Board of Elections fires director

NEW YORK (AP) — The embattled New York City Board of Elections has fired its executive director a week before Election Day.

The board's commissioners voted to fire George Gonzalez at a meeting Tuesday. Board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez says a deputy executive director and an administrative manager will handle his responsibilities until a replacement is selected.

Gonzalez oversaw a September primary plagued with problems surrounding new automated voting machines that resemble ATMs and replaced an old mechanical lever system.

Board members testified at a City Council hearing some polling sites opened late on primary day and thousands of poll workers weren't trained.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the board's performance a "royal screw-up."

Gonzalez said at the hearing officials were trying to figure out how to make the Nov. 2 election go more smoothly, including retraining coordinators who oversee polling sites.