Democratic Primary — Council Member
8th Council District
· Manhattan
· 2025
· Source: NYC BOE Cast Vote Records
Ballots in Contest
15,592
Elimination Rounds
6
Exhausted Ballots
4,142
(26.6% of contest ballots)
Winner
Elsie Encarnacion
Final Round Share
58.6% of active
Margin of Victory
1,968
(17.2pts of active)
Elsie Encarnacion led from the start with 28.9% of first-choice votes and held on through 6 rounds of elimination. The largest transfer came when Clarisa M. Alayeto was eliminated, sending 1,083 votes (35% of their ballots) to Elsie Encarnacion. The final margin was 1,968 votes (17.2 pts of active ballots), while 4,142 exhausted ballots (26.6%) exceeded that margin — meaning those voters' preferences could in theory have influenced the outcome.
Notable: 4,142 ballots exhausted before the final round —
more than the winner's final-round margin of 1,968 votes.
This means exhausted voters' preferences, had they ranked additional candidates, could in theory have been enough to affect the outcome — though only if they had ranked in ways that changed the transfers.
How to read this:
Ranked Choice Voting eliminates the last-place candidate each round, transferring their
ballots to each voter's next ranked choice still in the race.
Ballots in contest = voters who ranked at least one candidate here.
Active votes = ballots still assigned to a remaining candidate in a given round.
Exhausted ballots = ballots where all ranked choices have been eliminated.
Vote counts shown in each round reflect votes before that round's elimination.
Ties broken alphabetically by candidate ID (NYC BOE uses random draw; ties are rare at scale).
First-Choice Votes
| Candidate | First-Choice Votes | Share of Contest Ballots | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion ✓ | 4,511 | 28.9% | Won |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 2,879 | 18.5% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,378 | 15.3% | Elim. R5 |
| Raymond Santana | 1,817 | 11.7% | Elim. R4 |
| Rosa G. Diaz | 1,582 | 10.1% | Elim. R3 |
| Federico Colon | 1,322 | 8.5% | Elim. R2 |
| Nicholas A. Reyes | 1,103 | 7.1% | Elim. R1 |
Vote Share — First Choice vs. Final Round
Solid lines = candidates who reached the final round (left dot = Round 1 share, right dot = final-round share). Dashed lines = candidates eliminated before the final round (line ends at elimination, not final round).
Round-by-Round Results
Each bar shows how many active votes each candidate holds going into that round. Step through rounds or press Play to watch candidates gain and lose votes as the race unfolds.
Round 1
Round 1
Eliminated: Nicholas A. Reyes
15,592 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active | Transfers Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 4,511 | 28.9% | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 2,879 | 18.5% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,378 | 15.3% | — |
| Raymond Santana | 1,817 | 11.7% | — |
| Rosa G. Diaz | 1,582 | 10.1% | — |
| Federico Colon | 1,322 | 8.5% | — |
| Nicholas A. Reyes ✗ | 1,103 | 7.1% | Exhausted: 451 · Elsie Encarnacion: 162 · Rosa G. Diaz: 121 · Wilfredo Lopez: 115 · Raymond Santana: 109 · Clarisa M. Alayeto: 85 · Federico Colon: 60 |
Round 2
Eliminated: Federico Colon
15,141 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active | Transfers Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 4,673 | 30.9% | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 2,994 | 19.8% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,463 | 16.3% | — |
| Raymond Santana | 1,926 | 12.7% | — |
| Rosa G. Diaz | 1,703 | 11.2% | — |
| Federico Colon ✗ | 1,382 | 9.1% | Exhausted: 634 · Raymond Santana: 365 · Wilfredo Lopez: 152 · Rosa G. Diaz: 125 · Clarisa M. Alayeto: 53 · Elsie Encarnacion: 53 |
Round 3
Eliminated: Rosa G. Diaz
