S 6302: Requires that elections for municipal office in the city of New York shall use an "instant run-off" or "ranked choice" voting system.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6302 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to primary elections in the city of New York; and to repeal subdivision 5 of section 3-705 and subdivision 6 of section 3-709 of the administrative code of the city of New York relating to certain run-off elections in the city of New York The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 6-162 of the election law, as amended by chapter 2 424 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 6-162. [Primary; New York City, run-off. 1. In the city of New York, 4 when no candidate for the office of mayor, public advocate or comp- 5 troller receives forty percent or more of the votes cast by the members 6 of a political party for such office in a city-wide primary election, 7 the board of elections of such city shall conduct a run-off primary 8 election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of 9 votes for the same office. 10 2. In any jurisdiction that authorizes a run-off election after a 11 primary election, if one of the two candidates receiving the greatest 12 number of votes for the same office files with the local board of 13 elections a certificate of withdrawal within three days following such 14 primary election, the board shall accept and certify the withdrawal and 15 declare the remaining candidate the winner and no such run-off primary 16 election shall be held. Such certificate of withdrawal shall be in affi- 17 davit or affirmation form as determined by the state board of 18 elections.] Instant run-off voting in New York city. Elections for 19 municipal office in the city of New York shall use an "instant run-off" 20 or "ranked choice" voting system, consistent with the provisions of the 21 New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New 22 York. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10435-01-5 
 S. 6302 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 3-705 of the administrative code of the 2 city of New York is REPEALED. 3 § 3. Subdivision 6 of section 3-709 of the administrative code of the 4 city of New York is REPEALED. 5 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all 6 municipal elections held in the city of New York on or after January 1, 7 2026.