Why We May Not Know Who Won the Mayoral Primary for Weeks

Although the primary is being held on Tuesday, an official winner is unlikely to be named before the week of July 12.

The New York City primary election is this Tuesday, but it could be weeks before we find out who won the top contest — the Democratic primary for mayor. Given the electoral makeup of the city, the winner of that contest is highly likely to be elected mayor in November. On Tuesday night, we should find out which candidate is leading among the ballots cast in-person on Primary Day and during nine days of early voting. But election officials must then wait for tens of thousands of absentee ballots to arrive, and those will need to be counted as well.