100 PERCENT - Primary Day 2021 and Rank Choice Voting

100 PERCENT - Primary Day 2021 and Rank Choice Voting

While Election Day 2020 is a a few weeks away, many here in the Bronx are already gearing up for Primary Day 2021 which is 10 months away. Candidates are lining up for the term limited vacant borough president and city council seats that will be open. With so many candidates running in each race Primary Day 2021 will be the first test of Rank Choice Voting in many Bronx primary races, Rank Choice Voting will also be used in special elections starting in 2021. Due to term limits and other factors we could see only one incumbent city council member running for re-election in 2021. 

Since the real election for Bronx candidates takes place on the day of the Democratic Primary not the November general election which is merely a formality, City Councilman Andrew Cohen should become Supreme Court Judge Andrew Cohen comes the beginning of 2021. This will also occur when City Councilman Ritchie Torres becomes Congressman Ritchie Torres also at the beginning of 2021. Both Cohen and Torres have pledged to serve until the end of 2020. Because petitioning begins the last week of February and the current state of things, a special election should not be needed in the 11th or 15th council districts.

Rank Choice Voting comes in when one of the candidates for a particular office does not obtain more than fifty percent of the vote. The top five candidates are then placed in order one through five. If no one still does not have more than fifty percent of the remaining vote the fifth place candidate is eliminated with their votes being redistributed to the number two candidates that was selected by the voter. This process continues to the next rounds until one candidate has more than fifty percent of the remaining vote.That candidate is then declared the winner of the race.

As we interview the many candidates, we will begin to let you the voter know where the candidates stand on issues of importance in your district. Look for each Bronx Primary race in upcoming columns.