New York, June 22: The New York City (NYC) is all set to hold primary elections on Tuesday, June 22, to elect Democratic and Republican candidates for the mayoral election. At least eight Democrats and two Republicans are eying the candidacy for the mayor post elections in the New York City. While primary day is Tuesday, June 22, early voting opened on June 12 and concluded on June 20. The NYC primary election assumes extra significance because of introduction of ranked choice voting system. Here's everything you need to know about the NYC primary elections for mayoral post.

What Is Primary Election?

Primary elections, often abbreviated to primaries, are a process by which voters affiliated to parties decide their preference for their party's candidate for a particular poll. Democrats and Republicans host their primary elections today for the NYC mayoral elections. Voters will decide which Democrat or Republican should run for the mayoral post of the NYC. The primary winner will contest the general election to be held on November 2. NYC Mayoral Primary Will Be Big Test for Ranked Vote System.

Who Is Running for Mayor of NYC?

There are 13 candidates from the Democratic Party. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and civil-rights attorney Maya Wiley are prominent Democratic candidates running for the NYC mayoral elections. Two Republicans Guardian Angeles founder Curtis Sliwa and small-business entrepreneur Fernando Mateo are also in the fray.

What Is Ranked Choice Voting System?

The ranked choice voting is a system that lets voters rank several candidates in order of preference instead of choosing just one. Democrats will pick their top five out of 13 mayoral candidates on Tuesday's ballot. The same goes for the Republicans. This system only kick in if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote. If it happens, several rounds of ranked choice tabulation begin.

The candidate in last place is eliminated. All ballots cast for that eliminated candidate are then reallocated to the No. 2 choices of those voters. The votes are then re-tallied and the candidate in last place is eliminated again. The process repeats until there are two candidates left. The one with more votes wins.

Where to Vote for NYC Mayor Primaries?

Registered votes in the New York City can visit findmypollsite.vote.nyc/ website to find polling station. One needs to submit house number, street name and Zip code to find polling station to cast vote in the NYC primaries. Polling places are open from 6 am to 9 pm on Election Day (June 22).

Can Independents Vote in Primaries in NYC?

Primaries are held by political parties. If you’re not affiliated with a party or you’re registered as an independent, you can’t vote in the primaries.

The elected Democratic and Republican candidates will contest the general election for the mayoral post in the NYC in November. The incumbent mayor is Bill de Blasio. He was elected the 109th mayor of New York City in 2013, and was re-elected in 2017. He has barred from running for a third term after serving eight years in office.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 22, 2021 11:33 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).