The Democratic mayoral primary is still too close to call even though Bill de Blasio leads by more than 90,000 votes. That’s because de Blasio, the city’s public advocate, must clear 40% of the vote to avoid a primary runoff with Bill Thompson, former city comptroller and second-place finisher. De Blasio’s vote totals are hovering around the 40% mark, but Thompson declined to concede, and the city’s Board of Elections has yet to count more than 19,000 absentee ballots. If de Blasio dips below 40%, he and Thompson will compete in a runoff election Oct. 1. Nearly 650,000 votes were cast in the race Tuesday.
In addition, officials must count an unknown number of paper ballots cast by voters at polls where machines failed or names could not be found on election rolls. Joe Lhota, the Republican nominee, and Anthony Weiner, the former congressman who came in fifth in the Democratic contest, both cast paper ballots.
Election officials will begin a recount of votes Friday and will begin counting absentee ballots Monday, but there is no estimate on how long it will take to count the votes, said Valerie Vazquez, Board of Elections spokeswoman. Absentee ballots are still coming in, she said.
Full Article: NYC mayoral primary may go to Round Two.