A historic number of voters cast their ballots during nine days of early voting in New York City, and Brooklyn once again led the charge.
Across the five boroughs, a total of 732,866 people voted, according to the Board of Elections — the highest number of early votes cast in a non-presidential election year since the start of early voting in New York City in 2019.
Brooklyn recorded the most voters of any borough, with a total of 243,737 votes cast in the borough between Oct. 25-Nov. 3. Nearly 100,000 more Brooklynites voted early in this election than in the June primary, per BOE data, though totals fell short of the 345,840 who cast their ballots ahead of the general election last November.
Manhattan came in second, with a total of 212,679 votes; Queens third with 166,519; the Bronx fourth with 58,661; and Staten Island fifth with 53,721.
Younger voters came out in force in Kings County, per BOE data. More than 42% of early voters were between the ages of 25-44 and those ages 18-25 made up 8.5% of the vote. Slightly older voters, between ages 45-60, made up 22.7% of Brooklyn’s early vote, while those 60+ made up 26.5%.
Citywide, voters ages 60+ slightly edged out the 26-44 crowd, and voters between 18-25 turned out in smaller numbers still.
Mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, has claimed that higher turnout among older voters is a positive sign for his campaign. The former governor has historically polled better among older voters, while Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is more popular with the younger generations.
A handful of Brooklyn Council Districts saw among the highest voter turnout in the city.
Nearly 25,000 voters cast their ballots early in Council District 39, data shows, where Democrat Shahana Hanif is running for re-election against Conservative Brett Wynkoop, independent Nickie Kane and Libertarian Matthew I. Morgan, A whopping 15,700 of those voters were between 26-55.
Following close behind was District 35, where incumbent Democrat Crystal Hudson faces two challengers: Conservative Benny Rosenberger and independent Hector Robertson, who also ran and lost in the Democratic primary in June.
Turnout in Hudson’s district has trended higher-than-usual in recent years, even when the Council Member ran uncontested. The district is home to more than 114,132 active registered voters, per BOE data, more than 90,000 of whom are Democrats. More than 15,000 of the 28,476 voters who voted early in CD35 were aged 25-44.
Relatively fewer voters participated in CD47, home to one of the most closely-watched races in the city as Democrat Kayla Santosuosso and Republican George Sarantopoulos battle for incumbent Justin Brannan’s soon-to-be-vacated seat.
Just over 13,000 of CD47’s 90,183 active registered voters headed to the polls early, data shows.
Though Brooklyn — which is the most populous borough and has the highest number of registered voters — led in sheer numbers, only 16% of its active registered voters turned out for early voting. Comparatively, 17% of active voters in Staten Island took part, and 21% in Manhattan.
Still, most voters are expected to participate on Election Day on Tuesday. Polls will be open from 6 a.m.-9 p.m., and Brooklynites preparing to head out can check out Brooklyn Paper’s voter guide to find out more about each contested race and how to find their poll sites.
