Data uncovered by New York University Law School’s Brennan Center reveals that up to 39% of votes cast for governor in election districts served by that polling place simply vanished. For example, 71 voters in the 23rd Election District cast ballots, but the gubernatorial votes on 28 were ruled invalid by electronic scanners.
The Brennan Center has filed a legal challenge to New York’s method of handling so-called overvotes, ballots on which a voter fills in ovals next to the names of two candidates for a single office. A scanner screen shows a confusing alert and asks the voter if he or she wants to proceed. If the voter goes ahead, the ballot in that race is disqualified. Across the city, as well as in neighborhoods surrounding PS 65, the rate of supposed overvoting was less than half of one percent. Two conclusions are possible: One, citizens at this polling place made the overvoting error 100 times more frequently than other New Yorkers. Two, the scanners there ran haywire.
The results were brought to the attention of the state and city boards of elections in October. The response was a big shrug. Properly vigilant election officials would inspect the 900 paper ballots cast at the school to determine whether they include rampant overvoting or were misread by defective scanners. The latter could point to technical flaws that may be more widespread than recognized and certainly demand fixing. Should voter error be the cause, the city board would have the duty to flood the site with voting assistance next Election Day.
As of now, though, the board refuses to check the records. Someone must. And here is another matter to be taken up by the Department of Investigation as the agency plumbs the depths of the board’s incompetence.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
Technorati Tag in Del.icio.us 
No comments:
Post a Comment