After two debates, countless candidate forums, millions of dollars spent on advertisements and months of campaigning, early voting is underway in New York City’s contentious Democratic primary for mayor. Registered voters can cast early ballots through Sunday, June 22, or vote on Primary Day, June 24.
Primary races for other city offices are on the ballot as well, including City Council, comptroller and public advocate.
Here’s what to know if you plan to vote early.
When can I vote?
The early voting period across New York State began Saturday, June 14, and runs through Sunday, June 22. The opening and closing times for New York City polling places vary by day, so check the Board of Elections’s website before heading out.
How do I find my polling place?
Look it up here. Keep in mind that your early voting location may differ from where you would vote on Primary Day.
Who is eligible to vote?
Anyone who has lived in New York City full-time for at least 30 days before the election and does not claim the right to vote elsewhere is eligible to vote if they are a U.S. citizen, at least 18, not in prison on a felony conviction and have not been deemed mentally unfit to vote.
Voters must be registered with a political party to vote in that party’s primary, meaning registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters cannot vote in the Democratic primary for mayor. (There is no Republican primary for mayor this year.)
Can I still register to vote in the primary?
No. The deadline to register to vote in the primary was Saturday, June 14.
Can I vote early by mail?
Yes. Registered voters are eligible to cast mail-in ballots early, as long as they apply in time. The last day to apply online was June 14. You can apply in person at your county board of elections through June 23.
Who is on the ballot?
Eleven candidates are running in the Democratic primary for mayor. The front-runners are former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, followed by Brad Lander, the city comptroller; Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker; and others.
Mayor Eric Adams is not on the primary ballot. He is skipping the Democratic race altogether to run in the November general election as an independent.
All 51 City Council seats are also on the ballot, and the races for eight are wide open because of term limits. The most competitive contests will most likely take place in the primary, not in November, as broad swaths of the city remain solidly Democratic.
There will be Democratic primaries for several other key posts. The primary for comptroller includes Justin Brannan, a city councilman, Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, and several other candidates. Jumaane Williams, the public advocate, faces several challengers, including Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar.
Borough president positions are being contested in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, as are some local judicial seats. There is also a Democratic primary for district attorney in Manhattan, where the incumbent, Alvin L. Bragg, has drawn a challenger, Patrick Timmins. In Brooklyn, the incumbent district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, is unopposed.
You can enter your address here to find out which candidates will be on your ballot.
What about ranked-choice voting?
Most of the primary races, including for mayor, will use ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to list up to five candidates for an office in order of preference.
If no candidate receives more than half of the first-choice votes in the initial count, the results are then tabulated in rounds. The candidates with the least support are eliminated as the rounds proceed, with their votes redistributed to candidates who remain on the ballot. The process continues until the field is winnowed and a winner is determined.
This will be the second time the city has used ranked-choice voting in a mayoral primary. (Here’s a refresher on how it worked last time.) After a few operational snags in 2021 and plenty of voter confusion this year, the city’s Board of Elections and Campaign Finance Board have sought to educate voters about how the upcoming elections will work. This year’s ballots also include shorter, more simplified instructions and less legalese about the voting process.
Maya King is a Times reporter covering New York politics.
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