There’s a new way to vote in New York City for primary and special elections. Instead of choosing one candidate, voters can now rank up to five candidates in order of preference.
New York City voters will rank their choices in the June 22 Democratic Primary for mayor, city comptroller, public advocate, borough presidents and City Council races.
Here’s how it works: Any candidate who garners more than 50% of the first-choice votes is the winner. If no one reaches that threshold, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and the votes for that candidate are redistributed to the remaining candidates. If your first choice is eliminated, for example, your vote passes to your second choice, and so on. The first candidate to get 50% of the total vote is the winner.
Selecting a candidate as your fifth choice may still end up being a vote for that candidate so do not rank on your ballot any candidate whom you do not support.