Confusion sets in after NYC election board releases vote totals in mayoral primary — then admits discrepancy

Eric Adams.
(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Just hours after releasing a new tally of votes in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, the New York City Board of Elections on Tuesday tweeted it was "aware there is a discrepancy" in the totals and was working with technical staff "to identify where the discrepancy occurred."

The election, held last Tuesday, was New York's first mayoral election using ranked choice voting. Under this system, voters pick up to five candidates in their order of preference. If no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote, ranked choice voting came into play, with the lowest-ranked candidates eliminated and their votes reallocated to the candidates still in the running.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.