DEBLASIOANDSAMUEL
New York, NY (77WABC)-NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio has announced a $15 million dollar campaign to educate NYC voters about ranked-choice voting.
A citywide outreach and media campaign is launching involving radio print and digital media to reach NYC voters.
Laura Wood, Senior Advisor, and General Counsel, DemocracyNYC, said during the Mayor’s Wednesday briefing resources will be translated into at least 18 different languages to reach all NYC voters. She said direct outreach will involve community groups, faith-based organizations and women and minority-owned businesses, and other stakeholders ahead of the June Primaries.
An additional effort will engage youth due to a partnership with CUNY and DYCD to conduct additional voter outreach, education, and volunteer recruitment.
NYC Councilperson Alicia Ampry-Samuel who sponsored the ranked-choice bill joined NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio via video during the Mayor’s briefing to talk about the campaign:
New York City will use ranked-choice voting for Primary and Special Elections for the following NYC municipal offices:
-MAYOR
-PUBLIC ADVOCATE
-COMPTROLLER
-BOROUGH PRESIDENT
-CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
In ranked-choice voting, if a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
The 2021 NYC Primary will be held on June 22nd and the General Election is on November 2nd.
