New Delhi, June 25 -- New York City is entering the final, high-stakes stretch of its Democratic mayoral primary, where a historic upset and a complex voting system are colliding. With no candidate crossing the crucial 50% threshold in the first round of votes, the city's next mayor will be decided not by a traditional majority, but by the ranked-choice voting -a method now shaping the future of the nation's largest city.

With 92.8% of votes counted, 33-year-old state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani holds a significant lead with 43.5% of first-choice votes, ahead of Andrew Cuomo (36.4%) and Brad Lander (11.3%).

Cuomo has already conceded, but Mamdani's path to the Democratic nomination still hinges on ranked-choice tabulation, which begin...