NYC BOE Going Back to the Future

The New York City Board of Elections (BOE) could face legal action from advocates for the disabled over its plan to bring back lever voting machines.

James Weisman, senior vice president and senior counsel at the United Spinal Association, said his organization was considering taking legal steps to stop the BOE from using the machines.

He said disabled voters would face physical challenges to using the lever voting machines.

So the board made the following change for the 2013 Primaries. Elections officials say disabled voters will have access to electronic devices at each poll site this year so that they can submit paper ballots for the September primary, even though inaccessible lever voting machines are being brought back.

A spokeswoman for the city's Board of Elections said in a statement today that ballot marking devices would allow "all voters, including voters with disabilities, to vote privately and independently at their poll site" on Election Day.

So we are now "Going Back to the Future".

First we were going back to using lever voting machines and now will also hand count paper ballots.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Governor Has Not Signed Bill Allowing NYC To Use Lever Voting Machines in 2013 Primary

It’s now officially up to New York Governor Cuomo to decide whether old-fashioned lever voting machines can be used in New York City's Primary and Runoff elections this year as well as adding another week between the primary and runoff.

The Legislation granting the change was sent to Cuomo’s office Tuesday, July 2nd. He must decide by July 13th whether to sign or veto the measure, which was approved by the Senate and Assembly before the close of the legislative session last month.

When signed, the following will happen:

1. The old lever machines will be used that have no way to verify the vote or do a recount.

2. The time between the primary and runoff will be extended by one week, to three weeks.

3. The New York City Police Department, an executive agency of the Mayor, has been cut out of the reporting process. Election workers will upload the results directly to the New York City Board of Elections website, making the data available immediately. Under the old system, results would go to police precincts and then be distributed to the Associated Press. Now, the AP is no longer the gatekeeper.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the governor is still reviewing the bill and has not made a decision on whether to sign it.

Good government groups have urged Cuomo to veto the measure, arguing that using the old machines would be a step backward.

But using lever machines brings many legal problems like: No required paper trail, not ADA compliant, not state approved, and not able to display all the new approved New York City languages. And finally, many of the lever machines in storage need mechanical repair that will require the expense of cannibalizing machines for parts and finding technicians who know how to fix them and a printer who knows how to print lever ballots.

The New York City Board of Election Day Operations will have to request for the Commissioners’ authorization to spend one (1) day training the poll workers in the Train the Trainer Classes on the lever machines using the 2009 Poll Worker Procedures. There have been no changes to the lever machines since 2009. A consultant is currently assisting the Board revising the poll worker exams and poll worker curriculum.

Monitors will be using hard copy reports because the Tablet App is currently designed for the electronic voting systems and there is not enough time to redesign and reprogram the Tablets.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC BOE and Primary Run-Offs

While the city primary elections are four months away, the New York City Board of Elections has already sounded the alarm that it will not be able to implement a run-off election with the procedures required for the new voting machines that were put into place in 2010. State law requires that a run-off election occur between the top two finishers two weeks after the primary for citywide offices (mayor, public advocate and comptroller) if no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote.

The new procedures following the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, require more time for the printing of paper ballots, the testing of scanners to read the ballots, and transportation of the machines to and from the poll sites. Even with the old lever machines, the top two candidates for a run-off were sometimes not known until days before the run-off. The already tight schedule has been exacerbated by the new voting machines.

Some good government groups are recommending the state legislature pass Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) to replace the separate run-off election. With IRV, voters rank candidates from first to last based on preference. The process starts by the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Ballots assigned to eliminated candidate are recounted and assigned to one of the remaining candidates based on the next preference on each ballot. This process continues until one candidate wins by obtaining more than half the votes.

Another option besides IRV includes extending by a week to three-weeks the timing of the run-off election. Other less favorable options include using the old lever machines, pre-printing all possible ballots in advance, using ballots with “candidate A” and “candidate B” as placeholders for actual candidates made known through a separate card given to voters at the poll.

State Senator Marty Golden has sponsored a bill, and the Senate passed it, that would require the New York City Board of Elections to bring back the old-fashioned lever machines.

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said there were no plans to take up the Senate bill and passed an Assembly bill allowing for three weeks between the primary and a runoff, which they feel should be sufficient to reprogram the new machines.

But using lever machines brings many legal problems like: No required paper trail, not ADA compliant, not HAVA or state approved, and not able to display all the new approved languages. There is also the need to get the run-off ballots to overseas and military voters. And finally, many of the lever machines in storage need mechanical repair that will require the expense of cannibalizing machines for parts and finding technicians who know how to fix them and a printer who knows how to print lever ballots.

