From the NY Times:
A day after New York City voters encountered waits lasting hours and chaos at many poll sites, elected officials and government watchdog groups agreed that the city’s election process needed major change. But there was little consensus about what to do or how it could be done.
The State Constitution sets the parameters for how all elections in the state are managed, requiring that Republicans and Democrats be equally represented at all levels of election administration. In New York City, the 10 Board of Elections members are recommended by the Democratic and Republican Party committees in each of the five boroughs and then confirmed by the City Council. The parties also play a central role in installing people in staff positions. The board currently has no executive director in part because the county leaders have not been able to agree on a candidate.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a frequent critic of the board, called Wednesday for eliminating the patronage system by which the commissioners are appointed.
Changing the system, however, would require state legislation, if not an amendment to the State Constitution. And not everyone agrees that a nonpartisan system would be an improvement.
“Some people have said we should have the mayor and the City Council appoint the members of the board,” Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh of Manhattan, said. But, he added, “when the mayor and City Council have an interest in the outcome of the election, how is that any better?”
8 comments:
dictators(leftwing ) will only appoint leftwingers to the board...
Almost every department, agency, etc. in NYC needs an overhaul.
Clean the municipal stable and fire a few old warhorses!
The Republicans (who make up an equal number on the Board) will appoint left-wingers? Really?
For 30 years I voted and never a problem.
Last year they introduce this stupid system that takes the worst elements of 3 decades (paper, punch card and paper feeds) into some stupid hybrid mess.
This year it was over an hour.
They always tell you to vote, then do everything they can to make it as pointless and uncomfortable as possible.
How did Toby, Virginia Joe Crowley, Charlie Rangel get in by 80%+ tells us a great deal about the other half of this mess: the voter.
The Post Office is state of the Union, not State of the Art, yet used postal sorting machines could easily eliminate a third of BOE staff. The Post office is a huge patronage mill disinterested in making things work. If they cared, they could easily have transmitted the tallies wirelessly. Most city agencies are deliberately inefficient, hiding behind bogus claims of fairness. Instead of putting his efficiency, logistics and operations experts on "Congestion Pricing", Bloomberg would do well to have them clean up the agencies.
#3 read Kavanaugh's words closely.and evaluate the city council political party's designation.
doosberg is a lib/rino.
Maybe it's time for computer voting from home with retinal eye scan ID.
Some of those old voting booth machines were about a half century old. They kept on breaking down beyond repair.
I don't like the new system because, unlike the old mechanical variety, these are energy dependent and black-out prone.
My gripe is that these new voting machines should be providing a receipt for your vote.
I get a receipt for all of my other purchases, so why not here ? Then there can be no hanky-panky with the tabulations after the polls close.
Does that part make any sense?
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