New York City’s June 23, 2026 primary election is less than seven weeks away, and it will use ranked-choice voting for every Democratic and Republican primary contest for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and City Council. If you cast a ballot in the April 28, 2026 special election for Manhattan’s 3rd City Council District—which also used ranked-choice voting—you already know what the ballot looks like. If you haven’t used the system before, this guide covers everything: how to fill out your ballot correctly, how the NYC Board of Elections counts votes round by round, and when you can expect final certified results.
What Is Ranked-Choice Voting and Why Does NYC Use It?
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) allows you to indicate a preference order among candidates rather than choosing only one. Instead of marking a single name and hoping that candidate wins outright, you can rank up to five candidates from most preferred to least preferred. Your vote transfers to your next choice if your top pick is eliminated—so you never have to worry that voting for a candidate you believe in will “waste” your vote if that candidate doesn’t have a wide following.
New York City adopted ranked-choice voting through an amendment to the City Charter approved by voters in November 2019. The amendment took effect beginning with the June 2021 primary elections and applies to primary and special elections for the five covered citywide and local offices: Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. It does not apply to general elections, judicial races, or state and federal offices on the same ballot.
Which Races on the June 2026 Primary Ballot Use RCV?
Every Democratic and Republican primary contest for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, each of the five Borough Presidents, and all 51 City Council seats will use ranked-choice voting in the June 23, 2026 primary. State and federal races on the same primary ballot—such as state legislative seats or congressional districts—do not use RCV and are voted on with a traditional single-choice mark in a separate section of the ballot.
The April 28, 2026 special election for Manhattan’s 3rd City Council District also used ranked-choice voting. Unofficial RCV results from that contest are available at enr.boenyc.gov/rcv. Reviewing those round-by-round results is one of the clearest ways to see exactly how the tabulation process works in practice before the June primary.
How to Fill Out Your Ranked-Choice Ballot
NYC ballots for RCV elections are designed as a grid. Candidates are listed in rows. Columns are labeled “1st Choice,” “2nd Choice,” “3rd Choice,” “4th Choice,” and “5th Choice.” You fill in the oval in the appropriate column for each candidate you wish to rank.
The rules are straightforward. You may rank anywhere from one to five candidates. You do not have to rank all five—if you want to vote for only one candidate, fill in the oval under “1st Choice” and leave the rest blank. You can only select one candidate per column. You cannot rank the same candidate more than once. If you fill in two candidates in the same column, that ranking is considered an overvote and neither preference is counted for that round.
Voters using an AutoMark Ballot Marking Device (the accessible ballot-marking machine available at all poll sites) see ranked-choice choices on separate screens—one screen for each ranking level. Select your first choice on the “Choice 1” screen, then proceed to the “Choice 2” screen if you wish to rank a second candidate, and so on. The device will not let you select the same candidate twice.
One common question: does ranking a second or third choice “take away” from your first choice? The answer is no. Your second-choice ranking is only counted if your first-choice candidate has already been eliminated. It has no effect on your first choice’s vote count as long as that candidate remains in the race.
How Votes Are Counted: The Round-by-Round Process
The NYC Board of Elections counts ranked-choice ballots using an elimination process that continues until one candidate holds a majority. Here is how each round works.
In the first round, every voter’s first-choice vote is counted. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of all first-choice votes cast, that candidate wins the election immediately and no further rounds are needed. In races with many candidates, this threshold is rarely met in round one.
If no candidate crosses 50 percent, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Voters who ranked that eliminated candidate first now have their ballot “transferred” to whoever they ranked second. The revised totals are counted. If a candidate now holds more than 50 percent, they win. If not, the last-place candidate in this new round is eliminated, and the process repeats.
This continues, round by round, until exactly two candidates remain. At that point, the candidate with the greater share of votes wins—regardless of whether they exceed 50 percent, since with only two candidates one of them must have the majority by definition.
Voters who ranked only one candidate, and whose sole ranked candidate is eliminated, cast what is called an “exhausted ballot.” An exhausted ballot is no longer active in later rounds. This is why voters are encouraged—though never required—to rank as many candidates as they have preferences for, up to five.
