Early reports of voting issues with new machines in NY

[Renew Deal]

So, it’s only shortly after 8 a.m., and I’m already getting reports from around NYC and in its suburbs about problems with the new voting machines. It could be a very long night with lots of legal challenges if this keeps up.

UPDATE: Most of the issues appear to be confined to the five boroughs at the moment. Voters on Long Island and in Erie County have so far found things to be running fairly smoothly. But, of course, it’s still early. And some of the upstate sites won’t open until noon.

Here’s a sample of what has come in so far from readers:


- “Hey, poll workers all standing outside my poll site at corner of 11st and 9th ave in Park Slope. Poll workers explained that all the paper is locked up and BOE hasn’t delivered the keys. Can’t even vote emergency ballot.” (This is the 52nd AD).

- “My poll site, Queen of Angels on Sunnyside, (Queens; 37th AD), neither scanner is working! Rumor has it that the battery back up packs were put in wrong at a number of sites.”

“…There’s an ‘emergency ballot’ slot- the ballots basically go into a locked compartment in the machine. But it’s going to make getting a good tally today a real challenge if this happens a lot.”

Asked about turnout, the reader replied: “Pretty light. The poll workers and inspectors taking lots of smoke breaks.”

- “My polling place (is) already on paper. Machines broke before 7 a.m. (This comes from Northern Westchester/Mt. Kisco, where Assemblyman Greg Ball and Somers Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy are squaring off today in the 40th SD).

- (Via text message from a Democratic poll site watcher/expert): “Problems cropping up in Wash Hts such as no privacy screens at one polling site and a polling site not yet open. Trying to get a wider picture. Widespread problems downstate. Can’t get details as everyone is so frigging busy. This is still early in the day. Do the math!”

- (From a frustrated labor operative, also via text): “Our voting system is an authentic sham. Hearing tons of anecdotal probs members have had…The BOE and voting system is general is the most scandalous and underreported story of this season. There is no real democracy.”

- (A GOP reader on Long Island writes): “Lawrence Middle School. I was number 4 in my ED at 8:30 AM. 2 dems 2 republicans. That’s not good for Lazio or Blakeman (the hometown guy)…Also not great for Rice…No issues. Very easy. There seem to be a lot of extra workers.”

- (From a Buffalo Republican): “Just cast my Republican ballot in the City of Buffalo (Parkside Lutheran, 141st AD). You can imagine my party’s line was a little shorter than the party opposite’s. But for both parties, lines were smooth and nobody had any problems.”

“This is Rory Allen’s home precinct in that State Senate primary against Antoine Thompson, so his people (Rory’s) were out in force.”

“Our election commissioners, Ralph Mohr and Dennis Ward, spent a few months training the inspectors on these new machines, so the talk in Erie County is that we won’t have many problems. We’ll see.”

http://capitaltonight.com/2010/09/uh-oh

[Blue Owl]

1. Throw Karl Rove and his henchmen in jail

and I bet many of these electronic voting machine snafus will magically go away.

[Renew Deal]

2. NY did a good job with these machines.

You can vote on paper no matter what the machines do. Only problem is you need the keys for the ballots. :woohoo:

[Bill Bored]

3. The paper will likely never be counted by anything other than software. nt

[Renew Deal]

5. I think they will audit 3% of the machines.

Which is around what they audited before. But the paper ballot actually exists, so this system is actually more verifiable than the old mechanical machines.

[Bill Bored]

4. More horror stories at NYT's blog:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/share-your-stories-from-the-voting-booths/?apage=1#comments

[cal04]

6. Voting glitches in Nassau, Suffolk

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/voting-glitches-in-nassau-suffolk-1.2287207

As voters headed to the polls Tuesday, election officials have been dealing with reports about problems with voting machines.

In Nassau, a handful of precincts reported problems when voters made mistakes and their ballots weren't returned, said William Biamonte, Democratic commissioner with the Nassau County Board of Elections. Others had issues with ballots backing up, he said.

"We had a couple of machine reports where if a voter made a mistake, the ballot was not being returned to them," Biamonte said. "And there were some other precincts where ballot boxes were jamming."

(snip)
Upstate, voters in several districts in Pelham were turned away or given emergency ballots because of a glitch, The Associated Press reported. The machines were out of service about 2 1/2 hours.



(I just voted in Nassau on one of the new machines and did not have a problem, however, because there seem to be two separate ballots, it was loudly announced that I was a democrat. Being a proud democrat, I didn't mind, but my mom just said that should be unconstitutional and she would not have voted if they did that to her. Her words were, "It's my business what I am, not their's")