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New York City Board of Elections Certifies Results; Two Council Races Go To Hand Counts
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 20, 2021
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By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 20, 2021
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Four weeks after Primary Day, the New York City Board of Elections finalized the results for primary elections including the Democratic contests for mayor, comptroller, all five borough presidents, the Manhattan district attorney, other party positions and all but two City Council races where there will be a manual recount triggered by narrow margins in the races.
The certified results published by the Board after close of business on Tuesday, showed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams defeated Kathryn Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner, by 7,197 votes in the Democratic mayoral primary. That makes Adams margin of victory less than one percent.
Altogether, more than 942,000 ballots were cast in the Democratic primary for mayor, an increase of nearly 170,000 voters compared to the primary election in 2013.
Even before the final results were made public on Tuesday, Adams celebrated the end of this race and the start of the general election race.
“This is an historic moment for the working people of New York—and I am so proud of our campaign and what it has accomplished,” he said in a statement. “Now we must build on this movement to carry our campaign forward through the general election and on to City Hall so that we can deliver for everyday New Yorkers.”
The certification process, which was conducted by a subset of commissioners known as a Board of Canvassers, was led by Republican Commissioner and Board President Fred Umane who asked staff from each borough, participating virtually, a series of questions to confirm the results were accurate, contained no discrepancies, and that an audit of election scanners was complete.
The results were then finalized for all five boroughs, with two exceptions.
In Manhattan’s 9th City Council district, which covers portions of Harlem, Morningside Heights and the Upper West Side, Democrat Kristin Richardson Jordan held a narrow 104-vote lead over incumbent Councilmember Bill Perkins after 13 rounds of counting. Because her margin falls below one-half percent, state law requires a manual recount.
The other race set for a manual recount is in the Republican primary in the 50th City Council district on Staten Island. After four rounds of tabulation, David Carr was ahead of Marko Kepi by just 196 votes, according to the latest unofficial results posted by the BOE. While that margin exceeds the half-percent trigger, elections officials said that updated data brought the difference under the half percent.
Kepi is under investigation for potential fraud related to his absentee ballots. His attorney, Martin Connor, did not respond to a request for comment.
Elections officials did not say when the two City Council recounts were expected to start, or whether they would use the same process used by staff to conduct a manual tabulation of special elections held in Queens and the Bronx earlier this year.
Tagged
ranked choice voting
election 2021
Board of Elections
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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