New Yorkers Can Register to Vote For Mayoral Candidates Until Tomorrow

 By Yehudit Garmaise

     New Yorkers have until tomorrow, Friday, May 28, to register to vote to be eligible to vote in the June 22 Democratic Primary for the mayor’s election.

     In preparation for the election, which is only 25 days away, New Yorkers should not only register to vote and carefully contemplate not only their favorites for mayor but, as the city tests rank-choice voting in its first citywide, many leaders also say that community members should consider the order of their preferences for five mayoral candidates.

     “This is going to be a close election,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said that he will be filling in all five choices on his ballot. I am certainly going to rank five candidates on my own personal ballot.

     "I am urging all New Yorkers to understand this: With rank-choice voting, you have to vote in all five lines. Choose the candidates in order of your preferences. Fill in all five because you don't know whether that last choice you make may influence the election.

     "If you don’t rank all five places, you could throw your vote away [because you only chose one candidate who was eliminated.] Your vote could be exhausted and not have an impact when it could have had an impact."

     To win, mayoral candidates need 50% of the vote, although, in the past, low voter turnout has resulted in leading candidates receiving only 40% or less of the vote.

     To avoid time-consuming and costly run-offs, rank-choice voting, which only requires one election, creates rounds of voting that progressively eliminate the candidates who receive the fewest votes, until a winner can be declared.

     “Some polls show that the mayoral election might go 10 rounds until we get a winner," explained Yoel Rosenfeld. “Therefore, it is very important to rank as many candidates as possible with whom our community can work.”

     “The number of candidates on the ballot makes it highly unlikely that any one of them will crack 50% on the first round,” said Chaskel Bennett, who is a co-founder of the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition.

     “Rank-choice voting gives voters the opportunity to rank second and third choices, who may not be their ideal candidates, maybe far better than other candidates, who are definitely not preferred,” said Mr. Bennett, who also serves on the board of Agudath Israel of America. “It is thus crucial to list your extra choices in case your Number One candidate falls short."