Politics & Government
Board of Elections Officials Praise Their Work on Election Day
Officials pat each other on the back and called it a "successful election," though many New York voters sat on line for hours to vote, only to be met with broken machines and an unhelpful staff.
Though many New Yorkers complained of long lines, broken ballot machines and unhelpful volunteers during Election Day, the city’s Board of Elections executives have been patting each other on the back, according to the New York Daily News.
Deputy Executive Director Dawn Sandow said that they “managed to conduct a successful election,” according to the paper.
“I’m so proud of our employees,” Nancy Mottola-Schacher, one of the board’s 10 commissioners said, according to the Daily News. “Everybody did a good job, working all sorts of hours.”
Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Commissioner Julie Dent echoed the praise, saying that while there were some “hiccups,” but that the Board of Elections did an “excellent” job.
But voters in Brooklyn were met with broken machines, disorganized polling staff and two-hour lines in some places – not to mention other issues Patch witnessed, like a man whose name was misspelled on his ballot, and a poll worker who had given the same ballot to two people.
Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
City Councilman Jumaane Williams, D-Brooklyn, blasted the Board of Elections for not recognizing those mistakes.
“They’re talking about they did an excellent job? I guess they’re in an alternate universe,” he said, according to the Daily News. “They definitely didn’t come to my district if that’s what they’re thinking.”
Many city pols, like Williams, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, expressed desire in overhauling the elections process, but any big change would require state legislation, if not an amendment to the State Constitution.
