Ranked-Choice Voting in NYC: The Complete Voter’s Guide for 2026
New York City’s June 23, 2026 primary election will use ranked-choice voting for mayor, city comptroller, public advocate, all five borough presidents, and all 51 City Council seats. If you’ve never filled out a ranked-choice ballot before — or if you filled one out and are still not entirely sure how your vote was counted — this guide walks you through every step: what ranked-choice voting is, which races use it, exactly how the counting works, and what common mistakes to avoid.
Ranked-choice voting has been part of New York City primaries and special elections since January 1, 2021. It was approved by 73.5 percent of voters in the November 2019 general election. Understanding how it works is one of the most practical things you can do before you head to the polls — or request your mail ballot — this June.
What Is Ranked-Choice Voting?
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a method of casting your ballot that lets you express more nuanced preferences than a traditional single-choice vote. Instead of marking one candidate and walking away, you rank up to five candidates in order of preference: first choice, second choice, third choice, fourth choice, and fifth choice.
The idea is to ensure that the winner reflects the broadest possible support among voters — not just whoever happened to edge out a crowded field with 22 percent of the vote. In practice, RCV reduces the “spoiler effect,” where splitting the vote among similar candidates hands the win to someone most voters didn’t prefer.
New York City adopted the system after a 2019 ballot referendum. The NYC Board of Elections (NYC BOE) oversees all aspects of RCV administration, from ballot design to the multi-round counting process.
Which Races Use Ranked-Choice Voting in NYC?
According to the NYC Board of Elections, ranked-choice voting applies to primary and special municipal elections for the following offices:
- Mayor
- NYC Comptroller
- Public Advocate
- City Council (all 51 districts)
- Borough Presidents (all five boroughs)
Ranked-choice voting does not apply to:
- General elections — in November, you vote for one candidate as usual
- District Attorney races — these use traditional single-choice voting even in primaries
- State or federal elections — state legislative, congressional, and statewide races follow New York State rules, not city rules
The June 23, 2026 primary is a full municipal primary, meaning ranked-choice voting applies to all the offices listed above. If you are voting in a Democratic, Republican, or other party primary for mayor or city council this June, you will receive a ranked-choice ballot.
How to Fill Out a Ranked-Choice Ballot
Your ballot will display candidates in columns across the page, with ranking options (1 through 5) running across the top of each row. Here is how to fill it out correctly:
- Give your first-choice candidate a ranking of 1. Fill in the bubble or mark the box in the “1st choice” column next to that candidate’s name.
- Give your second-choice candidate a ranking of 2 — in the “2nd choice” column next to a different candidate’s name.
- Continue ranking candidates 3rd, 4th, and 5th as you see fit. You are not required to fill all five rankings.
Key Rules to Remember
You can rank fewer than five candidates. If you only care about one candidate, mark them as your first choice and leave everything else blank. Your vote still counts — it just won’t transfer if your first-choice candidate is eliminated.
Do not rank the same candidate twice. If you mark Candidate A as both your first choice and your second choice, the ballot machine will register the second-choice mark as an over-vote. Your vote will stop counting from that point forward in that ranking column. Only the first-choice vote for Candidate A will count.
Do not rank two candidates in the same position. If you mark both Candidate A and Candidate B as your second choice, that is an over-vote in the second-choice column. Your vote for the second choice cannot be counted, and neither can any lower rankings.
Write-in candidates can be ranked on NYC ballots. Use the write-in line provided and assign it a ranking position just as you would for any other candidate.
How Ranked-Choice Votes Are Counted: Round by Round
The counting process is where ranked-choice voting differs most significantly from a standard election. Here is the full sequence, as administered by the NYC Board of Elections:
Round 1: Count All First-Choice Votes
Every ballot’s first-choice selection is tallied. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of all first-choice votes, that candidate wins — and the race is over. In a two-candidate race, this happens automatically. In a crowded primary with eight or ten candidates, it rarely happens in Round 1.
Subsequent Rounds: Elimination and Transfer
If no candidate clears 50 percent in Round 1, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. All ballots that ranked the eliminated candidate first are then redistributed to the next-highest ranked candidate still in the race on each of those ballots.
This process repeats — round by round — until one candidate has more than 50 percent of the remaining active ballots, or until only two candidates remain. The candidate with the most votes at that point is declared the winner.
What Happens to Exhausted Ballots
A ballot becomes “exhausted” when all of the candidates ranked on it have been eliminated. For example, if you ranked five candidates and all five are eliminated in earlier rounds, your ballot no longer contributes to any candidate’s total. This is a known limitation of the five-ranking cap. In a very crowded race, voters who rank all five candidates and happen to rank only lower-polling candidates may find their ballot exhausted before a winner is determined.
When Are Final Results Published?
