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This was New York City’s first primary election during the coronavirus pandemic.
New York City greatly expanded its voting options for the June 23 primary elections, for the first time ever offering three different ways to cast a ballot. However, voters still encountered problems in the new and untried systems.
Election protection monitors told the Prospect they received about 100 calls about polling places not opening on time and some voters not receiving both pages of the two-page ballot, in addition to some voters not ever receiving their requested absentee ballots.
In four of the five boroughs, there were reports of polling places not opening on time and turning voters away. The worst case was City Island School in the Bronx, which opened at 8:50 a.m., nearly three hours after polls were scheduled to open.
“With close to 28,000 people working the polls, it’s not unusual that we have some polling places that open late,” says Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.
However, these particular delays may have been avoidable. The city’s subway service, a primary mode of transportation for most New Yorkers, has been closing nightly, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., for cleaning because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was not any adjustment in those hours for Election Day. To open a polling place on time at 6 a.m., election workers usually have to arrive on site by 5 a.m. “With the subways down it was even more challenging for people to get in,” Lerner notes.
This led to long lines early this morning, and troubleshooting new technology caused even longer delays.
In New York’s 16th Congressional District, which spans the Bronx and southern Westchester County, P.S. 189 reportedly sent voters away when their machines couldn’t connect to the internet, and they didn’t have paper ballots for all races. This was remedied later in the morning by a technician from New York City’s Board of Elections.
Another site in Brooklyn was described as a fiasco by one voter on Twitter, where technicians were also sent out to fix scanners.
New York City has longer in-person voting hours than many other places in the U.S., with polling stations open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. But Lerner stressed during a midday media call that these hours shouldn’t be seen as extra room for error, especially as voters are often juggling other responsibilities, such as work and child care.
“They may not have an opportunity to have their voices heard today,” Lerner says of voters who left amid the morning problems, and may not be able to return. “They might not get a second bite of the apple.”
For voters who did cast ballots in person, some also reported on Twitter and to election protection monitors that they were only given one page of the two-page ballot to vote on, meaning they did not get to select candidates in all of their races, from the Democratic presidential primary to their congressional and local races. Many of the more competitive down-ballot races were listed on the second page.
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“Whether it’s mistaken or through malintention, some people have only been given one page of the two-page ballot,” Lerner says. It is not yet clear how many people may have been affected and if there will be any recourse for these voters.
They join the thousands of voters who requested but never received an absentee ballot ahead of today’s in-person voting. Unless those who never received their absentee ballots went to their physical polling location today, or their mail-in ballots arrived in the mail before the last mail drop-off today, their voices would not be heard in this election.
The Board of Elections attributed some delays in getting absentee ballots to voters to the late court decision that put the Democratic presidential primary back on the ballot. The delay in knowing who exactly would be on the ballot then delayed printing, which consequently delayed sending the ballots out.
New York’s problems in today’s elections highlight the need for election officials, legislatures, and governors to be proactive when making decisions about upcoming elections. Advance training for poll workers, pre-tested equipment, and more notice for how to prepare absentee ballots would have helped avoid today’s issues.
“We need that certainty [and] the Board of Elections needs to know. It’s been difficult to have to turn on the dime,” says Lerner. “They need time to prepare.”
For New York, Lerner says this will mean expanding access to all three voting options in the November general election, when turnout will be higher than today’s primary.
Under current law, New York voters across the state will not be able to use the coronavirus as a reason to vote by mail. That cuts down the ways to cast a ballot to only in-person voting during the early-voting period or on Election Day. The state legislature or Gov. Andrew Cuomo could change that for the general election.
“It sounds simple,” Lerner says. “But you have to have a well thought out infrastructure and a lot of practice.”
