While the Republican Party knew that Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa won its nomination in the race for mayor within hours of the polls closing, the Democrats’ ranked choice voting combined with “irregularities” have resulted in a chaotic election where the results will not be known until at least July 6, or potentially far later.
Initially, former police captain Eric Adams held a strong lead over other candidates. However, as ranked choice voting continued to be tabulated, Adams lead rapidly slipped, and it appeared likely that when absentee ballot counts are released – something expected to happen on July 6 – he would lose his lead altogether and fail to become the Democratic Party’s candidate. Then, the Adams team released what was called a Trump-like response to the ballot count.
“The vote total just released by the Board of Elections is 100,000-plus more than the total announced on election night, raising serious questions,” the statement read. “We have asked the Board of Elections to explain such a massive increase and other irregularities before we comment on the Ranked Choice Voting projection.”
Here’s our statement from earlier: pic.twitter.com/E39ssnLCmF
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) June 30, 2021
Soon after, the Board of Elections admitted that it mistakenly counted 135,000 sample ballots. “When the cast vote records were extracted for the first pull of [ranked choice voting] results, it included both test and election night results, producing approximately 135,000 additional records,” the Board of Elections admitted. “Board staff has removed all test ballot images from the system and will upload election night results, cross-referencing against election night reporting software for verification.” No timeline has been established for when this new, theoretically accurate vote total will be released, or if the timeline absentee votes to be added to the count has been changed due to the seemingly obvious error.
— NYC Board of Elections (@BOENYC) June 30, 2021
In a statement released via email, President Trump mocked the difficulties in New York. “Just like in the 2020 Presidential Election, it was announced overnight in New York City that vast irregularities and mistakes were made and that Eric Adams, despite an almost insurmountable lead, may not win the race. The fact is, based on what has happened, nobody will ever know who really won,” wrote President Trump. “The Presidential Race was a Scam and a Hoax with numbers and results being found that are massive, shocking, and determinative. Watch the mess you are about to see in New York City, it will go on forever. They should close the books and do it all over again, the old-fashioned way, when we had results that were accurate and meaningful.”
Donald Trump Jr. added fuel to the fire on Twitter. “Let me get this straight? You can be off by 135,000 votes in a New York City mayoral primary alone,” wrote Trump, “but if someone loses the White House by less than 45,000 across multiple states in a presidential election you can’t have any questions.” He added, “Seems legit… if you live in China.”
Let me get this straight? You can be off by 135,000 votes in a New York City mayoral primary alone but if someone loses the White House by less than 45,000 across multiple states in a presidential election you can’t have any questions.
Seems legit… if you live in China. https://t.co/W5tEH0uIi0
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 30, 2021
In a statement sent to National File, the New York Young Republicans President Gavin Wax said, “It is hilarious to see the Democrats flailing over the Board of Elections’ shoddy job in the tabulation of the results. We all know if the shoe was on the other foot, and if any Republican dared to question this insanity, they would be branded an Insurrectionist and a traitor immediately.” Wax added, “This all just goes to show our nation’s election integrity is a massive issue that should be addressed by both parties. Unfortunately, the establishment in both is more than happy to perpetuate these shenanigans for their own electoral benefit. Sad!”
