Letter to Board of Elections Regarding Primary Day Voting Problems

BY FAX AND FIRST CLASS MAIL

Mr. George Gonzalez
Executive Director
Board of Elections in the City of New York
32 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10004-1609

Dear Executive Director Gonzalez:

I write to express deep concern regarding widespread reports of problems during the Primary Election on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. Based on reports from campaigns, calls to my constituent services hotline and published media accounts within just the last 48 hours, more than 150 polling locations experienced delayed openings, malfunctions of electronic ballot scanners, poll workers mishandling ballots and violations of voter privacy. I expect that many more such instances will come to light in the weeks ahead.

Accounts of problems voting on Primary Day have been far more widespread and specific than those that have accompanied recent elections. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes on November 2nd. My concerns fall into four areas: poll site and equipment readiness, interagency coordination, poll worker training and voter privacy, and voter education.

I request that the Board of Elections in the City of New York (“Board”) provide the following information regarding Primary Election problems and the solutions available to ameliorate them in time for the November General Election.

Poll Site and Equipment Readiness

• Detail the number of ballot scanners that crashed, the reasons why the crashes occurred and the duration of such crashes disaggregated by cause such as poll worker error, voter error, mechanical malfunction or other cause.
• Explain all back-up plans executed when machines crash and how poll workers are trained to handle crashes, and reports of how such plans were executed on Primary Day.
• Detail the number of technicians, both Board and vendor employees, allocated citywide and to each site to address breakdowns.
• Provide the amount of time required to boot-up machines, and any plans to ensure that boot time does not delay poll site from opening.
• Provide a detailed account of the circumstances leading to the delayed openings the seventy-one poll sites acknowledged by the Board.

Interagency Coordination

• Detail partnerships with appropriate City agencies to capitalize on free advertising and voter education opportunities, i.e. taxi TV, televisions in City agencies’ waiting rooms.
• Describe the Board’s procedures for coordinating with the New York City Police Department and the Department of Education, and other relevant City agencies to ensure timely access to poll sites to facilitate site setup and opening.
• Detail instructions and coordination between the New York City Police Department and poll workers to prevent electioneering within polling site boundaries.
Poll Worker Recruitment
• Explain the strategy for recruiting a broad and diverse network of poll workers, including utilizing effective community outreach in order to expand the pool of applicants beyond those provided by major political parties.
• Detail the number of poll workers recruited from political parties, colleges and universities as well as the general public.
Poll Worker Training and Voter Privacy
• Provide the number of poll workers deployed on Primary Day that had completed a Board training session, and the number deployed who did not complete training.
• Provide a copy of the Board’s poll worker training materials and any testing materials used to assess poll worker readiness after training.
• Explain current training procedures regarding the issuance of affidavit ballots.
• Detail the time and resources necessary to redesign ballots to improve legibility.
• Detail the time and resources necessary to redesign ballots and improve training in order to reduce confusion between paper and affidavit versions.
• Provide plans to reconfigure poll sites to reduce foot traffic behind privacy booths.
• Detail policies regarding the provision of privacy sleeves, and the means by which the Board ensures all voters receive them.

Voter Education

• Provide the budget allocated from City, State and/or Federal resources to spend on voter education and a breakdown of how those resources have been spent by the Board.
• Estimate the additional funding necessary for the Board to conduct an additional mailing dedicated to educate all registered voters about the new voting machine between now and the general election.

Thank you for your response to these inquiries by September 30, 2010. Enclosed is a selection of complaints and public reports compiled by my office.

Please feel free to contact me or my Policy Director, DeNora Getachew, to discuss any questions or concerns in greater detail.

Sincerely,


Bill de Blasio
Public Advocate for the City of New York

Cc: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Commissioners of the Board of Elections in the City of New York