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Voting Glitches on Super Tuesday
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 5, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 5, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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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.
Tagged
election 2008
governor
Governor Jon Corzine
gowanus lounge
jon corzine
nj
nj governor
NJ Governor Jon Corzine
ny state
NY State presidential primary
ny state primary
obama
paper ballot
park slope
presidential primary
Super Tuesday
The Democratic
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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