The New York City mayoral race was infused with new drama this week when Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller since 2022 and a candidate for mayor, was apprehended by ICE agents in a downtown courthouse. Lander—who was attempting to protect a migrant from arrest—is one of a number of mayoral candidates who have spoken out against the Trump administration’s sweeping deportations; Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and City Council speaker Adrienne Adams have also pledged to protect immigrants should they be elected mayor.

Attendance at anti-ICE protests like last weekend’s “No Kings” rallies proved that standing up for marginalized communities is very much on New Yorkers’ minds this year—though some are unsure how best to navigate ranked choice voting, the election system in place during the mayoral primary. Luckily, though, all it takes is a little advance research to make heading to the polls as simple a process as picking up a coffee to go.

Below, find everything you need to know about ranked choice voting as it pertains to New York City’s upcoming primary, set for Tuesday, June 24:

What is ranked choice voting?

According to the nonpartisan, nonprofit Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center, ranked choice voting is “an election method in​ which voters rank candidates for an office in order of their preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on).” Ranked choice voting is also known as instant runoff voting (IRV).

When and where did ranked choice voting begin?

The first trial runs of ranked choice voting were held in Denmark in the 1850s, after which the process made its way to Australia for legislative elections in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first American city to use ranked choice voting for a city council election was Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1915, while the history of ranked choice voting in New York stretches back to 1936. That year, New York City adopted the multi-winner form for their city council and school board elections, spurring another 11 cities to adopt ranked choice voting soon after.

How does ranked choice voting work?

According to the NYC Board of Elections, voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference. They are not obligated to rank any particular number of candidates, meaning it’s possible to rank just one strong favorite. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that candidate wins; if no candidate earns more than 50% of first-choice votes, then the counting continues in rounds.

What’s the advantage of ranked choice voting?

As the American electoral system has grown increasingly fractured in recent years, problems like vote splitting (or, in other words, a third-party or minor candidate pulling votes from a major candidate on the same side of the political spectrum) have become more common. With ranked choice voting, voters “know that if their first choice doesn’t win, their vote automatically counts for their next choice instead,” the nonpartisan organization FairVote explains, which “frees [them] from worrying about how others will vote and which candidates are more or less likely to win.”

If I really hate a candidate, should I rank them fifth or not rank them at all?

It’s best to simply not rank a candidate you detest at all, given that they could end up winning your vote if your top four candidates are counted out of the race.