Board Of Elections Instructs NYers On New City Voting Machines

By: Roger Clark

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Ahead of Tuesday's primaries, city residents are being given lessons on how to use some new voting machines.

The Board of Elections held a class at a senior center in East Harlem Friday.

The new electronic scanners are replacing the old machines with levers. After filling in ovals with pens to choose their candidates, voters feed the paper ballots into scanners that keep count.

"This allows us to have a paper trail, so in the event there is a problem and a recount is necessary," said Naomi Barrera of the New York City Board of Elections.

New York is the last state to abide by a 2002 federal law mandating new machines.

Despite all of the advances, some have criticized the way "overvoting" is handled. That's when someone votes for more than one candidate in the same race.

While the new machines tell voters they've overvoted, it also lets them cast their ballot anyway. What it doesn't tell voters is that their vote won't be counted in the race where they overvoted. If a voter hits the red "Don't Cast" button, their ballot comes back voided -- forcing them to start all over again.

A number of groups, including the NAACP, filed a lawsuit last month saying the language is unclear. Board of Elections officials counter the argument, saying the new machines will fully alert users.

"It gives you the opportunity whether or not you are going to request your ballot back or cast your ballot as is, so every voter who does overvote will be notified," said JC Polanco of the New York City Board of Elections.

Meanwhile, those who tried out the new machines Friday seemed to have mixed opinions.

"It's a very simple form, multiple choice, and you just check the box that you want, and that's it," said one Harlem senior.

"For me it's easier, and hopefully it would be for the others as well because it's all in different languages. That helps a lot," said another. "And it seems easy instead of going into booth and pulling a lever.

"It's a little bit more difficult.... You do have to concentrate more while you're doing it, and you have to be very careful not to crush the paper," said a third.

Election workers are set to be on hand Tuesday for anyone who needs help with the new scanners.