration Form.
  • Download English Form ( 279KB)
  • Download Spanish Form ( 300KB)
    Print the form, complete and sign it, and mail it to your county board of elections.
• Alternately, you can complete a PDF version of the New York State Voter Registration Form on-line by clicking on the link below, typing the necessary information and selecting the appropriate boxes. However, the file size of these forms are substantially larger than the above forms, so it may take quite a while for them to load on computers with slower Internet connections.
  • Complete English Form On-line ( 426KB)
  • Complete Spanish Form On-LIne ( 330KB)
    Once the form is completed, you need to print the form and sign it. We cannot accept any kind of digital or Adobe-generated signature. Then, mail the form to your county board of elections.