NYC introduces ranked choice voting. How does it work?
Summer 2021New York City’s primary election will look a little different this year. The City is introducing ranked choice voting, a system that lets voters rank candidates in order of preference. Instead of voting for only one candidate on the ballot, you will be able to rank up to five preferred candidates.
How does it work?
Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank as many as 5 candidates. If a candidate wins a majority (more than 50%) of first choice votes, then that candidate wins the election!
If no candidate wins a majority of first choice votes, then an instant run-off begins. To start the instant run-off, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is eliminated. If your favorite candidate is eliminated, your vote will be redistributed to your second choice candidate. This system of eliminating and redistributing votes continues until there are two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes of the two wins the election.
How do I vote?
Voters will get a ballot listing all the candidates in the left column. There will be five more columns, each labeled with a ranking 1 through 5 (with 1 for first choice and 5 for fifth choice). Voters should mark their first choice in column 1 and continue to rank their second, third, fourth, and fifth choices in columns 2 through 5. Voters can choose to rank any number of candidates – from just 1 to up to 5 – without hurting their first choice candidate.
Make sure your vote counts:
Don’t rank the same candidate twice
Don’t give more than one candidate the same ranking
NYC primaries is just days away!
This is an incredibly important election year in New York City, with elections for mayor, borough presidents, and the entire City Council. Our union wants to make sure that all of our members know how to cast their ballots using this new system.
If you have questions about how to vote, please contact your HEAT Representative at (212) 245-8100 and select mailbox #2. Volunteers! We will count on our members to help educate voters as we canvass and phone bank for union-backed candidates in the coming weeks. If you want to get more involved, sign up to volunteer with our union on our website.