Now we have to see what the Governor will do.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC BOE Looking at Voting By Non-Citizens Residents

The New York City Board of Elections meeting was held on April 30, 2013. These are some of the issues I found interesting.

1. Steven H. Richman, General Counsel reported on the City Council’s proposed local law to amend the New York City Charter by adding a new Chapter 46-A - City Elections - Voting By Non-Citizens Residents. This is a local law to amend the New York City Charter in relation to allowing immigrants lawfully present in New York City to vote in municipal elections. The Committee on Immigration, jointly with the Committee on Governmental Operations, will be holding a Hearing on May 9, 2013 and invited the Board to testify.

President Frederic M. Umane stated that this proposed law would cause tremendous administrative and financial burdens on the Board, and questioned if this proposal would be constitutional. The Board would have to create new voter registration forms and new poll worker training procedures, print additional separate ballots and poll list books, and maintain separate voter registration lists. President Umane recommended that the Board take no position on the proposed law, but to present the potential problems and additional costs it would cause at the Board.

Mr. Richman provided an overview of the proposed law. A “municipal voter” shall mean a person who is not a United State citizen, but is lawfully present in the U.S. on the date of the election in which he/she is voting. A “municipal election” shall mean the designation, nomination and election process for a municipal officer, including the mayor, comptroller, public advocate, member of the city council and borough presidents. “Municipal voter registration” shall mean the method by which the Board registers new municipal voters pursuant to the provision of the chapter.

Commissioner Shamoun asked if this proposed law was implemented in other boards of elections in the United States. Mr. Richman replied yes, but they are not in municipalities as large as New York City. President Umane moved for Board staff to prepare a draft response addressing the Board’s concerns regarding the implementation of the proposed law, and to circulate the draft to the Commissioners before the next meeting. The motion was unanimously adopted.

2. Mr. John P. O’Grady, Chief Voting Machine Technician provided a status update of the mechanical lever voting machines. In the past 6 weeks, Voting Machine Technicians (VMTs) from all boroughs were dispatched to the Board’s storage warehouse to ascertain the usability conditions of the mechanical lever voting machines.

A total of 5,424 lever machines have been tested. A few issues remain to be resolved, and there is enough lead time to clean and oil the machines if the Board should conduct an election using them. One of the biggest issues presented are the condition of the paper rolls that are loaded on the spindle and used to record write-in votes. Staff has contacted several vendors and Phoenix Graphics is the only vendor that is interested in fabricating these paper rolls. Their current bid is costly at $200 per paper roll with a three (3) month lead time. The Board would also need to purchase light boxes and light bulbs which are used to indicate the party of the voter, as well as whether the booth is in use.

President Umane asked Mr. O’Grady to research all costs and report back to the full Board. President Umane inquired which mode the machines would be set in for a Run-off Primary. Mr. Richman stated Primary mode.

Commissioner Jose Araujo inquired about the status of Senate Bill S4088 relating to the use of lever voting machines for non-federal elections in NYC. Mr. Richman stated that there is no action on the bill. Mr. Richman stated that the Board may receive more information on the bill at the Information and Education Day in Albany, NY.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Lever Machines Still Counting Votes

Co-op City (Cooperative City), located in the Baychester section of the borough of the Bronx in northeast New York City, is the largest cooperative housing development in the world. Its population is estimated to be around 55,000 with a ethnic makeup is 55% Black, 25% Hispanic, and 20% Caucasian. RiverBay Corporation is the corporation that operates the community and is led by a 15-member board of directors. As a cooperative development, the tenants run the complex through this elected board. board. The corporation employs over 1000 people and has 32 administrative and operational departments to serve the development.


The New York City Board of Elections Commissioner Barrera reported on April 9th that Co-op City’s RiverBay Corporation requested to use seventy (70) lever voting machines for the purpose of conducting their Board of Directors’ Election on May 22, 2013.


Commissioner Barrera recalled that the Commissioners have supported this request in the past. RiverBay Corporation would borrow the machines without the use of any Board personnel, and in particular, they would contract directly with the approved ballot printers, outside technicians, truckers and ancillary services. They will self certify the election without the use of any Board personnel and they will indemnify the Board if damage occurs to the voting machines. Commissioner Barrera noted that there is no expense to the Board. Commissioner Barrera moved to authorize RiverBay Corporation’s request. Commissioner Araujo seconded the motion, with President Umane opposing. The motion was adopted. President Umane recalled that in previous years he has raised the same objections to this matter. He feels that the Board should not allow rentals to private parties of the old lever machines.

What do you think about allowing the rental and at what price?










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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