New York voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

Clinton received a smaller vote share than outgoing President Barack Obama had in 2012, while Trump improved on Mitt Romney's performance despite losing the state by a large margin.

Trump also became the fourth winning presidential candidate to lose his state of residence, after James K. Polk, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon.

On April 19, 2016, in the presidential primaries, New York voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic and Republican parties' respective nominees for president.

[4] Two candidates appeared on the Democratic presidential primary ballot:[5] Similarly to the general election, both candidates in the Democratic primary had a connection to New York, as New York was Clinton's adopted home state and the birthplace of Sanders (who was running from neighboring Vermont).

Three candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot:[5] Polls projected New York to remain safely in the Democratic column for former Senator Hillary Clinton, despite it also being the home state of Donald Trump for his entire life.

The following is a certified list of persons who made valid presidential write in filings with the State Board of Elections[18] According to The New York Times, only 300 write-in votes were counted in 2012,[19] while 63,239 were recorded as "Blank, Void or Scattering".

Trump's message on trade policy and pledge to halt job outsourcing appealed strongly to the Rust Belt region of the United States, where many local economies had been ravaged by the loss of industrial jobs, which extends into Upstate New York cities like Binghamton, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.

In Erie County, where Buffalo is located in Western New York bordering the Great Lakes, Clinton won only 51-44 compared with Obama's 57–41 victory in 2012.

Clinton suffered her strongest swings against her in traditionally Democratic Northern New York along the Saint Lawrence River.

Clinton and Obama both received 68% in the county, but Trump's unpopularity with young people and students led him to fall to only 24% of the vote compared with 28% for Romney.

In the populated suburbs around New York City, Hillary Clinton won overall, although, with the sole exception of her county of residence, there were strong swings against her compared with President Obama's performance.

With Donald Trump having made major gains over Romney's performance across Upstate New York and improving overall in suburban downstate, Hillary Clinton was heavily dependent on New York City for her victory; her margin of 1,724,416 votes in the Five Boroughs accounted for almost all of her statewide majority.