Early voting in NYC mayor's race doubles from 2021. Young people are driving the trend.
Early voting turnout in the Democratic primary election for mayor has doubled compared to four years ago — and experts say there's a possibility the numbers signal a "transformative" shift in New York City's electorate.
A Gothamist analysis of data from the Board of Elections shows that 131,434 people cast ballots at their poll sites in the first four days of early voting this year. That’s double the number of voters at that point in the 2021 mayoral race. Younger voters and white voters in brownstone Brooklyn are leading the turnout so far, news that may bode well for Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who is leading polls among young, liberal white voters.
In interviews, election experts said a key question was whether voters were simply heading to the polls earlier — if or new voters were casting ballots in significant numbers.
“It absolutely could be a ceiling for Mamdani,” said Laura Tamman, a political scientist at Pace University, explaining that the turnout could include voters who are supporters that decided to vote before Primary Day. “Whether or not these early votes are additive to his final total or are they just people who would’ve shown up on Election Day anyway — it’s just not clear.”
https://gothamist.com/news/early-voting-in-nyc-mayors-race-doubles-from-2021-young-people-are-driving-the-trend