Voting Glitches on Super Tuesday

See the entire NY State Voter's Bill of Rights here

We're hearing some horror stories from the polling places today. Our first tip came in stating:

"I went to vote this morning and there were no instructions and the people operating the machines barely spoke English. I voted for my candidate then I had to select delegates. There was no instruction as to how many delegates to select, so I went down the row and picked them all, I thought they were Obama's delegates. I later found out that I was only supposed to choose 6, and I had selected 7. I called the board of elections and found out that my vote will not count, even though I clearly selected a candidate. I am very upset and while speaking to a friend, found out that he did the same thing. This is a huge problem."

Huge problem, indeed. The Democratic ballot layout seemed very unclear! However, this tipster may have just spoken with a misinformed Board of Elections employee, because if you vote straight down the line, you're probably picking six delegates plus the alternate . For what it's worth, there are different numbers of delegates up for grabs in each district, and there are different delegates in each district (see this sample ballot from January - PDF).

Another voter wrote in saying:

"I've heard of more than a few issues at polling sites today, primarily with newly registered voters, or voters who submitted a change of party or change of address application in the past several months. A number of people, myself included, have shown up at their designated polling sites only to be turned away because they have no record of their name or residence in their district."

Instead of being told she could vote provisionally, she was sent away and told she could not vote at all. Which happens to be a violation of the NY State Voter's Bill of Rights (here)! If you run into this problem, request a paper ballot. That's what Elizabeth Hasselbeck had to do, and to her horror they handed her a Democratic form! Keep in mind, it'll take a few days for paper ballots to be counted.

CityRoom has "scattered" reports of old machines breaking down, and Gowanus Lounge reports on "incompetent volunteers" running the polls in Park Slope. Heck, even NJ Governor Jon Corzine had trouble voting this morning in Hoboken (poll worker error!).

Have you had trouble voting today? We called the Board of Elections and they told us that if you have complaints, call the Board of Elections office in the borough you were voting in.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on February 5, 2008 4:10 PM

Comments [rss]

Fernyfern

Rose Fox - is anyone doing anything about this, do you know? Will you email me at voterproblemsnyc@gmail.com. each person i speak to has several friends who had the same issues .... ive never seen it this bad before.

Såkandulæredet

People don't change party affiliations much because they CANT do it at the right time. Its not a reasonable assumption. How would I know who the primary candidates were in October? Giuliani was in full swing, McCain was nowhere to be found, there was no iowa primary in october, etc etc etc. Lots of things have changed since then.

Besides why should I need to be affiliated to choose? I don't give a shit what party they are in. I just wanna pick who I wanna pick.

Såkandulæredet

People don't change party affiliations much because they CANT do it at the right time. Its not a reasonable assumption. How would I know who the primary candidates were in October? Giuliani was in full swing, McCain was nowhere to be found, there was no iowa primary in october, etc etc etc. Lots of things have changed since then.

Besides why should I need to be affiliated to choose? I don't give a shit what party they are in. I just wanna pick who I wanna pick.

Rose Fox

I volunteered at a voter helpline for a couple of hours today and we had pollworkers calling to tell us that they had an unusual number of people not on the rolls who should have been. A lot of folks filled out affidavit ballots. Hopefully any who were incorrectly turned away were able to go back and get affidavit ballots and have their votes counted.

As for the party registration requirement, that is, I believe, New York State law. See this link for more information on open and closed primaries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primary

In short, #33, you were expected to know by October of last year whether you intended to participate in the election process of the Democratic party, the election process of the Republican party, or neither. Generally people don't change party affiliations very often, so this is a pretty reasonable assumption.

Rose Fox

I volunteered at a voter helpline for a couple of hours today and we had pollworkers calling to tell us that they had an unusual number of people not on the rolls who should have been. A lot of folks filled out affidavit ballots. Hopefully any who were incorrectly turned away were able to go back and get affidavit ballots and have their votes counted.

