Explore the latest Voter Analysis Report, offering insights into NYC's 2023 elections.
Uncover voter trends, ballot outcomes, and policy recommendations. Dive into interactive maps and an executive summary for comprehensive understanding. Read the full report for detailed analysis and insights.
2023 was an off-year election in New York City with no citywide races and few competitive City Council races on the ballot, even though all 51 City Council districts were on the ballot due to redistricting. While voter registration remained high (81.8%), voter turnout was lackluster, at 7.2% in the primary election and 12.8% in the general election. Voters used ranked choice voting for the second time in NYC but with mostly incumbents on the ballot in uncompetitive races, 87.5% of races were decided in the first round.
This report includes two recommendations to address low voter turnout and engagement. The first is a revival of a recommendation from last year’s VAR, to align odd-year City elections with even-year State and federal elections, which traditionally yield much higher turnout. The second recommendation is to implement a CFB civic engagement fellowship pilot program that places fellows into community-based organizations (CBOs) for two years to conduct voter education and civic engagement work. This would increase CBO capacity to do this work and extend the reach to priority communities.
2023 Elections Turnout Summary
- In 2023, the election landscape in New York City centered around the selection of City Council members and judges, drawing attention to all 51 City Council districts due to the redrawing of district lines reflecting the 2020 Census population changes.
- Voter registration in the city maintained its robust levels, with over 4.5 million New Yorkers registered to vote, accounting for 81.8% of the city's voting-age population, 58.4%, were young individuals aged between 18 and 29.
- Voter turnout remained remarkably low: only 7.2% of eligible voters participated in the June primary, and this slightly increased to 12.8% in the November general election. The majority of voters in the general election, over three quarters, opted to vote on election day, with 14.8% choosing early voting and 6.5% voting via absentee ballot.
- New Yorkers also voiced their opinions on two statewide ballot proposals related to adjusting debt limits for regions outside the city, both of which passed overwhelmingly.
Turnout Maps
June Primary
November General
Ballot Drop-off Story Map
- 2023 was the second year in which NYC utilized ranked choice voting (RCV) in the primary election, following its successful rollout in 2021.
- There were 24 races held across 21 districts in the primary, all of which used RCV. However, 87.5% of races were decided in the first round.
- Across the 24 primary races in 2023, 56.9% of voters ranked more than one candidate, slightly lower than the 65.5% of voters who took advantage of RCV for city council races in 2021.
- In the future, as more years of RCV data become available, along with collecting qualitative data from voters, the CFB will enhance its understanding of voter trends and target voter education and outreach efforts.
RCV Errors
The CFB suggests two key recommendations. First, synchronizing NYC's odd-year city elections with even-year state and federal elections to boost turnout. Second, creating a civic engagement fellowship program to enhance voter education efforts by embedding fellows within community-based organizations for two years.
Recommendation 1: The CFB reiterates its recommendation from the 2022-2023 VAR to align odd-year City elections with even-year State and federal even-year elections.
- Since even-year elections consistently have higher turnout in NYC, and research shows this to be true in municipalities across the country, eliminating odd-year elections would likely increase NYC turnout for municipal races.
- In 2023, Governor Hochul signed legislation shifting most county and local elections to even years. This legislation excludes New York City, since doing so requires a Constitutional amendment.
Recommendation 2: The CFB plans to develop a civic engagement fellowship pilot program to expand the reach of existing voter education and civic engagement programs.
- In this fellowship program, the CFB would hire a cohort of fellows that would be placed in partner community-based organizations (CBOs) in two-year cycles.
- This fellowship program would expand the reach of CFB’s existing voter education and civic engagement programs, deepen the relationships with CBOs, and further the level of targeted outreach to CFB priority communities.
- This section highlights several local and national grantmaking and fellowship models that can be used as precedents when designing and implementing the CFB’s fellowship program.