JUNE 7
C R Y D E R
P O I N T
Prepping for the Primaries
NYC Elections 2021: Tuesday, June 22
WWW.QNS.COM | JUNE 2021| CRYDER POINT COURIER 7
BY JILL DAVIS
The NYC Democratic and Republican
primaries are happening on June 22,
and there’s a lot going on this year. The
following is intended to help clarify the
new ranked choice voting procedures
and where you can find out more information.
RANKED CHOICE VOTING
ARRIVES IN NYC
Perhaps most newsworthy is the introduction
of Ranked Choice Voting to
the City. Although this system has been
used in many other municipalities over
the years, New York is by far the largest
city to institute this method. It was put
on the ballot in 2019, and it received
tremendous support, with nearly 75%
of voters voting in favor of the measure.
And so here it is…but how does it work?
In a nutshell:
• Voters can rank up to five (5) candidates
in order of preference, instead
of casting a vote for just one.
• You do not have to rank all five.
You can rank as many or as few
candidates (up to 5) as you like.
• You can choose to vote for only
one candidate and leave the other
columns blank.
• Pick your first-choice candidate
and fill in the oval next to their
name under the 1st column. If
you have a second-choice candidate,
fill in the oval next to their
name under the 2nd column and
so forth.
• You cannot rank the same candidate
more than once.
CALLING ALL
MATHEMATICIANS
Important note: Once the polls close,
if a candidate wins a majority of firstchoice
votes, i.e., more than 50%, that
person wins outright. But if no one has
a majority of first-choice votes after the
first round, the person with the lowest
number of first-choice votes is eliminated.
That candidate’s votes are redistributed
to the second-choice candidate
on the ballots. The process is repeated for
each round until only two candidates are
left. The person with the most votes then
is the winner.
Except in rare cases, the winner will
have a majority. Sometimes, however, a
candidate will achieve a majority before
there are only two left, but counting
still continues. Although this person
has already technically already won,
completing the rounds of vote counting
ensures that the most number of people
will have their votes count in the final
round.
WHY DO THIS?
Proponents say the point of rankedchoice
voting is to help ensure that the
winner receives broader support since
a higher proportion of voters, on average,
will have at least partially backed
the winner. Supporters also say it saves
money by eliminating the need for runoff
elections. In New York City, citywide
elections where the first-place finisher
does not reach a 40% threshold automatically
results in a runoff, which can
cost a lot of money, be divisive when
used to determine primaries and often
have a much lower turnout than the
original election. Instead, the runoff
happens instantly – hence “instant runoff
” – with the votes that have already
been cast.
They also say that ranked-choice
decreases negative campaigning
since candidates are looking to be the
second-choices of their opponents’
supporters, and that it encourages candidates
to reach out to a wide coalition
to build a broad base of support. Although
some critics say this will lead
to fewer candidates taking hard stands
on divisive issues, proponents argue
that hasn’t happened in cities where the
system has been used. Source: Cityandstateny.
com
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Oh, nothing much…just that these
changes in voting procedures are happening
simultaneously with five (5) important
NYC offices up for election:
• Mayor
• Public Advocate
• Comptroller
• Borough President
• City Council Elections
IMPORTANT DATES
In New York, you must be a registered member of the party in order to vote in that
party’s primary. Note: The deadline to register in a party, or to register in a different
one, was in February, 2021.
June 12 – 20: Days of Early Voting (See below)
June 15: Last day to postmark, email or fax application for primary ballot.
June 21: Last day to apply in person for primary ballot.
June 22: Primary election
Last day to postmark primary election ballot (must be received by June 29).
Early Voting Site for Cryder Point
Korean Community Services
203-05 32 Avenue, Bayside
Hours vary by day; check https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc for specific hours.
Election Day Voting Site
PS 193
152-20 11 Avenue, Whitestone (Entrance on 12th Avenue)
Hours 6:00am – 9:00pm
UPCOMING TELEVISED PRIMARY DEBATES
Mayoral Republican: Sunday, June 6, Time TBA, WABC–TV Ch. 7
Comptroller Democratic: Thursday, June 10, 7 pm–8 pm, Spectrum Ch. 1
Mayoral Democratic: Wednesday, June 16, 7 pm–8 pm, WNBC-TV Ch. 4
Comptroller Democratic: Sunday, June 20, 9:30 am–10:30 am, WNBC-TV Ch. 4
In addition, there are several websites where you can find out more about the candidates
and voting procedures. Some of these include:
• ny1.com (Spectrum Ch. 1)
• thecity.nyc (Nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news platform)
• vote.nyc (NYC Board of Elections)
• voting.nyc (Informational site funded by the Campaign Finance Board)
/findmypollsite.vote.nyc
/WWW.QNS.COM
/findmypollsite.vote.nyc
/ny1.com
