Currently, New York Villages, School Districts, Fire Districts, Library Districts, Other Municipal Corporations and private organizations, still use the old Lever voting machines for their local elections.
In August of 2014, Chapter 273 of the Laws of New York was signed, which extended until December 2015, the continued use of lever voting machines at elections not conducted by a board of elections.
This law requires that on or before January 31, 2015, the State Board of Elections submit a report to the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Temporary President of the Senate and the chairs of the Committees on Election Law of the Senate and the Assembly concerning the administration of elections by villages, school districts, fire districts, library districts and other municipal corporations required to hold elections.
The report is to include recommendations and guidance for the use of voting systems which are compliant with section 7-202 of the Election Law and applicable State Board of Elections Rules and Regulations. Chapter 273 also required the report to include an analysis of the cost and fiscal impact for transitioning to compliant voting systems.
The report was filed on February 4, 2015.
The reports conclusions:
A number of county boards of elections have already come to understandings with their special districts, and have migrated to compliant voting systems. The transition in these counties has been successful, as attested to by the election commissioners of those counties, and voters now use the same voting system and ballot format in every election in which they choose to participate. Poll workers also benefit from the transition in these counties, with the elimination of separate training or through streamlining training and procedures for each different type of election in which they serve and each different type of equipment used.
In those instances where special districts have not yet contacted their respective county boards of elections to discuss a path for transitioning to compliant voting systems, we strongly urge that they do so. A number of county boards of elections, in response to a recent survey, have stated that they do not assist in the conduct of special district elections because they had not yet been asked to do so. In response to the follow-up question of ‘what would your answer be if you were asked?’ many county boards responded that they would indeed make systems available.
If villages, school districts, fire districts other special districts were to decide to purchase their own voting systems, costs for doing so would be substantial, and would presume such funds are available. These costs would need to include the cost of purchasing the system and its ancillary components and supplies, then using and maintaining it with their own trained election team.
At a minimum, villages should consider taking steps to transfer elections to November, so that they coincide with existing municipal elections. This transfer of elections (made possible pursuant to Election Law Section 15-104(1)(c)) and Article 9 of the Village Law), would significantly consolidate and possibly eliminate election-related costs to villages. Additionally, this transfer would increase opportunities for independent voter access and increase voter turnout. Steps should be taken across the state to encourage higher turnout at all levels of the election process, including villages and other special districts. The inclusion of these contests on general election ballots for existing municipal elections would serve multiple purposes and achieve the goals and benefits of consolidated and shared services and costs. (Note that if such elections are required to be non-partisan elections, they can be accommodated on either of the optical scan voting systems currently in use in New York State.)
To help ensure special district access to compliant voting systems, the law should require that upon request, county boards of elections must make voting systems available to special districts, in a manner similar to the village accommodation in Election Law Section 15-104, or by amending Election Law Section 3-224.
CLICK HERE to read the full report(PDF) which includes potential cost for the transition and County Board comments.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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