NEW YORK, NY (03/18/2021) (readMedia)-- Today, the New York City Board of Elections (NYCBOE) finished the hand counting of Ranked Choice Voting ballots for the special election in District 31, declaring a majority support winner. The June primaries will use tabulation software once the New York State Board of Elections certifies it in April; the software will produce immediate results after all eligible ballots are counted.
The BOE began tabulating ranked choice ballots on Tuesday because NYS law requires all ballots must be received by the Board before the round by round tabulation can commence. This includes all eligible absentee and military ballots.
"The second Ranked Choice Voting election in New York City -- and the first to go into rounds -- went as planned: smoothly. Voters have elected a consensus candidate, who won with majority support. That's a huge improvement over our previous system. Ranked Choice Voting is easy to use too: 95% of Queens voters found the RCV ballot simple to understand, and 75% knew about RCV before heading to the polls. We will continue our education and outreach efforts, together with our outstanding community partners, to make sure all voters are fully empowered in June," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.
Last week, Common Cause/NY and Rank the Vote NYC released an exit polling memo from the two Queens special elections in Council Districts 24 and 31. The polls were conducted by Edison Research, with a sample size of 635 in-person and absentee voters from a broad spectrum of ages, races, and education levels that reflect the demographics of the two districts. The poll reveals voters found the ballot simple to use, knew about ranked choice voting, and ranked their ballot.
Highlights include: