Blasts State for Delays
Mike Goes Negative On Voting Machines

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Repeated delays by the State Legislature and state Board of Elections in approving new voting machines have jeopardized New York's chances of complying with Federal law by November 2007, Mayor Bloomberg said last week.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Rips board's 'inertia.'

The Mayor was in Queens Nov. 15 to attend a demonstration of five new models of electronic voting machines, one of which will eventually be purchased by the city Board of Elections.

Mayor: Impossible Task

But before he left City Hall, he issued a statement blasting Albany for its "intransigence and endless delay."

Regardless of the model of voting machine chosen, he noted, it will be virtually impossible to replace all the old lever machines by 2007 as the Federal Help America Vote Act requires.

The state has already been sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for its lack of compliance, putting $50 million in Federal funding in jeopardy. A compromise reached with the DOJ called for a partial implementation of electronic machines for disabled voters in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, but it's unclear whether the state will be able to meet the full integration requirement for 2007.

"This is a failure of the state Board of Elections, which is a study in inertia and accountable only to the leaders of the two major political parties, not to the people," Mr. Bloomberg said in his statement, adding that partial blame goes to elected state officials who bungled HAVA legislation. The city stands to lose $20 million of the $50 million if the DOJ moves forward with its lawsuit against the state.

State: No Need to Rush

The state Board of Elections in a written statement rejected Mayor Bloomberg's call for urgency.

"Rather than rush into a system that has not been carefully scrutinized, New York will take the time to carefully examine all available voting systems before placing them in our polling places," the board said.

It added that several other states that bought new electronic voting equipment right after HAVA became law have had to recall machines for retrofitting after changes were made to the legislation. Other states have discovered embarrassing mistakes in equipment that wasn't tested thoroughly, which has "jeopardized confidence in our electoral system," according to the board.

The Mayor, who last year convened a panel to oversee the city's progress on electronic voting, issued his statement after the first of two scheduled meetings with machine vendors. But the BOE has yet to decide whether to revise the ratio of people-per-voting machine, which is currently set for one machine per 800 voters. Final selection will depend greatly on how many voters a machine can service in a given period.

Delays Training Staff

The delay makes it difficult for Bloomberg administration officials to calculate budgetary needs for the equipment upgrades, and "virtually impossible" for the city Board of Elections to acquire, test, and deploy machines - as well as train workers and educate New Yorkers - in time for the 2007 elections, the Mayor said.

But the state BOE, which last month held time trials on voting machines in Brooklyn and other parts of the state in an effort to figure out how many machines would be needed per person, said it was "committed to a smooth transition to new secure voting systems and, contrary to the Mayor's statement, has made the voting machine certification process its highest priority."