Where to Find Official NYC Election Results

The primary source for official New York City election results is the NYC Board of Elections website at vote.nyc. This is the only site that posts results directly from the Board — avoid relying solely on news outlets for close races, as media projections can precede the full count by hours or days.

To reach results on vote.nyc:

1. Open vote.nyc in your browser.
2. Click Election Results in the top navigation menu.
3. Select the election year and then the specific election date — primary, general, or special.
4. Choose your borough: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, or Staten Island.
5. Select the office or contest you want to view.

Results load as a table showing each candidate's vote total and percentage. You can also download the full results spreadsheet from this page for a detailed breakdown by assembly district or election district.

Major news organizations — including the New York Times, NY1, and Gotham Gazette — aggregate these same Board of Elections feeds into interactive maps. Those visualizations are useful for at-a-glance views, but always cross-reference vote.nyc for the authoritative numbers in any close contest.

How to Read Election Night Results

Poll sites across New York City close at 9:00 PM on election night. Results begin appearing on vote.nyc shortly after, but they arrive in waves and the order matters for interpreting early numbers.

• In-person (poll site) results come first. These are votes cast on optical scanners at your polling place on election day. They upload as each site reports to the Board of Elections.
• Early voting results are typically released as a single batch shortly after 9:00 PM. Early voting ballots are stored securely throughout the early voting period and scanned after polls close on election night.
• Absentee and affidavit ballots are not counted on election night. They are processed during the canvass period in the days and weeks that follow.

The vote.nyc results page shows what percentage of election districts have reported. Use this figure to gauge how much of the in-person count is still outstanding. A candidate leading by 10 or more points with 90% of districts reported is generally safe to treat as the frontrunner; a lead of fewer than 5 points should be regarded as uncertain until the canvass is complete.

If you are watching live on election night, reload the vote.nyc results page every 15–20 minutes for the most current numbers. The site does not auto-refresh on all browsers.

Understanding Ranked-Choice Voting Results in NYC

Since 2021, New York City has used ranked-choice voting (RCV) for primary and special elections for city offices: mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council member. General elections for these offices still use traditional plurality voting.

In a ranked-choice primary, voters rank up to five candidates in order of preference. The Board of Elections counts these ballots in multiple rounds using the following process:

1. Round 1: Each ballot counts for the voter's first-choice candidate.
2. Elimination: The candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated from the contest.
3. Redistribution: Every ballot that listed the eliminated candidate first now counts for that voter's next available ranked choice.
4. Repeat: Rounds continue until one candidate holds more than 50% of active ballots.

The Board does not run the full ranked-choice tabulation on election night. What you see on election night is first-choice totals only, including only in-person and early voting ballots. The complete multi-round tabulation is released after the canvass period ends, once all absentee and affidavit ballots are incorporated into the count.

To view round-by-round ranked-choice results after the canvass, go to vote.nyc, select the relevant election, and look for the Ranked Choice Voting section within the contest page. Each elimination round is displayed in a separate table, letting you trace exactly how votes transferred between candidates as each round concluded.

Tracking Results During the Canvass Period

The canvass period is the official post-election count that follows election night. During this time, election workers open absentee ballot envelopes, scan and tabulate their contents, count affidavit ballots from voters whose registration required verification, and reconcile any discrepancies from poll sites.

Here is the typical canvass timeline for NYC after a primary or general election:

• Election night through day 3: In-person and early voting results are largely complete and posted on vote.nyc. Absentee envelopes begin to be opened and sorted.
• Days 4–14: Absentee and affidavit ballots are scanned and tabulated in batches. Updated vote totals post to vote.nyc each time a new batch is processed. Totals for competitive races can shift noticeably with each update.
• Days 15–35: The Board of Canvassers reviews the full count, resolves any candidate-filed challenges, and prepares the final certified results.
• Certification day: Results are officially certified and legally final. General elections are typically certified within 35 days; primaries within 30 days.

You can monitor canvass progress by returning to the Election Results section on vote.nyc. The page updates as new batches of absentee ballots are added. For important races, check back every two to three days during the first two weeks after election night to track how the numbers evolve.

How to Look Up Results for Your Specific District

New York City has dozens of overlapping political districts — assembly, state senate, congressional, city council, and more. Finding results for the exact contest that affects your neighborhood requires knowing your district numbers.

To find your district assignments quickly:

1. Go to findmypollsite.vote.nyc.
2. Enter your registered home address and click Search.
3. The result page lists your assigned poll site along with your election district (ED), assembly district (AD), city council district, state senate district, and congressional district numbers. Write these down.

Once you have your district numbers, return to the Election Results section of vote.nyc:

• For city council races: select your borough, then choose your council district number from the dropdown.
• For state assembly races: select New York State Assembly and your assembly district number.
• For state senate races: select New York State Senate and your senate district number.
• For congressional races: select U.S. House of Representatives and your congressional district number.

The results table for each contest shows candidate vote totals broken down to the assembly district or election district level, so you can see how turnout and results varied across different parts of your neighborhood or borough.

When NYC Election Results Become Official

There is an important legal distinction between unofficial results and certified results in New York City elections. Understanding this distinction prevents misreading a competitive race.

Unofficial results begin posting on election night and continue updating throughout the canvass. News organizations and candidates frequently concede or declare victory based on unofficial results — this is normal practice when one candidate's lead is large enough that remaining ballots could not mathematically change the outcome. However, these numbers can change significantly in close races as the canvass proceeds.

Certified results are the legally binding final count. Under New York State law:

• Primary elections: Results are certified approximately 30 days after election day, once all absentee and affidavit ballots are counted and any candidate legal challenges are resolved.
• General elections: Certification typically occurs within 35 days of election day.
• Special elections: The timeline varies; the Board of Elections announces a canvass schedule for each special election separately.

A candidate who wishes to contest the results must file a legal challenge within a specific window following certification. Information about the challenge process is available through the NYC Board of Elections and the New York State Board of Elections.

For most voters, the practical approach is straightforward: check vote.nyc on election night for early indicators, then return to the site every few days for canvass updates, and treat results in any close race as provisional until the official certification date.