Gothamist: Poll Malfunctions: Voting Problems For New Yorkers

Todd W.

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 10:19:35 -0500

Voting took me about 10 minutes from arrival to departure, including time for the election workers to figure out how to allow me to do a write-in. There was a short one- or two-person line for each district. This was at about 7:30 pm. This was no different from my other voting experiences over the past seven or eight years of voting in NYC.

joe

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 20:04:39 -0500

Having the day off today I walked all over the East Village, Alphabet City, Lower East Side, and SoHo this afternoon and evening. Must've seen at least a dozen polling places. For what it's worth not one had a line...

55

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:37:28 -0500

I voted at the Ralph Hernandez Houses on the Lower East Side, the place was a ghost town. I guess those people don't vote.

Stuck Chumer

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:32:09 -0500

I wonder how many people even bothered to research the OTHER contests on the ballot. U.S. Senator, N.Y. Court Justices, Members of Assembly, etc.

Jeff

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:19:29 -0500

http://www.zogby.com/ Just a poll, but intriguing

uws voter

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 16:42:57 -0500

Meghan, I believe you're incorrect. They're not, in fact, volunteers but workers who are paid for the day. The pay is about 12.00/hour. I know, because my retired mother did the job during the last election near her home in Queens, which falls as does the rest of the city, under the Board of Elections. In your rush to characterize uws'ers, you missed the point which is after the last Presidential election which was decided in a tie, and the accurate predicitons that this election's turnout would be unprecedentedly high, the Board of Elections, its staff and its per diem mininons should have been better prepared and trained. By the way,it's all over the Times and NPR. Although perhaps you consider those sources "biased>'

nyny

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 15:40:07 -0500

re: uws voter you might be advised that these so-called poll "workers" are actually (nearly) all volunteers. perhaps -- if you think you might not be all henny-penny and ignorant -- you might give it a go next year. typical upper-westie: selfish, self-centered, and always ready with a hearty complaint when life is a bit inconvenient for them. What book did you read while you were waiting?

Meghan

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 15:27:47 -0500

I just voted in Soho. NO line and it took about three minutes from start to finish, with amazingly friendly poll workers. Why do I feel strangly left out of the voting madness....

We have our own 'rap impresario'

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 15:08:24 -0500

Damon Dash had an MTV posse dogging him while he Rocked the Vote at the NY School of Law.

uws voter

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 15:03:26 -0500

It's absolutely true. Voted today at 11AM in the usually quiet 102 and Amsterdam polling place located in the basement of a school. It was crowded and chaotic with ignorant poll workers running around like henny-penny. The reason? The voting machine for my election district had chosen today to collapse. "Damn, that means more work," sighed one of the slow=moving election workers. So the long, snaking line of voters were issued paper ballots. Interestingly enough, paper ballots are not tallied for one week after the election is over (they're counted along with the absentee and affidavit ballots) so I sort of feel left out of the action Why the Board of Elections was not prepared for this day is beyond me. Except it is a notorious haven for incompetence and patronage. When you go to vote, bring a book. It will be a long, frustrating wait.

mongo

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 14:27:06 -0500

What the hell is a reporst?

W

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 14:19:13 -0500

There is a funny billboard in Waterbury, CT...well maybe not funny, but intersting. it simply says "Who would Osama vote for?" Now, the Bush people didn't gt upset and the Kerry people did. I wonder why that is? I think it is because John Kerry doesn't haev the guts to protect America and Bin Laden knows that. Which is why he would want Kerry in power. So that he can get back to his normal life, like when clinton was in office and didn't have the guts to pull the trigger (twice) on Bin Laden when he had the chance. P.Diddy's shirt should read "Vote Bush or Die!" Because that is what will happen. Bush! Bush! Bush! Bush! Bush!

JTvoter

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 14:04:03 -0500

My wife voted for the first time this morning (she's a new US citizen) and as she stepped out of the booth the first thing she said was "Man those machines are old."

martin

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 14:03:43 -0500

"so he doesn't die"....haha, good one jen

Janine

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:39:42 -0500

I heard that the voting help lines are so swamped that the phones crashed.

Jen

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:38:13 -0500

Laren listed Election Evening drinking ideas yesterday. And Dirk, I think disenfranchised means "I didn't vote in 2000 so don't ask me about it."

bf

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:33:30 -0500

god, please please please let kerry win. either way - to celebrate or drown our sorrows, my friends and i are getting rip-roaring drunk tonight. anyone have suggestions for a fun place?

Dirk

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:16:35 -0500

P. Diddy was on CNN this morning. He sounded like such an uninformed idiot. He just kept talking about he was "disenfranchised" in 2000, without really explain himself. He came across as being a real blockhead. Though at least he got people to register and vote, so that's not so bad.