NEW YORK — New York City is using ranked choice voting in its Democratic mayoral primary election Tuesday, a system that takes some explaining, even for New Yorkers who have used it before.<\/p>\n
Voters’ understanding of how ranked choice works could play a role in which candidate comes out on top in a race that features former Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a>, progressive upstart Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and several other current and former public officials, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested last week at an immigration court<\/a>.<\/p>\n The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people aren’t forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote.<\/p>\n Rather than pick just one candidate, voters get to rank several in order of preference. Even if a voter’s top choice doesn’t have enough support to win, their rankings of other candidates still play a role in determining the victor.<\/p>\n The system is more complex than a traditional election, making it tough to forecast a winner. It could also take longer to get results.<\/p>\n In New York City’s version,<\/a> voters get to rank up to five candidates, from first to last, on the ballot.<\/p>\n If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters \u2014 more than 50% \u2014 that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election.<\/p>\n If nobody hits that threshold, ranked choice analysis kicks in.<\/p>\n Vote tabulation is done by computer in rounds. After the first round, the candidate in last place \u2014 the candidate ranked No. 1 by the fewest amount of people \u2014 is eliminated. The computer then looks at the ballots cast by people who ranked that candidate first, to see who they ranked second. Those people’s votes are then redistributed to their second choices.<\/p>\n That process then repeats. As more candidates are eliminated, voters’ third, fourth and even fifth choices could potentially come into play. Rounds continue until there are only two candidates left. The one with the most votes wins.<\/p>\n Eleven candidates are on the ballot in the Democratic mayoral primary. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams isn’t one of them. He’s a Democrat but is running as an independent. The Republican Party has already picked its nominee, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.<\/p>\n The computerized process of tabulating votes takes little time, but it doesn’t start right away.<\/p>\n Polls close at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Within a few hours, preliminary results should give a picture of how the candidates are doing based on voters’ first choices.<\/p>\n The ranked choice tabulations, however, won’t start until July 1 because the city needs to wait for the arrival of mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n The July 1 tabulation could potentially give a clear picture of who won, but the result won’t be official. Further rounds of ranked choice analysis will be done as additional absentee ballots come in until the board certifies the election July 15.<\/p>\n