Thompson Persists in Wanting Every Vote Counted

The second-place finisher in the Democratic primary for mayor said he's waiting for every vote to be counted as the city's Board of Elections works through the weekend to determine whether a runoff election will be needed.

Marching through Harlem in New York City's African American Day Parade, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson said "the democratic process" should be followed.

"We're waiting to see till later this evening what the machine recanvass shows, and then we'll go from there," he told reporters at the parade.

Thompson has declined to bow out of the race even though Public Advocate Bill de Blasio had a sizeable lead after Tuesday's primary election. It's unclear if de Blasio won the 40 percent needed to avoid an Oct. 1 runoff with Thompson.

The city's Board of Elections was spending the weekend recanvassing the 640,000 votes cast Tuesday. A board spokeswoman said there was no update on the vote count Saturday. The general election is Nov. 5

Asked whether he might make a decision on Sunday evening, Thompson sidestepped the question.

"We'll deal with things as they come about, but right now, we're just waiting to see votes counted," he said. "I think that's important. We want to see every vote counted."

Thompson and de Blasio were both in Harlem on Sunday for the parade. Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota was scheduled to be at events in Manhattan and Brooklyn.