It could be a while until a winner is declared in Tuesday’s New York City mayoral primary.
That’s in large part because of the city’s ranked choice voting system, where voters can select up to five candidates in order of preference on their ballots.
Unless one of the 11 candidates on the ballot receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes — an unlikely feat with such a crowded field — the ranked choice system will kick into place. In that scenario, the candidate ranked first by the fewest number of people will have their votes reapportioned to voters’ second choice.
That process continues until there are only two candidates left. From there, whoever has the most votes is declared the winner.
New York City will start tabulating ranked choice ballots one week after the election, according to the city’s board of elections. “Preliminary RCV elimination rounds will be conducted and reports released every week until the election is certified,” the board says in an explainer.
In 2021, the primary race was called for Eric Adams on July 6 after eight rounds of tabulation, two weeks after Election Day. That year, 13 percent of Democratic primary voters chose just one candidate on the ballot, while the vast majority ranked at least two.
The city’s process has also created unique cross-endorsements from candidates in the race, particularly from the left-flank hoping to thwart former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s hopes of winning the nomination. Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, the highest-ranking progressive candidates in the race, endorsed one another earlier this month.
“What we are looking at here are two campaigns that, if combined, actually have more support than that of Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani said at the time. “And we know that were all of our votes to transfer to ensure that they retain within the two of us, that one of us will defeat Andrew Cuomo.”
While Cuomo has continued to bring in endorsements from high-profile Democrats nationwide, he has not cross-endorsed with any of the current candidates in the race.
Regardless of who wins the nomination, that may not be the final say in the matter. Adams, the city’s current mayor, is skipping the primary to run as an independent. Cuomo has also qualified for the November ballot as an independent.
Polls close at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
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