Biden, Trump win New York primaries with low voter turnout

Apr. 3—President Joseph R. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump both handily won Tuesday's presidential primaries in New York, an outcome that was assured before the first ballots were cast.

According to the unofficial results on the state Board of Elections website, Biden carried 91.47% of his party's vote in New York, while Trump carried 82.1%.

Nikki R. Haley, who dropped out of the race last month but whose name remained on the primary ballot, carried nearly 13% of the unofficial Republican vote, while Marianne Williamson, a long-shot Democrat who continues to challenge Biden, carried 4.9% of the vote.

Vote tallies are still coming in, and blank ballots will not be tallied until the final certification is finished, which could take more than a week. Absentee ballots will still be received to be counted until April 9, provided the ballot was mailed on or before April 2.

Affidavit ballots given to people who don't appear in voter records at the polling site they go to remain uncounted as of Wednesday.

Democratic activists who are critical of Biden's continued support of Israel as it wages war in Gaza had been advocating for Democratic voters to cast a blank ballot in the primary to show their discontent.

Blank ballots are counted by New York, but do not impact the allocation of delegates. Casting a blank ballot essentially discounts that vote for the purposes of selecting a winner, a candidate's victory margins are calculated with only committed ballots. Overvotes, where someone fills in more than one option for a single race, are similarly disregarded.

Preliminary analysis done by advocates and statewide news outlets suggest that about 12% of Democratic voters statewide left their ballots blank.

In Franklin County, Biden got 84.3% of the committed vote as of Wednesday, with all election districts reporting. According to the Franklin County Board of Elections website, there were 496 Democratic primary ballots counted as of Wednesday, with 28 "undervotes," which were blank ballots, putting the blank ballot at 5.6% in Franklin County. Marianne Williamson carried 5.79% of the committed vote, with 27 votes.

Franklin County has 9,496 active Democrats enrolled to vote there. A turnout of 496 means only 5% of the registered party membership turned out to vote.

In the Republican race in Franklin County, 481 ballots were received, of which five were blank. Trump got 375 votes, or 78.9% of the Republican vote, while Haley carried 14.11% with 67 votes. Anti-Trump candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has also dropped out of the race, got 5% with 24 votes.

There are 9,243 active registered Republican voters in Franklin County. A turnout of 481 means only 5% of the registered party membership cast a ballot.

In Jefferson County, Biden carried nearly 86% of the Democratic vote with 608 ballots cast for him. According to the county Board of Elections website, which was last updated Wednesday morning, all 65 election districts were counted.

Marianne Williamson carried 6.18% of the vote with 42 ballots cast with her name. The number of blank ballots cast to protest Biden were not available as of Wednesday, and will be released when the results are certified.

There were 680 committed ballots cast as of Wednesday's count. Jefferson County has 14,813 active registered Democrats, putting turnout there at 4.6%.

In the Republican primary, Trump carried 81.72% of the vote in Jefferson County with 1,179 ballots cast for him, while Haley got nearly 15% of the vote with 212 ballots cast with her name.

There were 1,439 committed votes counted as of Wednesday. Jefferson County has 25,230 registered Republican voters, putting turnout at 5.7%.

According to the Lewis County Board of Elections website, there were 191 ballots cast in total in the Democratic primary. Biden carried the night with 147 votes, 82.5% of the committed vote, while there were 13 "undervotes," or blank ballots cast, putting the blank vote at 6.8%.

Dean Phillips, who dropped out of the race last month, got 11.8% of the committed vote with 21 ballots cast with his name selected, while Williamson got 10 votes, 5.6% of the committed vote.

Lewis County has 3,552 active registered Democrat voters, putting turnout in the Democratic primary at 5.3%.

In the Republican primary in Lewis County, Trump won with 79% of the vote, 446 votes out of 563 committed ballots. There were 571 ballots cast in total in Lewis County, with seven blank ballots and one overvote.

Haley did the better in Lewis County than her statewide average, carrying nearly 17% of the committed vote with 95 ballots cast for her.

Lewis County has 9,337 active Republican voters, putting turnout there at 6.1%.

In St. Lawrence County, there were 925 committed ballots cast in the Democratic primary with all precincts reporting. Biden got 749, or 85.8% of the vote. Blank ballot totals were unavailable as of Wednesday, and will be shared when the results are certified. Williamson got 7.14% of the vote with 66 ballots cast for her, and Phillips got 7% with 65 votes.

St. Lawrence County has 20,138 registered Democrat voters, putting turnout at approximately 4.5%.

In the Republican primary, there were 1,377 committed ballots cast, and Trump won with 78% of the vote, 1,080 ballots. Haley got nearly 16% of the vote with 219 ballots cast with her name.

With 22,531 registered active Republican voters in St. Lawrence County, the turnout was approximately 6.1%.