Honestly, if you look at the raw numbers from the New York 2020 election, it looks like business as usual for a deep-blue state. Joe Biden won. Donald Trump lost. The margins were wide. But if you stop there, you're missing the actual story of what went down in the Empire State during that chaotic pandemic year. It wasn't just a "safe" win; it was a massive logistical nightmare and a weird shift in voting patterns that people are still arguing about today.
The Numbers That Mattered
Let's get the big stats out of the way first. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pulled in 5,244,886 votes across New York. That's a record. No presidential candidate had ever snagged that many votes in the state before. On the flip side, Donald Trump got 3,251,997 votes.
That looks like a blowout, right?
Well, it was. But the shift from 2016 was subtle and, frankly, kind of surprising for Democrats. While Biden slightly outperformed Hillary Clinton's statewide margin by about 0.48%, he actually did worse than she did in the five boroughs of New York City.
In the city, Biden took about 76% of the vote. Sounds high, until you realize Clinton took 79%. Trump actually improved his standing in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. It wasn't enough to flip the city, obviously, but it was a signal that the "Blue Wall" in NYC had some cracks in it, particularly in Hispanic-heavy neighborhoods and areas with large Orthodox Jewish populations.
The Absentee Ballot Disaster
The real drama wasn't at the top of the ticket; it was in the mailboxes.
Because of COVID-19, New York loosened its strict "excuse-required" absentee voting rules. Suddenly, everyone could vote by mail. The system basically choked.
In the June primary, the New York City Board of Elections was completely overwhelmed. We're talking about 84,000 ballots being disqualified in the city alone. That’s 21% of all mail-in votes just... gone. Some didn't have postmarks. Others were missing signatures. It was a mess.
By the time the general election rolled around in November, things were better, but the scars remained. About 21.4% of general election voters used absentee ballots. Compare that to the tiny 2.6% who did so in 2019. It was a total culture shift for New York voters who were used to standing in line at school gyms.
Down-Ballot Surprises
If you were watching the news on election night, you might remember it felt like a Republican wave was hitting the New York suburbs.
For a while, it looked like the GOP was going to flip a bunch of seats. In the end, Democrats kept their supermajority in the State Senate and Assembly, but it was closer than many expected.
- Nicole Malliotakis flipped the 11th Congressional District (Staten Island/Southern Brooklyn), beating incumbent Max Rose.
- Claudia Tenney won a nail-biter in the 22nd District after a months-long legal battle over disputed ballots.
- Ritchie Torres made history as one of the first openly gay Black and Afro-Latino members of Congress, winning his seat in the Bronx.
The 22nd District race was particularly insane. It took until February 2021—three months after the election—for a judge to finally declare Tenney the winner by a mere 109 votes. This race highlighted every single flaw in New York’s election administration, from poor record-keeping to inconsistent ballot counting.
Why It Still Matters
People like to say New York doesn't matter in presidential elections because the outcome is "pre-determined." That's sorta true for the Electoral College, but the New York 2020 election proved that the state is a laboratory for how voting rights and election security actually work (or don't).
It forced the state to look at things like:
📖 Related: The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Stabbing: What Really Happened in the Line
- Early Voting: 2020 was the first big test for early in-person voting in NY, and it was a hit. About 36.3% of NYC voters went early.
- Fusion Voting: New York is one of the few states where third parties matter. The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party both played huge roles in 2020, helping their respective major-party candidates cross the finish line.
- Automatic Voter Registration: The chaos of 2020 pushed the legislature to pass more modern voting laws to avoid future "disqualified ballot" headlines.
Actionable Insights for Future Elections
If you're a New York voter or just someone interested in how these things work, there are a few things you should take away from the 2020 cycle to make sure your vote actually counts next time.
- Don't wait for the mail: While absentee voting is more common now, New York's system is still notoriously finicky about signatures and postmarks. If you can, vote early in person. It’s usually faster and you know your ballot is in the machine.
- Check your registration yearly: New York doesn't always have "same-day" registration (though they've tried to move that way). Make sure you’re active at your current address at least 30 days before any election.
- Look at the back of the ballot: 2020 had a lot of "ballot drop-off" where people voted for President but ignored local judges or ballot propositions. Those local races often affect your daily life more than the person in the White House.
- Track your ballot: If you do vote by mail, use the online tracking tools provided by your local Board of Elections. If it says there’s an issue, you might have a chance to "cure" your ballot (fix a signature error) before it's too late.
The 2020 election wasn't just a moment in time. It was a stress test for democracy in one of the biggest states in the country. It showed that even in a stronghold, nothing is truly "safe" when the systems behind the scenes start to fail.
To stay informed on current voting rules in your specific county, you can visit the New York State Board of Elections website to verify your registration status and find your assigned polling location.