14,507 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active | Transfers Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 4,726 | 32.6% | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 3,146 | 21.7% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,516 | 17.3% | — |
| Raymond Santana | 2,291 | 15.8% | — |
| Rosa G. Diaz ✗ | 1,828 | 12.6% | Exhausted: 665 · Elsie Encarnacion: 441 · Clarisa M. Alayeto: 274 · Raymond Santana: 234 · Wilfredo Lopez: 214 |
Round 4
Eliminated: Raymond Santana
13,842 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active | Transfers Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 5,167 | 37.3% | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 3,360 | 24.3% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,790 | 20.2% | — |
| Raymond Santana ✗ | 2,525 | 18.2% | Exhausted: 955 · Wilfredo Lopez: 787 · Elsie Encarnacion: 459 · Clarisa M. Alayeto: 324 |
Round 5
Eliminated: Clarisa M. Alayeto
12,887 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active | Transfers Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 5,626 | 43.7% | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 4,147 | 32.2% | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto ✗ | 3,114 | 24.2% | Exhausted: 1,437 · Elsie Encarnacion: 1,083 · Wilfredo Lopez: 594 |
Round 6
Final
11,450 active votes
| Candidate | Votes (before elimination) | Share of Active |
|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion | 6,709 | 58.6% |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 4,741 | 41.4% |
Where Did Eliminated Candidates' Votes Go?
When a candidate is eliminated, their supporters' ballots transfer to whoever they ranked next.
This panel shows how each eliminated candidate's votes distributed — to the winner,
to other remaining candidates, or exhausted (no further choices ranked).
Cards are ordered by votes that went to the winner, highest first.
Note: "Exhausted" means those voters had no more ranked candidates still in the race — their ballots stopped counting at that point.
Clarisa M. Alayeto
Eliminated R5
3,114 votes redistributed
Raymond Santana
Eliminated R4
2,525 votes redistributed
Rosa G. Diaz
Eliminated R3
1,828 votes redistributed
Nicholas A. Reyes
Eliminated R1
1,103 votes redistributed
Federico Colon
Eliminated R2
1,382 votes redistributed
Transfer Loyalty Matrix
Each cell shows what share of an eliminated candidate's votes transferred to each remaining candidate.
Read across a row to see how that candidate's supporters split their next rankings.
≥50% loyalty
25–49%
<25%
Exhausted
| Eliminated → Received ↓ |
Encarnacion ✓ | Lopez | Exhausted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reyes R1 | 14.7% | 10.4% | 40.9% |
| Colon R2 | 3.8% | 11.0% | 45.9% |
| Diaz R3 | 24.1% | 11.7% | 36.4% |
| Santana R4 | 18.2% | 31.2% | 37.8% |
| Alayeto R5 | 34.8% | 19.1% | 46.1% |
Candidate Summary
| Candidate | First Choice | Votes at Elimination / Final | Transfer Gain / Loss ⓘ | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elsie Encarnacion ✓ Winner | 4,511 | 6,709 | +2,198 | — |
| Wilfredo Lopez | 2,879 | 4,741 | +1,862 | — |
| Clarisa M. Alayeto | 2,378 | 3,114 | +736 | Round 5 |
| Raymond Santana | 1,817 | 2,525 | +708 | Round 4 |
| Rosa G. Diaz | 1,582 | 1,828 | +246 | Round 3 |
| Federico Colon | 1,322 | 1,382 | +60 | Round 2 |
| Nicholas A. Reyes | 1,103 | 1,103 | 0 | Round 1 |
How Many Candidates Did Voters Choose to Rank?
NYC primary voters may rank up to 5 candidates in order of preference — but they are not required to.
This chart shows how many candidates each voter chose to rank (1 = ranked only their top choice; 5 = used all available rankings).
Voters who ranked only one candidate are more likely to exhaust — their ballot stops counting once that candidate is eliminated.
Ranked 1
6,579 (42.2%)
Ranked 2
1,725 (11.1%)
Ranked 3
1,687 (10.8%)
Ranked 4
831 (5.3%)
Ranked 5
4,770 (30.6%)