Under New York State law, absentee and mail ballots are not counted until after Election Day. For NYC primaries, this means the multi-round RCV count typically does not begin in full until approximately one week after Election Day, once all mail ballots have arrived and been tallied alongside in-person votes. Unofficial results on election night reflect only in-person votes and may not show a clear winner — this is expected and normal.
An Example of How Rounds Work
Imagine a hypothetical City Council primary with five candidates: Candidates A, B, C, D, and E. Round 1 results look like this:
- Candidate A: 32%
- Candidate B: 28%
- Candidate C: 20%
- Candidate D: 12%
- Candidate E: 8%
No candidate has 50 percent. Candidate E, with the fewest votes, is eliminated. Every ballot that ranked Candidate E first now transfers to whoever that voter ranked second. Suppose most of those voters ranked Candidate C second. In Round 2:
- Candidate A: 33%
- Candidate B: 29%
- Candidate C: 26%
- Candidate D: 12%
Still no majority. Candidate D is eliminated in Round 2 and their ballots transfer. The process continues until one candidate tops 50 percent or only two candidates remain.
Why NYC Switched to Ranked-Choice Voting
Before RCV, NYC Democratic primaries for city offices were often decided by plurality — meaning whoever got the most votes won, even if that was just 20 or 25 percent of the total vote. In a crowded field, this could elect a candidate that the majority of voters actually ranked below another option.
Advocates argued that RCV better reflects the will of the majority, reduces negative campaigning (candidates benefit from being the second choice of their opponents’ supporters), and allows voters to support their true first choice without fear of “wasting” their vote on a long-shot candidate.
The 2019 ballot measure passed with strong support, and RCV was first used in the June 2021 Democratic primary for mayor — a ten-candidate race that required multiple rounds of counting and produced a result that was not confirmed until weeks after Election Day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to rank all five candidates?
No. You can rank as few as one candidate. If you only want to vote for one person, mark them as your first choice and leave the rest blank. Your vote counts. It simply won’t transfer if your candidate is eliminated.
What if I make a mistake on my ballot?
At an in-person polling site, you can ask a poll worker for a new ballot before submitting. Once a ballot is fed into the scanner, it cannot be changed. If you are voting by mail, check your county board of elections instructions for how to correct a spoiled ballot.
Does ranked-choice voting apply in November?
No. The general election in November uses traditional single-choice voting. RCV applies only to primary elections and special elections for city offices.
What if two candidates are tied for last place?
The NYC BOE uses a tiebreaker procedure established in its canvass procedures. In the case of a tie for the fewest votes, a random selection method (such as a drawing) may be used to determine which tied candidate is eliminated. This has occurred in practice.
Can I rank a candidate I’ve already written in?
Yes. Write-in candidates appear on a designated write-in line on the ballot. You can assign a ranking position to your write-in candidate the same way you would for any printed candidate.
Where do I learn the ranked-choice results after Election Day?
The NYC Board of Elections posts updated round-by-round results at vote.nyc. Because absentee ballots are counted in the days following Election Day, check the BOE site regularly in the week after June 23, 2026, for updated totals.
Does ranked-choice voting affect how candidates campaign?
Yes, in practice. Candidates often seek to be the second-choice pick of their opponents’ supporters, which can lead to more coalition-building and less negative campaigning. Research on this effect is mixed, and results vary by race and candidate strategy.
Where to Get More Help
The NYC Board of Elections maintains official resources on ranked-choice voting at vote.nyc/page/ranked-choice-voting. The site includes video explainers, sample ballots, and language assistance services in multiple languages.
You can also explore these related guides from HelpNewYork.com:
- Ranked-Choice Voting NYC: How It Works — the canonical HelpNewYork reference on this topic
- NYC Polling Sites, Early Voting Dates & Mail Ballot Guide for 2026 — where to vote and when
For the June 23, 2026 primary, early voting runs from June 13 through June 21, 2026, at sites across all five boroughs. You do not need to vote at your assigned Election Day polling site during early voting — you can vote at any early voting site in your borough. Visit vote.nyc/elections for the full list of early voting locations and hours.
The Bottom Line
Ranked-choice voting gives New York City voters a more expressive ballot in primary and special elections for city offices. You rank up to five candidates in order of preference. If your top choice is eliminated, your vote transfers to your next choice. The counting continues until one candidate has a majority or only two candidates remain.
For the June 23, 2026 primary — covering the mayor’s race, comptroller, public advocate, all five borough president races, and all 51 City Council seats — ranked-choice voting applies. The mechanics are the same as they were in 2021 and 2022. If you haven’t voted in an RCV election before, review a sample ballot at vote.nyc/RCV before Election Day.
Source: All voting rules and procedures cited in this article are drawn from the NYC Board of Elections at vote.nyc. For the most current information on candidates, deadlines, and polling site locations, visit vote.nyc/elections.
1. https://helpnewyork.com/ranked-choice-voting-nyc-how-it-works/
2. https://helpnewyork.com/nyc-polling-site-early-voting-mail-ballot-2026/
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