Early voting for New York City primary elections kicked off Saturday.

Residents headed to cast their vote for the city’s next mayor. However, lines at polling stations seemed very small to nonexistent.

Deborah Rozier, who's been a poll worker for 10 years, says the lack of people on the first day is a bit disheartening but she's remaining hopeful.

“My thing this year is it's important, this is New York City…we need these people to help us because times are changing,” she says.

Saturday also marked the first time the city used ranked-choice voting, where voters have the option to rank up to five candidates.

If one candidate receives a majority first place votes, they win. If no candidate gets over 50%, that's when ranked-choice voting kicks in.

Debbie Louis, of Rank the Vote NYC, says the system gives all candidates a fair shot.

Resident Roxanne Criam says she appreciated the option when she voted Saturday. “That just gives you the choice, if you don't like one candidate and if he doesn't win, then you can vote for the next one,” she says.

Early voting runs through June 20, and Primary Election Day is June 22.