As New York State uses new voting machines for the first time in decades, the primary election was an experiment for machines that had mixed reviews.
On Tuesday, voters were introduced to new way of casting their ballot by using paper ballots rather than lever machines. While many had no problem getting their vote counted, others across the city complained of late openings at poling centers, malfunctioning machines and not-so-helpful poll workers.
In Harlem, while the majority of people who voted had few problems, some appear to have distrust for the new system.
“They operated properly,” said voter Ed Moullette. “My problem is that I don’t trust computers. Computers can be programmed to produce the result that you want. Who has control over these computers is my concern.”
Mary Collins said that while there were no problems at her polling site, she, like many others, complained about reading the ballot sheet.
“On the ballot sheet, the print is too small. The system is a little quicker, but I don’t trust the computer. They can fix the votes real easily,” she said.
Worried about the general election in November, Juanita Pierre-Louise said that her process was easy.
“I had no problem voting,” she said. “It’s just going to be a little awkward in November when more people come out.”
While things appeared to be smooth in most parts of Harlem, the same could not be said for voters in Brooklyn. Community leader A.T. Mitchell said that one polling center didn’t open for hours. Reports indicate that over 70 polling centers didn’t make the 6 a.m. start time.
“They couldn’t find the key to open the machines,” he said. “It took all morning and some of the machines didn’t even show up on time.”
In Southeast Queens, City Councilman James Sanders said that one polling center didn’t open until 3 p.m. He said many voters didn’t even get the opportunity to cast their ballot and machines broke down.
“By that time, you’ve lost the majority and they weren’t given the old type of paper ballot. We really have to see what’s going on with this. Perhaps they have not thought this system through. We had people not understanding how to use the machines,” he said.
President of the Staten Island African-American Political Association, Dora Bernsteiner, said that while there were no major races in the borough, she received no complaints about the machines.
“It has been a quiet day and night for the voters,” she said. “As expected, there weren’t long lines at the polling sites, and from what I saw, the new voting machines performed without a hitch. The November election will probably give a better picture of just how well the machines are a benefit to the election process.”
Complaints across the city about the new machines even led Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lash out at the Board of Elections, calling the process a “royal screwup” and “unacceptable.”
“Some voters waited for hours and other voters may not have a chance to cast their ballots at all,” he said.
The city spent $77 million to implement the new system and the City Council is slated to hold a hearing to figure out what went wrong. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said that the problems might have decided certain races.
“My poll site was down for three hours this morning,” he said. “We’re defiantly going to be a part of any oversight hearing on the machines and what happened here in the primary. We have only seven weeks to fix this. We’ve got to figure out what went wrong and what can be done.”
Gov. David Paterson told the AmNews that the voting machines caused a lot of problems, but because of the light turnout, many issues were addressed.
He said, “They better get their act together by November because people are going to vote in force. In a democracy, everybody should have an unfettered opportunity to cast their vote in a safe environment.”
Reports indicate that the Board of Elections is aware of issues that occurred on Tuesday at polling sites and will take lessons they learned from the primary election and resolve issues before November.
