H H H H H H PRIMARY VOTERS’ GUIDE 2021 H H H H H H
Your choices matter
What you need to know about NYC’s first ranked-choice primary
(Above) An early voting site on the Lower East Side on Oct. 24, 2020. File photo/Mark Hallum
Caribbean L 26 ife, JUNE 4-10, 2021
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BY MARK HALLUM AND
ROBERT POZARYCKI Beginning with the
first early votes
on June 12, New
York City voters will be
making history — and
not only because they’ll
be potentially helping to
elect the next mayor.
For the first time, the
mayoral primaries on
June 22 will be decided
through ranked choice
voting in which voters
will have the ability to
choose up to their top
five preferred candidates.
This system will apply
for both the primary and
the November general
election for municipal
offices in New York City.
The new system of
voting replaces the
traditional single-choice
ballot in city elections.
In years past, with large
fields for City Council
races, candidates could
have won their primary
with just a fraction of
the total vote, far below a
majority.
Ranked choice voting
got its first test back in
February in Queens in
a special election to fill
a City Council vacancy.
Nine candidates were
on the ballot for the 31st
Council District race, but
neither of them won an
outright majority on the
first count.
It would take several
days and numerous
rounds of vote-counting
before Selvena Brooks-
Powers was declared the
winner of the contest,
having received a majority
of votes established
through ranked choice.
Under the ranked
choice voting system,
if one candidate
wins at least 50% of the
vote, that candidate will
win the contest outright.
If none of the candidates
get by with a 50%
majority, the candidate
with the least first rank
votes is eliminated and
second choice votes on
the eliminated ballot
are counted as first rank
votes. If a candidate then
passes the 50% threshold,
they are named the winner.
If not, the process is
repeated until a winner is
determined.
Voters’ ballots will be
eliminated if they choose
the same candidate for all
five ranks. Additionally, a
ballot will be deemed invalid
if a voter gives multiple
candidates their top
rank, according to the
city Campaign Finance
Board.
Voting information
Early polling sites will open at 10 a.m. on
Saturday, June 12. Bring your fast pass with
you to any of the sites for quick check-in. If
you requested an absentee ballot, you can
also drop them off at early polling locations.
The early voting period runs until Sunday,
June 20. Visit vote.nyc to find your early polling
location and operating hours.
On Primary Day, June 22, all 14,000 polling
places across the city will be open from 6 a.m.
to 9 p.m.
What will the ballot look like?
Ballots will allow voters
to rank their choices
one through five. They can
choose as many candidates
as they’d like up to five
choices.
Dozens of races on the
June 22 primary ballot
will likely come down to a
ranked choice voting count
that may take days to complete.
That includes the
race at the top of the ballot
— the mayoral primary
to decide who will replace
Bill de Blasio as the city’s
chief executive.
Thirteen candidates
are on the ballot, and
the latest polls have
the leading choices
polling at under 25%.
Barring a stunning
reversal of fortune, it’s
almost a certainty that
no candidate will win a
majority on primary night,
and that the contest will
be decided through ranked
choice voting counts.
/PoliticsNY.com