When Will Results Be Available After June 23?
Understanding the RCV results timeline helps avoid confusion on election night and in the weeks that follow. The NYC Board of Elections releases results in stages.
On election night, unofficial first-choice results are posted after polls close at 9 p.m. These results include first-choice votes from early voting ballots, election-day ballots, and any valid mail ballots that were canvassed before election day. They do not include affidavit ballots. At this stage, only first-choice totals are shown—the round-by-round elimination has not yet been run.
Approximately one week after election day, the Board conducts the first preliminary RCV round-by-round elimination and releases an unofficial report. This report reflects any additional mail ballots scanned after election day. The ranked-choice standings may shift significantly from the first-choice results, and a candidate who appeared to trail on election night may move ahead once transfer rounds are calculated.
Additional preliminary RCV reports are released each week as more mail and affidavit ballots are processed and cure deadlines expire. Final certified results are not issued until all ballot types—early mail, absentee, military, affidavit, and emergency—have been fully counted. In competitive races, this process can take several weeks after election day.
You can follow unofficial results at enr.boenyc.gov and track RCV-specific round reports at enr.boenyc.gov/rcv.
Early Voting and Mail Ballots in a Ranked-Choice Election
If you plan to vote during the early voting period (June 13–21, 2026) or by mail, you use the same ranked-choice ballot as voters on election day. Your rankings are counted in exactly the same way. The only difference is timing: early and mail ballots are incorporated into results at different points in the post-election canvass schedule rather than appearing all at once on election night.
For more on early voting dates, hours, and how to find your poll site, see our NYC polling site and early voting guide.
How Is RCV Different from a Traditional Primary?
In a traditional single-choice primary in New York, the candidate with the most votes wins regardless of whether that total represents a majority of all votes cast. A candidate could win a crowded 10-person primary with 22 percent of the vote if all other candidates split the remaining 78 percent. Ranked-choice voting is designed to produce a winner with broader support by allowing voters’ subsequent preferences to be heard when no one candidate leads decisively.
Another key difference involves strategic voting. In a single-choice system, some voters feel pressure to avoid voting for their genuine first preference if that candidate seems unlikely to win, and instead vote for a “lesser of two evils” frontrunner. With RCV, you can rank your true first preference without sacrificing your influence in the final decision—if your first choice is eliminated, your vote moves on to help decide the outcome among remaining candidates.
For a deeper look at the rules and history of ranked-choice voting in New York City, see our full ranked-choice voting explainer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ranked-choice voting apply to the November 2026 general election?
No. Ranked-choice voting in New York City applies only to primary elections and special elections for the five covered offices (Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, City Council). The November 3, 2026 general election uses traditional single-choice voting.
Can I still vote for just one candidate in a ranked-choice election?
Yes. You are never required to rank more than one candidate. Fill in your first choice and leave the remaining columns blank. Your ballot will still be counted in full for as long as your chosen candidate remains in the race.
What happens if I rank the same candidate twice?
Ranking the same candidate in more than one column is called a duplicate ranking error. Your ballot will count for that candidate at their highest valid ranking, but any duplicate entry will be skipped when that ranking position is reached. The NYC Board of Elections recommends selecting each candidate only once to avoid any chance of error.
Does my second choice hurt my first choice?
No. Your second, third, fourth, and fifth choices are only ever counted if every candidate you ranked ahead of them has been eliminated. Your rankings below your first choice have absolutely no effect on your first-choice candidate’s vote total.
Where can I see how ranked-choice counting actually worked in a real NYC election?
The NYC Board of Elections posts round-by-round elimination reports for every completed RCV election at enr.boenyc.gov/rcv. Reports from the April 28, 2026 special election for Manhattan’s 3rd City Council District are currently posted there and illustrate the elimination process clearly.
When is the deadline to register to vote for the June 23, 2026 primary?
Voter registration deadlines are set by the New York State Board of Elections. Check current deadline dates at elections.ny.gov or on the NYC Board of Elections site at vote.nyc.
