NY polling place problems

[suffragette]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-primary-voters-outraged-broken-machines-late-polls-article-1.2606810

Queens resident George Mack said he came to P.S. 52 in Springfield Gardens to vote right at 6 a.m. He, and about 50 other early voters, learned all three machines on site were broken. Volunteers at the school told voters to place their ballots in a slot, and they would all get processed later.
~~~
Meanwhile, voters at the Cooper Park Houses in Greenpoint, Brooklyn couldn't even get close to a machine. More than two hours after polls were supposed to open at 6 a.m., that site was still closed.
~~~
"I came back at 7:30 and they had just gotten the key. Upon entering, there were no voting machines."
A Board of Elections representative arrived around 8, she said, and told voters he had been busy tending to problems at other polls. Voting finally started at Atlantic Terminal around 8:30.

[geek tragedy]

1. this is not surprising, sadly, happens every election nt

[LiberalFighter]

2. Is it because of smaller government?

In our county in Indiana we don't have too many issues like that.

[geek tragedy]

4. no, it's because it's hard to win budget fights for voting machines

and elections systems.

[still_one]

3. and one reason why I don't understand why more people don't do absentee ballots

[brooklynite]

7. Here in NY you can't unless you're actually unable to go to the polls.

[still_one]

14. That is unfortunate. No problem with that in California

[geek tragedy]

8. you have to have an excuse here. and it's a lot less work to

spend 3 minutes at the polling place than dealing with an absentee ballot.

we really need to have early voting here, at least for general elections and national primaries.

part of the problem is that we have elections every 6 months or so here.

[suffragette]

6. Not surprising, but very discouraging.

[Hortensis]

25. From the stories, apparently it's hitting critical mass in NY.

For the first time in my life I find myself glad I'm not a commissioner on the NY State Board of Elections.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Is it really so hard to plan ahead for these things?

I don't understand why somebody doesn't check beforehand, like weeks or months ago, to be sure everything was in place and working. It's not like they didn't know this election was coming up.

[suffragette]

9. Yes. Voters have been disparaged for not having taken care of registration months ago,

and for not knowing the rules or to check to make sure their affiliation hasn't been changed on them.

Yet, when things like this happen the people in charge of the process itself seem to not be prepared properly, even with all the experience of previous elections, the advance notice and the fact that it is their job to perform.

It just shouldn't have to be this hard.

[suffragette]

10. More info from Think Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/19/3770674/new-york-primary-voting-problems/

In addition, voters in Brooklyn have reported that their polling sites were closed. Clarke said that one site at 195 Graham Ave was closed “due to technical difficulties.” Poll workers there reportedly “directed voters to another alternative site, and told voters they should go there and cast affidavit ballots,” Clarke said.

A polling place in Fort Green, Brooklyn, also opened more than two hours after it was supposed to, according to FiveThirtyEight chief economics reporter Ben Casselman. Though it was supposed to open at 6:00 a.m., Casselman said, his polling place didn’t open until 8:15 a.m., apparently because it was a new polling location and there was “no coordinator on site.”

Two hours after polls are meant to open in #Brooklyn and our polling place isn't ready. #NYPrimary pic.twitter.com/58KUvKPMuU
— Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) April 19, 2016

Malfunctioning equipment was also reported at multiple sites in Brooklyn. Clarke said voting machines at the 215 MacDougal Street polling location were reported broken. “Our voter indicated that at some point the police arrived and locked up the voting machines because they were not working,” Clarke said. “We contacted the Board of Elections, and they said they’d send someone there.”
Another voter reported on Twitter that ballot scanners were malfunctioning at his polling site in Bushwick, Brooklyn. A poll worker reportedly told him that ballots there “won’t be counted today,” but will be at a later date.

[suffragette]

11. WSJ report - even a voting rights attorney faced problems

http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-voters-report-irregularities-at-poll-sites-1461085618

In Clinton Hill in Brooklyn, poll workers were seen Tuesday morning collecting ballots by hand and had trouble finding affidavits to give to voters. Voters posted pictures on social media of spelling errors on ballots. Voters at P.S. 273 in Brooklyn said they were turned away because of technical difficulties.

In other places, such as Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Brooklyn’s Park Slope, hundreds had voted by 10 a.m.—and voters there were reporting few problems.

A number of voters said they showed up at their usual polling sites to discover the site had been moved without notice, sending them across the neighborhood searching for their new voting location.

“I’m very concerned,” said Richard Emery, a voting rights attorney on the Upper West Side. “This is the third location I’ve been to today to try and vote and I just ended up filling out an affidavit. The Board of Elections is a disaster.”

[suffragette]

12. Polling places moved and voters redirected with handwritten signs

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160419/upper-west-side/uws-polling-site-changes-confuse-sabotage-voters-locals-say

UPPER WEST SIDE — Voters who have gone to the same polling sites for decades turned up at their usual voting locations Tuesday baffled to learn they had to head elsewhere to cast a ballot in the presidential primary — and in some cases given conflicting information on where to go.

The Board of Elections moved several longtime voting sites in the neighborhood, but many voters were unaware of the change, they said.

"I was expecting to vote," said Sarah, 77, who'd been going to P.S. 9 on West 84th Street, one of the longtime neighborhood polling sites that the BOE moved, for 40 years.

~~~

Electa Arenal de Rodriguez said she'd been voting at P.S. 87 since 1966 but that election workers couldn't find her name on the roster.

She was disappointed not to vote but was given an affidavit ballot envelope, which she said she'd fill out.

[madokie]

13. By Hook or by Crook

I'm telling you that the powers to be don't want a Sanders Presidency and will do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen.

Hillary wants the job so bad that she'll do whatever it takes to get it. You can bet on that

[suffragette]

15. Sure seems like Brooklyn had been extra hard hit, first with purging voter rolls, now

with polling place issues.

[suffragette]

16. "Latest from N.Y. primaries: Postcards cause polling location problems upstate"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/04/19/latest-ny-primaries-clintons-cast-their-votes/83230426/


2:15 p.m.: Lines formed at some polling places in the areas as voters waited for the noon opening to cast their ballots. At a polling place upstate in Greece, a suburb of Rochester, 20 people had voted by 12:10 p.m. A worker there said in past primaries, just a couple of people voted in the first hour.

However, 15 to 30 people in Greece were unable to cast ballots at the Edna Tina Wilson Center on Island Cottage Road. Michele Frangakis said she was first in line there but was not allowed to cast a ballot.

She said she got a postcard in the mail directing her to a new location, but "they're telling me I can't vote here because it's not my district." Frangakis said officials at the precinct could not get through to the board of elections or other precincts, so she didn't know where she should go.

It's possible that some voters got two postcards in the mail — one with their polling place for the primary, and another for the May school board election — and went to the wrong location.

[suffragette]

17. "Problems at Williamsburg Polling Station Just One of Many Headaches For Voters"

http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/04/problems-at-east-williamsburg-polling-station-just-one-of-many-headaches-for-new-york-state-primary-voters/

By the time we arrived just after 12:30 pm, the community center section of the NYCHA public housing complex was buzzing with voters, most of them elderly and many of them Spanish-speaking. Hines, who sat behind a table where she was helping check voters in and verify their registration, informed us that the late opening, “Wasn’t nobody’s fault here.”

According to the site coordinator, Dwain Woods, when the volunteers arrived at 5 am this morning, they found that the site was locked. “Housing didn’t open the building,” he said, referring to NYCHA. According to Woods, someone finally showed up with a key and volunteers were eventually able to open up the polls by 7:30 am. When asked if the experience was frustrating he said, “Yes, but now it’s smooth.”

Unfortunately what might seem like a small snag could have potentially put out dozens or more voters. And across the city, there have been a number of problems. There’s the potentially confusing ballot design thanks to “antiquated New York law,” and the issue of broke-ass machines. Ugh. On top of that, New York has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country (including no Election-Day registration), potentially disenfranchising a huge number of otherwise totally eligible voters for really no good reason at all.

[amborin]

18. what a mess! how come no dry runs? or any kind of verification that things were up and ready?

and these seem to be disproportionately in Bernie-favoring districts

[suffragette]

19. Great points. And why is there more bashing on the people who want to exercise

Their right to vote than on the people who are supposed to have the expertise to provide the means to vote?

It just shouldn't be this complicated and difficult.

I've seen numerous threads about how would be voters should have informed themselves and prepared earlier to ensure they were registered properly and that it's their fault if they aren't registered now. This even as some of those voters noted that they had been registered as Democrats previously and specific areas like Brooklyn note unusually large voter roll purges.

Yet officials certainly had ample time to prepare and it is their job to do so, yet here are these problems occurring.

[suffragette]

20. Upstate reports of being denied affidavit ballots

http://m.wptz.com/news/new-york-ag-to-staff-hotline-for-primary-day-poll-problems/39079376

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced he has a hotline staffed by attorneys and staff in his Civil Rights Bureau for Tuesday's primary. The number is 800-771-7755.

The statewide hotline debuted in November 2012. Schneiderman said his office fielded hundreds of complaints from voters and worked with election officials to quickly address issues.

As of 4 p.m., Schneiderman's office said it had received 562 phone calls and 140 email complaints. A spokesman said the Attorney General received about 150 total complains in 2012.

