Zohran Mamdani went head to head with Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa for the post of New York Mayor on Tuesday — with many predicting a clear victory for the Democratic nominee. At least 1.75 million people have already voted in the high-octane election (the highest turnout since 2001) and ballots will remain open till 9:00 pm local time. Both Mamdani and Republican candidate Sliwa appear twice on the ballots due to the fusion voting system followed by the city.
The candidacy of Mamdani has left many including US President Donald Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk outraged. Several prominent businessmen have also sunk millions of dollars into derailing his campaign — with most opting to support Cuomo. The POTUS also spoke vehemently in support of independent candidate Andrew Cuomo on Monday — endorsing him instead of the Republican candidate. Meanwhile Musk insisted that a vote for Sliwa was “really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is”.
“Given that he’s on the ballot twice, maybe he can win twice too…The New York City ballot form is a scam! No ID is required – Other mayoral candidates appear twice. Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right,” Musk fumed in later posts.
Visuals shared online show that both Mamdani and Sliwa appear twice on the ballots — as the nominee of two separate parties each. Zohran Kwame Mamdani is listed as a candidate for both the Democratic Party and the Working Families party. Meanwhile his Republican opponent is also representing the Protect Animals party line.
Why are Zohran Mamdani and Curtis Sliwa on the ballot twice?
New York follows a fusion voting system that allows multiple parties to nominate the same candidate. In such cases their name appears multiple times on the ballot under different party names. Both Sliwa and Mamdani were endorsed by multiple parties and nominated as their candidate.
The state of New York reportedly recognises four official parties — Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Working Families — and a candidate can be nominated more than once if they are part of these parties. State election laws also allow the same party candidate to be named by multiple independent bodies. Independent candidates running outside the parties appear only once.
Mamdani is the official nominee of two New York-recognised parties — Democratic and Working Families. Sliwa appears on the ballot as the the Republican candidate. He is named a second time because he also chose to run under the independent “Protect Animals” line in hopes of winning over animal lovers.