Int. No. 945
By Council Members Morano and Louis
A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring ranked choice voting in general elections for municipal offices and making technical amendments and other amendments to account for current law in relation thereto, and to repeal paragraph 10 of subdivision c of section 10 of such charter, relating to runoff elections
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision c of section 10 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new opening paragraph to read as follows:
c. Any vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled by popular election in the manner set forth in this subdivision.
§ 2. Paragraph 10 of subdivision c of section 10 of the New York city charter is REPEALED.
§ 3. The heading of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1057-g. Ranked choice voting [for certain primary elections and elections for which nominations were made by independent nominating petitions].
§ 4. The definitions of “exhausted ballot” and “ranked choice election” set forth in subdivision a of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, are amended to read as follows:
Exhausted ballot. The term “exhausted ballot” means a ballot in which all ranked candidates have been eliminated, or a ballot that assigns equal rank to [two] 2 or more candidates and all candidates with higher ranks than the rank assigned to [two] 2 or more candidates are eliminated.
Ranked choice election. The term “ranked choice election” means any [primary] election for a ranked choice office[, and any election for a ranked choice office in which all candidates are nominated by independent nominating petition].
§ 5. Paragraphs 3, 6, 9, 15, 17, and 18 of subdivision c of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, are amended to read as follows:
3. [Either subparagraph (a) or (b) shall apply depending on the conditions described in each such subparagraph.
(a) In the event that A. 2682-A / S. 2300-A from the 2019-2020 New York state legislative session that would enact the voter friendly ballot act does not become law, paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 7-104; subdivisions 5 and 8 of section 7-106; paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 7-114; and paragraph (d) of subdivision 1, and paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 7-122 are superseded with respect to ranked choice elections, and ballots to which these provisions would otherwise apply shall be designed pursuant to subdivision d of this section.
(b) In the event A. 2682-A / S. 2300-A from the 2019-2020 New York state legislative session that would enact the voter friendly ballot act becomes law, thus amending the election law, paragraph] Paragraph (d) of subdivision 3, and subdivisions 13, 17, and 20, of section 7-104; and paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 7-122 are superseded with respect to ranked choice elections, and ballots to which these provisions would otherwise apply shall be designed pursuant to subdivision d of this section.
6. Section 9-102 shall apply to ranked choice elections, except that the requirement that ballots be hand counted pursuant to subdivisions 1, [or 1-a, as applicable,] 2, and 3 of such section is superseded to the extent that it is not required pursuant to the rules promulgated by the board of elections in the city of New York pursuant to subdivision g of this section of the charter; and except that with respect to reading, announcing, or making a proclamation of results, and with respect to the hand tallying of votes, such requirements shall be deemed to mean reading, announcing, or proclaiming the results of the tally of the number of ballots that marked each candidate as rank number 1 for that ranked choice office; and except that reference to “total of the votes cast” on portable memory devices shall mean the record of how each ballot ranked each candidate for a ranked choice office in a ranked choice election.
9. Section 9-114 shall apply to ranked choice elections, except that, to the extent a ballot subject to an objection has been counted in a ranked choice election under such section, the memorandum of the ruling shall indicate “Counted for (naming the candidate who is ranked as the highest rank on such ballot).”
15. Section 9-202 shall apply to ranked choice elections, except that the tabulated statements referred to in section 9-202 shall be deemed to mean, for ranked choice offices, the number of votes cast for all candidates for a ranked choice office as tabulated pursuant to this section of the charter, and the number of votes cast for each such candidate for that ranked choice office for each round of tabulation, as tabulated pursuant to subdivision e of this section of the charter; and except that the nominee of his or her party for a ranked choice office shall be determined in accordance with this section of the charter.
17. [Subdivision] Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 9-208 shall apply to ranked choice elections, except that with respect to ranked choice offices the reference to “the vote recorded on the tabulated results tape” in subdivision 1 of section 9-208 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ballot recorded on the tabulated results tape and the reference to the “number of votes recorded on the tabulated results tape” in subdivision 3 of section 9-208 shall[, with respect to ranked choice offices,] be deemed to be a reference to the total number of ballots recorded on the tabulated results tape.
18. Section 9-209 shall apply to ranked choice elections, except that [subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2], for such elections, paragraph (g) of subdivision 6 of section 9-209 shall be deemed to refer to manual counting subject to this section of the charter, and the provisions of the election law as superseded or modified herein where not inconsistent with the provisions of this section of the charter; and [except that, for ranked choice elections,] the requirement in paragraph (f) of subdivision [(e)] 6 of section 9-209 that [ballots] votes be tallied, and that such tally be added to a previous tally, and that the result be announced, are superseded and inapplicable, but that such ballots in ranked choice elections be included in the tabulation undertaken pursuant to sections 9-200, 9-210, and 9-212 as applicable, as superseded or modified herein.
§ 6. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision e of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, are amended to read as follows:
e. For all ranked choice elections, the following tabulation procedures apply:
1. If a candidate receives a majority of highest rank votes, that candidate shall be declared the nominee of his or her party for a primary election, or declared the elected winner for an election [for which nominations were made by independent nominating petitions].
2. If no candidate receives a majority of highest rank votes, tabulation shall proceed in rounds. In each round, the number of votes for each continuing candidate shall be counted; each continuing ballot shall count as one vote for its highest ranked continuing candidate for that round; and exhausted ballots shall not be counted for any continuing candidate. A round ends with one of the following outcomes:
(a) If there are two continuing candidates, the candidate with the most votes shall be declared the nominee of his or her party for a primary election, or elected winner for an election [for which nominations were made by independent nominating petitions].
(b) If there are more than two continuing candidates, the last place candidate shall be eliminated and a new round shall begin; provided, however, that batch elimination shall occur at the same time as such elimination of the last place candidate, unless such batch elimination would result in only one continuing candidate, in which case no such batch elimination shall occur.
§ 7. Subdivision i of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, is amended to read as follows:
i. The board of elections in the city of New York shall take all necessary steps to ensure timely implementation of ranked choice voting pursuant to this section. No later than June 1, 2020, such board shall submit to the mayor and speaker of the council a report containing a plan for achieving timely implementation of ranked choice voting for [applicable elections] primary elections and elections for which nominations were made by independent nominating petitions held on or after January 1, 2021. Failure by such board to submit such a report within 30 days of June 1, 2020 shall create a rebuttable presumption that such board is declining to implement ranked choice voting as required by this section.
§ 8. Subdivision k of section 1057-g of the New York city charter, as added by a vote of the electors at the general election held on November 5, 2019 and by local law number 215 for the year 2019, is amended to read as follows:
k. 1. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this section of the charter which violation is not specifically covered by section 17-168 or article [seventeen] 17 of the election law is guilty of a misdemeanor.
2. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under this subdivision shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than [one] 1 year or by a fine of not less than [one hundred dollars] $100 nor more than [five hundred dollars] $500 or by both such fine and imprisonment.
§ 9. This local law takes effect immediately after it is submitted for the approval of the qualified electors of the city at the next general election held after its enactment and is approved by a majority of such electors voting thereon.
JEF
LS #20317
5/20/2026 2:23 PM