Absentee Ballot Returns Reach 283,000 in NYC Democratic Primary; 37% Have Been Returned with One More Day to Reach Board of Elections

The New York City Board of Elections reports that 283,000 absentee ballots have been returned by Democratic voters in the City by the close of business today, June 29th, for the Democratic primary held in the City last week. The Democratic Presidential primary was statewide, but there were many local primaries across the State and the City as well. About 500,000 Democrats voted in person in the City on Primary Day on June 23rd.

To improve public safety for the vote for the primary due to COVID-19, Governor Cuomo ordered this spring that the Board of Elections send out applications for absentee ballots to voters. He cancelled the Democratic Presidential primary, but that order was overturned by a court case and all Democratic voters statewide received applications for absentee ballots. In New York City, the Board sent out 764,000 ballots to voters who requested them. The Board tallied 471,000 votes in the Presidential primary as of Primary night, with about 96% of scanners recorded.

As of Friday night, June 26th, there were 173,000 absentee ballots returned in the City, according to the Board of Elections website. Another 110,000 were added by this evening. A  total of 37% of the absentee ballots sent out have been returned so far, with one more day for ballots sent in to arrive at the Board. Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by June 23rd and must be received at the Board of Elections by June 30th. The Board of Elections will provide another public update on July 2nd and the process of counting the ballots to confirm the winners of the many local primaries will start. Vice-President Biden was on the ballot for the Democratic Presidential nomination but has actually already clinched the nomination.

The Board of Elections tallies for Primary night for the Democratic Presidential primary, calculated by myself from the direct reports of the Board, were as follows:

I wrote about the impact of the mass mail-in ballot effort in New York and how it affect both this primary and future elections earlier today, in https://jimbrennanscommentaries.com/2020/06/29/the-massive-mail-in-ballots-provided-major-support-for-a-high-turnout-in-the-pandemic-and-could-bring-dramatic-change-in-the-vote-in-new-york/. The blog contains many citations to the data in this update.