On the hottest day in New York City since 2012, New York residents made their way to the polls this Election Day.
Despite the weather rising to 100 degrees, voters and canvassers alike braved the heat for their cause. As voters went to their polling centers, canvassers stood at the corner of the streets with fliers in hand, encouraging voters before they went inside to vote for their preferred candidate.
Canvassers for Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani and Bronx Borough President Rafael Salamanca Jr. stood under the shade at a polling site in the South Bronx, fliers in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.
“Looking at all of our numbers, voting is up across all five boroughs. So it’s really been excellent seeing people get out, especially in the heat,” said Matt, regional field director with Salamanca Jr’s campaign.
This election marks the second time that ranked-choice voting is used in local elections in the city. Ranked voting was implemented in 2021, when current Mayor Eric Adams was up for election, but was approved in 2019 by voters.
The ranking system allows voters to choose up to five candidates for their pick of the Democratic candidate on the ballot. The candidate who gets 50% of first-choice votes wins and will be the candidate for the Democratic party in the election in November.
“It feels a lot more like a democracy,” said Oliver, another canvasser for Salamanca Jr.
Despite the voting system having been implemented, many voters are still unaware of how to rank candidates.
“I have explained how to fill it out before [voters] go in,” said Simon, a canvasser for Zohran Mamdani.
As voters made their way to the polls, the demographic was clear.
“There were a couple elderly people who were definitely very clearly Cuomo. So, yeah, this, this divide is really very evident also today,” said Simon.
The Bronx was one of the two boroughs to rank former Governor Andrew Cuomo as their top candidate, with Cuomo securing 53% of the borough’s vote. The polling site was the only location Simon had gone to that was not already in support of Mamdani.
“No, this is the only one where I was here already on Sunday, but over there, yeah, but it’s definitely different. Otherwise, I was in Prospect Park, which is heavily Zoran. There was probably like 95% for Zohran of the people I met there, so that divide is also kind of clear, but I do feel like it’s kind of interesting.”
With the mayoral race taking the spotlight, smaller races are pushed to the side, leaving canvassers to fill in the blanks and inform voters on their way in.
“We can tell them about our candidate while they learn about the mayoral candidates,” said Matt.
“Overall, I feel it has been pretty receptive, like open to conversation, which is pretty good. Normally, we don’t really get that in really anywhere, but it’s nice to see that. Especially here in the Bronx,” said Oliver.
The canvassers take a break to hand fliers out to a woman passing by, urging her to go inside to vote. The morning rush has slowed though the heat continues to rise. They move closer to the shade and cool down before continuing to canvas, ready to urge the next passerby to the polls.