ALBANY – Some artificial intelligence chatbots are giving wrong answers to voters asking where and when they can vote, according to state Attorney General Letitia James.

The bureau has tested several AI-powered chatbots where voters can ask questions such as where to vote, and James said the tests frequently resulted in inaccurate information. The office also received calls from constituents.

All voters can access information about where, when and how to vote on the State Board of Elections website at https://elections.ny.gov/which also provides a link to a voter “search”. Search is at and allows voters to search polling places under their names for early voting and traditional Tuesday Election Day.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections also has information at the address and the Nassau County Board of Elections provides voter data at https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/566/Board-of-Elections.

Newsday also has a voter guide at https://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/nyers-can-vote-early-by-mail-on-election-day-heres-how-aij1zoon

At the polls, volunteers and election officials also assist voters with questions and concerns.

James said voters should not rely on AI chatbots, some of which are trying to compete with established search engines such as Google.

“My office’s testing of AI chatbots has found that many provide false or misleading information about voting, threatening the ability of New Yorkers to exercise their right to vote,” James said Friday. “With early voting underway and Election Day just around the corner, I urge voters to exercise caution and seek reliable election information only from official sources.”

In one case, a chatbot said a Kings County voter could vote at any early voting site in the county, but that’s not accurate. Voters who live in New York City are assigned specific early voting polling places near where they live, while out-of-city voters can vote at any early voting polling place in their county.

The state Attorney General’s Office handles voter complaints and concerns before and during elections. Concerns can include voter intimidation at the polls, online messaging and difficulty casting votes.

Complaints can be filed with the Attorney General’s Election Protection Hotline at 866-390-2992 and online at https://electionhotline.ag.ny.gov/.

Nationally, news organizations have reported that the AI-based messages in Spanish and English are targeting Latino voters and making false claims about voting rights, according to The Associated Press.

Lydia Guzman of the advocacy group Chicanos Por La Causa told the AP that the reports show that voters now need to be extra careful about where they get voting information.

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.