5 a.m. – Early voter turnout has already broken records
Juggernaut early voting for an off-year election
Over 735,000 New Yorkers hit the polls over the nine days of early voting according to data from the city Board of Elections, shattering records and capturing headlines. Altogether, turnout ahead of Election Day was the highest it had been in a non-presidential election year since early voting was implemented by the city in 2019. Juxtaposed against the over 5.3 million registered New York City voters, that’s 14% turnout so far. Some analysts are already speculating that early voting numbers could signal that overall turnout may approach a staggering 2 million.
While there’s plenty on the ballot beyond the mayoral race, there’s no denying that the three-way contest between front-runner Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has energized New Yorkers. General elections for New York City mayor have historically been a far more muted affair, but this election cycle has been anything but ordinary.Â
Manhattan has led turnout so far followed by Brooklyn. And as far as age goes, baby boomers – New Yorkers born between 1946 and 1964 – have led turnout by casting about 29% of early votes. While millennial turnout initially struggled, it recovered toward the end of early voting. As of Sunday, these New Yorkers closed out with about 28% of the early vote, according to The City. – Sahalie Donaldson
