Second crack at NYC primary results expected after primary thrown into chaos

New York City officials are expected to take a second crack at reporting preliminary results of the city’s Democratic mayoral primary Wednesday.

Their first attempt was marred by an error in which the city’s Board of Elections accidentally included 135,000 test ballots that weren’t meant to be counted.

The city is trying ranked choice voting for the first time. Critics say Tuesday’s mistake proved the board was not equipped to handle the new system.

One of those critics is New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The board operates independently of the mayor’s office.

“Yet again, the fundamental structural flaws of the Board of Elections are on display,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement Wednesday. He also called for a complete structural rebuild of the board.

“I once offered the BOE over $20 million to reform themselves,” de Blasio said. “They refused, leaving legislative action as the next available recourse.”

Former President Donald Trump also commented on the error, comparing it to his unfounded claims regarding voter fraud last November.

“Just like in the 2020 Presidential Election, it was announced overnight in New York City that vast irregularities and mistakes were made,” former President Trump said. “Watch the mess you are about to see in New York City, it will go on forever. They should close the books and do it all over again, the old-fashioned way, when we had results that were accurate and meaningful.”

The results that were released and then withdrawn appeared to show former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia narrowly trailing Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for the lead, with civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley in third place.

Adams’ campaign said the former police captain remained confident he would win despite the error.

Final results in the primary could be weeks away. Tuesday’s pulled results didn’t include any of the nearly 125,000 absentee ballots cast.