As for the party registration requirement, that is, I believe, New York State law. See this link for more information on open and closed primaries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primary

In short, #33, you were expected to know by October of last year whether you intended to participate in the election process of the Democratic party, the election process of the Republican party, or neither. Generally people don't change party affiliations very often, so this is a pretty reasonable assumption.

Såkandulæredet

I don't understand why you have to be registered for a political party to vote in the primary. Its so stupid. I was supposed to predict i wanted to vote in the democrat primary 1 yr ago?

cucarachita

People, you need to learn how to read a table. There were only six delegates in the Obama column in the delegates section. Then, below this section, was a separate - one - category, and the instructions were to "choose one" from this box. So if you flipped seven levers under Obama, you did just fine. But really, people seem to just become stupefied in front of the machine. I saw people not even able to go to the right voting machine, even though they were pointed to.

There ought to be a class in how to vote that you have to pass before you get a High School diploma. Or even if you drop out -- you should have to pass that test before you drop out. It's a fundamental part of being part of society, voting.

ed_Extinct

obama lost new york. not much of a surprise. :(

JacqueMehoff

is it fair to wait till the last min to vote, since our polls here close at 9pm.

especially since the cable news outlets are projecting some vote counts already.

Fernyfern

Hi - Will anyone who had issues with their voter registration getting messed up / names not being on the list today / having had to use a paper ballot send an email with your story to voterproblemsnyc@gmail.com

the more stories we compile the easier it will be to see how widespread the problem is - i've already heard SO many along the same lines. it is really disturbing.

voterproblemsnyc@gmail.com

David McCaffredy

So I moved recently and just showed up to vote with my new voter registration card in hand. The clerks found my name on the voter list, but said I was under "none" for my party affiliation and could not vote in the primary.

I am a registered democrat and have voted in several previous primaries and also checked that I was a democrat when I filled out my change-of-address form months ago. Whoever registered me in my new district must have cleared my party affiliation. I'm EXTREMELY disappointed in this. Has this happened to anyone else? Does the election board file the forms that are mailed to them? Is there a way to contact the election board to verify their mistake from the form I mailed to them?

Såkandulæredet

Maybe its better to be registered for the party you dislike the most because then you can choose a more left-leaning, or right-leaning nominee for the other party.

I just want it to be Obama vs. Mccain and I'd be relatively happy. But I had to waste my vote and put it for McCain who really doesnt need much help in NY.

Jen Chung

#22 - we updated the post a while ago. Thanks!

sgoralnick

This also means that if you didn't vote for any delegates at all, your vote for a candidate still counts.

sgoralnick

I did the same thing, i voted for a candidate and checked all the delegates names underneath on a paper ballot. I got worried and called the board of elections.The operator i got was totally confused and uninformed, and after lots of promptig, gave me the direct number to the Chief Clerk of Elections of New York City, Diane Hasworth.

She said: Your vote for the candidate will stand, but your votes for specific delegates will be voided.

So, your vote for whichever particular candidate is still valid, which is what matters.

Gregoire

If I'm not mistaken, there are a couple districts where the number of delegates you can vote for are less than you need. In one district (I looked at the ballot at nygov) there were four delegates to choose from and you were asked to vote for five.

Your vote definitely counts even if you dont vote for a delegate. For fun, I voted for the alternate and left one of the other people off.

nosidedown

I love how the editors are willing to take an anonymous tip from a misinformed voter as gospel truth, then completely ignore the dozens of dissenting comments

ed_Extinct

why is it confusing? this is how it has been for over 3 decades...

deghanmay

I'm in the same boat as #14...first time voting here, couldn't get my questions answered, so I just flipped the switch for my candidate, but no delegates. Did my vote count?

dustyrebel

I was under the impression the machine will not allow you to over vote ...or do anything that is not allowed.

For example, if you are in the booth and click the lever for Obama...and then try to click Clinton, the lever will be locked for Clinton.

Perhaps, there are differnt machines out there.