~~~

Schneiderman's spokesman said the office also received complaints about poll workers allegedly denying voters affidavit ballots when requested. He said this was primarily a problem in upstate counties.

[sabrina 1]

21. They've also CHANGED POLLING places a day before the primary in many precincts. We have to do

something about this or say goodbye to even a claim of democracy.

[suffragette]

22. I don't see how anyone can say this doesn't depress and discourage people

From voting.

And that is just plain WRONG!

[suffragette]

23. "Campaigns cry foul after New York voters report issues"

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/politics/new-york-primary-voter-problem-polls-sanders-de-blasio/

"From long lines and dramatic understaffing to longtime voters being forced to cast affidavit ballots and thousands of registered New Yorkers being dropped from the rolls, what's happening today is a disgrace," Sanders spokesman Karthik Ganapathy said in an email to CNN, calling the difficulties a "shameful demonstration."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Hillary Clinton supporter, called for major reforms to the Board of Elections as a series of snafus continued to bubble up, including reports of the errant "purge" in Brooklyn.
"It has been reported to us from voters and voting rights monitors that the voting lists in Brooklyn contain numerous errors, including the purging of entire buildings and blocks of voters from the voting lists," de Blasio said in a statement Tuesday calling on the board to "reverse that purge."
"The perception that numerous voters may have been disenfranchised undermines the integrity of the entire electoral process and must be fixed," he said.
~~~
In pledging to audit the board, the office of New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer earlier confirmed in its own statement that "more than 125,000 voters in Brooklyn were removed from voter rolls," while making reference to "widespread reports of voters having trouble accessing polling sites and other polling irregularities."

[beedle]

24. Ok, so voters have to be prepared 8 months ahead of time

before the candidates are really even fully declared and no real debates have happened.

If the voters are not ready, too bad, you should know the rules and if you can't prepare 8 months ahead of time then that's just too bad.

On the other hand, those organizing the vote, have no such "unknowns" to deal with. They have a set date, a well known process, doesn't really matter if one candidate unexpectedly gains in popularity, no excuses for any real surprises, the only thing that might have to change is the names on the ballots ... yet when they are still unprepared, the same people who believe the voters should have been ready, have the reaction "that's too bad, meh, maybe someday we should consider maybe thinking of studying some way to possible do something, I guess."

[suffragette]

26. You said this better than I have. Perfectly stated point!

Thank you!

[questionseverything]

29. are you starting to understand the rules are only for the little people

not the powers that be

this mess is criminal

when we see all this happen in front of our eyes, is there any reason to believe the blackboxes are not similarly corrupted ?

[B Calm]

30. Denying a citizen's right to vote should frighten you, unless

you are one of those who believe in small “d” democracy, the idea that a citizen’s right to vote is only conditioned on joining a private party.

And, if you believe in small “r” republican governance, the idea that legislators represent political parties and not their entire constituency should worry you—especially when almost 50 percent of voters no longer trust either political party to represent them.

[YOHABLO]

27. If there is a major election coming up, shouldn't they make sure machines are

properly up and running way before the election? You would think. It's unfair to blame the voter for not casting an absentee ballot. Election day is election day!

[suffragette]

28. They should. Also, in another thread someone in NY pointed out that it is difficult

To get an absentee ballot there.

So most people there are stuck with needing to go to polling places and there are clearly large problems with that today.

[suffragette]

31. New York City Comptroller To Audit Board Of Election Due To Hundreds Of Thousands Of Polling Problem

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/04/19/primary-day-voting-problems/

CBS2’s Steve Langford reported Scott Stringer is going to audit the Board of Election due to the numerous polling problems across the city.

“Why is it alleged that 125,000 people have been removed from the voter rolls? Why did 60,000 people receive notices to vote that didn’t have the primary date? Why were people told they were in the wrong polling place time and time again?” Stringer said. “The next president of the United States could very easily be decided tonight and yet the incompetence of the Board of Election puts a cloud over these results.”

