What to do in case of problems

Every Election Day, the stories circulate on social media — a voter shows up to what they are sure is their polling place, where a worker says their name is not listed in the poll book.

Don’t panic. Ask for an affidavit ballot.

“If your name does not appear in the poll book — which can occur sometimes, it doesn’t happen all that often — or simply if the poll worker doesn’t locate your name, because that happens too on occasion, the voter should vote by affidavit ballot,” Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan said.

Request the ballot and fill it out, Ryan said. It will be sealed in an envelope and, later on Election Night, returned to the board by the NYPD. “Your vote will not be counted on Election Night, but it will be counted,” Ryan promised.

Voting this way makes some people wary — but Ryan said it shouldn’t.

“That is the safety net that we have to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters,” Ryan said.

One reason voters can wind up unable to find their names in the poll book is because the Board of Elections has deemed them inactive — typically because mail has been returned. But inactive voters are still eligible to vote.

Anyone who casts an affidavit ballot will get a letter from the board. If they were registered and their vote was properly cast, they’ll get a letter confirming it was counted.

“If for some reason it was invalid, like you thought you were registered to vote and you actually weren’t, you would get a letter saying it was invalid — but it would also serve as a new voter registration form, so the next time you go to vote you would appear in the poll book,” Ryan said.

Before you even head to vote, Ryan recommended checking the board’s poll site locator, where you can get directions.

Many city voters will have a new experience at the booth this year — four boroughs will feature extra-long ballots that will need to be torn in half to fit into scanning machines.

Polls in New York City open at 6 a.m. on Tuesday and close at 9 p.m.