Mayor Says State Has Been Slow To Update Voting Machines

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Mayor Bloomberg lambasted the New York State Board of Elections yesterday for the board’s sluggish implementation of federal voting regulations that require new ballot casting equipment in the city.

“The perpetual foot-dragging of the State Board of Elections has resulted in a situation where, five years after the Federal government passed the Help America Vote Act, the State Board of Elections has only just begun to test and certify the machines,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement released yesterday.

The United States Department of Justice won a lawsuit earlier this year against New York that requires HAVA compliance by 2007. New York will be the last state in the country to meet the federal standards.

Mr. Bloomberg expressed concerns that the New York City Board of Elections will not have ample time to prepare for the 2007 elections and placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the state government.

“Our elected officials in Albany bungled an important issue, and when they finally punted to the State Board of Elections, we have seen more of the same — a total absence of any urgency,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Because New York failed to comply with federal deadlines, the state may forfeit $50 million in funding from Washington, of which the city would lose out on about $20 million, Mr. Bloomberg said.

The New York City Board of Elections held a public demonstration of the five proposed voting machines from which it will choose yesterday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. The mayor attended the demonstration. The board has until February or March, six months before the September primary, to make a decision. Mr. Bloomberg said in his statement that lack of proper time “will make it all but impossible to acquire, test, and deploy machines — as well as train workers and educate New Yorkers — in time for the 2007 elections.”

Mr. Bloomberg also criticized Albany for partisanship. “We need a complete overhaul of the way we administer elections,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “Hiring decisions should be based on merit, not party connection.”

Later yesterday afternoon, the New York State Board of Elections released a statement defending what it said was its “deliberate” and “careful” implementation of HAVA.

The statement argued that New York has undertaken the most extensive testing of voting systems in the country, and that dozens of states that did not pursue a thorough examination of voting equipment have purchased equipment that has not functioned properly.


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