~~~

Other voters said they were plagued by registry issues. One woman said if your last name was at the end of the alphabet at her polling site in Windsor Terrace, you had to vote affidavit.

1/2 @BrianLehrer At my polling venue in Windsor Terrace this AM they didn't have the list of names past N in our district. #NYPrimary




No names past N? Really messed up.

[Contrary1]

32. And more voting irregularities

"New York City polls opened at 6 a.m. on Tuesday – or at least they were meant to. Social media quickly filled up with complaints of closed polling places, missing registrations and other issues. This afternoon New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said that amid “widespread reports” of voting irregularities, his office would “undertake an audit of the operations and management of the Board of Elections.”

I saw those some of those issues first-hand. I arrived at my polling place in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood just before 8 a.m. to find mass confusion. The doors were open but workers were still setting up and no voting was taking place. Several dozen people waited in line, many of them on cell phones calling the New York City Board of Elections — which has a long history of incompetence in administering and counting the votes — or the media.

“I came here at 6, came back at 7, they weren’t open and we’re still waiting,” said Mary Simpson-Driver, 66, who said she had lived in the neighborhood for some 40 years. This was her first time voting at this location, Simpson-Driver said, brandishing a change-of-site notification she had received in the mail; her old polling place had been in a nearby school, where voting had always gone smoothly.

“They’re trying to steal our vote,” added her husband, Eddie Driver, 72.

Poll workers explained that there was no coordinator on site, and that voting couldn’t begin without one. (They declined to comment further.) Voting finally began around 8:15 a.m. – more than two hours late — and by about 8:45 the line had mostly cleared out. Most of the people who were there when I arrived stayed around to vote, but I don’t know how many people gave up earlier in the morning."

http://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/new-york-primary-presidential-election-2016/

[suffragette]

34. " I don’t know how many people gave up earlier in the morning"

Sad state of affairs.


Thanks for adding this to the list here.

[tabasco]

33. Unacceptable and unforgivable.

The entire election board should be dismissed.

[suffragette]

36. It's so infuriating.

It is unforgiveable.

[suffragette]

35. Report in Guardian live blog

Last edited Tue Apr 19, 2016, 09:26 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/apr/19/new-york-primary-polls-sanders-trump-clinton-cruz-kasich-live

There was a steady stream of students in and out of the polling station at the State University of New York (Suny) at Albany, but vast numbers of them walked away disappointed at being unable to vote.

For many of them, the problem was that they’d turned in their voter registration or change of address forms to a third-party group on campus running a voter registration drive in March; those forms, turned in to a group the name of which no student could recall, never made it to the county Board of Elections before the registration deadline.

~~~

With all the confusion and the volume of students turned away, the relationship between the poll watchers, many of whom were lawyers volunteering their time, and poll workers were strained. Some workers tried to stymie the watchers’ ability to follow students through the process; others were heard complaining that they were too engaged trying to figure out why so many students were being turned away. And that was before one alleged Board of Election employee dropping off ballots was caught on tape loudly asking poll workers in front of students “Do you think that this is a party JFK would be proud of?” and proclaiming himself “angry” that Sanders was allowed to run as a Democrat.

(Both the failure to turn in voter registration forms and electioneering in a polling location would be violations of election law.)

I can't figure out how to link directly to this section of the long, live reporting, so you'll need to scroll down to find this report.

To add to the disappointment of first time voters being treated like this, one student who had registered at the voting drive with now missing forms is wondering if he'll need to worry about stolen identification and identification fraud in addition to not being able to vote.