While the New York City Primary is set for tomorrow, the official results will not be in until the anticipated date of July 12. However, preliminary unofficial results will be available as soon as tomorrow night.
The initial preliminary unofficial results will only include ballots cast during early voting and on election day. Absentee ballots will not be a part of the initial tally.
The introduction of ranked-choice voting (RCV) has created a new wrinkle when it comes to the timeline. Only voters’ first-choice will be counted immediately. The Board of Elections (BOE) plans to count the rest of the votes on June 29, but those will also only include early voting and election day ballots. The Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is preaching patience.
“With Ranked Choice Voting, we will be getting our results from the Board of Elections in a new way,” said CFB Spokesperson Matthew Sollars. “This will take cooperation from everyone involved, including the media and candidates, to respect the counting process and to accurately reflect the unofficial nature of vote tallies until the BOE declares an official winner.”
They also plan to release updates on the absentee ballots one week after that on July 6. Complete results should be available by July 12, but there is no set date. An official result will be made when every vote is counted.
“Right now, we’re at a little over 80,000 absentee ballots,” said BOE Spokesperson Valerie Vazquez.
As for the Republican mayoral primary, the votes will be much easier to sort through as there are only two candidates running. The Republican winner should be known by the end of tomorrow.
“While Ranked Choice Voting is new for New York City voters, it has been used for many years around the country,” said Sollars. “The Board of Elections has developed procedures for counting, tabulating, and releasing the results that align with established best practices. New Yorkers should be confident that their primary votes will count and be counted.”
Notably, both the Manhattan District Attorney race and all judicial contests are run through the state voting laws and do not involve RCV. Thus tomorrow night’s preliminary results, unless too close to call, will likely hold up when officially certified.
