BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
The New York State Assembly
will hold a public meeting
on July 18, looking to solicit
feedback on its fi rst-ever
ranked-choice elections which
took place last month.
In 2019, 70% of voters in
New York City approved a ballot
measure that would implement
ranked-choice voting —
which allows voters to rank
up to fi ve candidates in order
of preference — to decide primary
and special elections for
the offi ces of mayor, public advocate,
comptroller, borough
presidents and City Council.
Democrat Assemblymember
Latrice Walker, who represents
Brooklyn’s 55th District
and chairs the state’s Election
Law Committee, announced
the hearing for July 19.
Ranked-choice voting has
been used in 22 jurisdictions
across the nation in their most
recent elections, with 53 jurisdictions
projected to use the
voting method in upcoming
elections, according to Fair-
Vote.
According to the city
Board of Elections (BOE) tallies,
125,709 absentee ballots
werer returned in the June 22
primary.
Early returns for rankedchoice
voting have been mixed
so far. The city’s voting software
includes Cast Voter Records
(CVR) which produces
ballot images that ultimately
tabulates unoffi cial race results.
In a now-deleted July 29
statement on Twitter acknowledging
a counting error, the
city Board of Elections stated
that during the fi rst extraction
of tallies from the CVR, both
test and election results were
pulled, leading toa discount
of 135,000 test ballots that temporarily
led to a large discrepancy.
Offi cial results weren’t expected
until the week of July
12, according to the BOE.
The June 29 results showed
that frontrunner Eric Adams,
the Brooklyn borough president,
held a 15,908-vote lead
in the Democratic primary,
for mayor, however, that was
75,000 votes lower than his following
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 6 ULY 16-22, 2021 BTR
the June 22 primary
night results.
The tally has missed more
than 124,000 ballots, which is
roughly 13% of total balloting.
At the time, Adams was
leading Kathryn Garcia, the
city’s former sanitation commissioner,
by just 14,755 votes.
And Maya Wiley, former counsel
to incumbent Mayor Bill De-
Blasio, trailed Garcia by only
347 votes in the fi nal rankedchoice
tabulation round of inperson
ballots. But on July 6,
another batch of results were
released with Adams leading
50.5% to Garcia’s 49.5% leading
to Adams declaring victory,
and Garica and Wiley conceding
the race on Wednesday.
The mishaps and long delays
between results have
drawn criticism from national
Republicans in recent weeks.
Local criticism of the voting
software has come from
candidates involved in June 22
races including various New
York City councilpersons and
offi cials with the Black Latino
and Asian Caucus, which
criticized the quick roll-out
The city Board of Elections is again feeling the heat after they admitted
to adding about 135,000 votes to their preliminary ranked choice vote
count. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
of ranked-choice voting, with
concerns of voter disenfranchisement
of the city’s Black
and Hispanic voters.
Shareef Jones, a Gun Hill
resident, said that the process
was “confusing” and wished
that he had more forewarning
before casting his ballot
on June 22. Conversely, Castle
Hill resident Mya Rodriguez
said that it’s “understandable”
that the process would have
hiccups in its fi rst year, but it’s
the most “democratic voting
option.”
“I think we need to be patient
with this system in its fi rst
year,” she said. “Democracy includes
more choices and more
options to have your preferences
entertained and I believe
New York City is the best place
to have ranked-choice voting.”
The Ranked Choice Voting
Resources Center touts the
benefi ts of the system citing
cheaper costs of elections and a
higher turnout.
“With ranked-choice voting,
a jurisdiction can get the benefi
t of two rounds of voting in
a single, more representative,
higher turnout election,” according
to the organization’s
website.
Assembly solicits feedback on
ranked-choice voting
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