Voter turnout highest in half century in New York's parliamentary elections

The number of voters casting ballots in New York's tense three-way race for mayor between Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa broke records, with more than 2 million check-ins, according to the city Board of Elections, Report informs via The City.

By comparison, 1.1 million ballots were cast in the entire 2021 election won by Eric Adams, and the last election to see such numbers was in 1969, when John Lindsay, running on a third-party line, won a second term against two rivals.

Polls closed at 9 p.m. (GMT-5). The in-person votes and absentee ballots tallied so far account for 34% of the city's roughly 5.3 million registered voters.

Mamdani secured more than 1 million votes, reflecting how his campaign helped spur a highly engaged electorate - one that the city has not seen in decades. And it's changed the electorate from one that was once dominated by older, staunchly center Democrats to younger, left-leaning voters, many attracted by Mamdani's grassroots campaign organization.

Backed by tens of millions of dollars in attack ads, including some painting Mamdani as a dangerous radical, rival Andrew Cuomo sought to rally a countermovement of voters, as did Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

The surge in turnout was largely propped by the 735,317 votes cast during nine days of early voting, which ended Sunday. Though heavy rains last Thursday seemed to have impeded voters' momentum, overall, it did not stop certain groups of voters – such as Millennials or those who live in wealthier election districts – from turning out in large shares, according to an analysis by THE CITY.

The surge in votes is even more notable because the electorate has shrunk since New Yorkers last voted for a mayor: currently, about 5.3 million registered voters reside in the city, down from 5.6 million four years ago.

Still, some 189,000 city residents registered to vote between February and November - with many of them joining the left-leaning Working Families Party, which ran Mamdani on its ballot line alongside his Democratic Party spot. Working Families Party registrations grew by at least 6% since February and by 28% since the last election. By contrast, the number of registered Democrats grew by 5%, but the party rolls have shrunk 7% since the last election.