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Janison column: Nassau tests new voting machines

Dan Janison | dan.janison@newsday.com

May 19, 2008

With a huge national election six months away, the suspense could be as much about how much chaos we might face at the polls as about who will win.

For the first time, every New York State election site will have ballot-marking devices the disabled can use. And for the first time, some voters will be asked to show a valid photo identification - if they wish to avoid paper ballots, subject to challenge by lawyers looking for technical flaws.

Combine that with massive turnout, propelled by a wide-open presidential race, and the worries mount - even after years of debate and litigation over national voter reforms.

Today, at the Nassau County Board of Elections in Mineola, officials begin what's called "acceptance testing" of the new optical-scan ballot-marking devices for the September primary and the November general. Most voters this fall still will use the old mechanical lever machines.

Barbara Bartoletti, state legislative director of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, said poll-worker training "could be a big problem."

"Our focus will be on poll-worker education so the lines aren't so long and people don't give up and not bother to vote," she said. "Most polling places will have more than enough on their hands dealing with ballot-marking devices, let alone other aspects of the new law. And, I think we're losing poll workers. As elections get more complicated, they essentially retire." She estimated the average poll-worker age at 72.

First-time voters who register by mail - and whose submission fails to match a state database with motor-vehicle licenses and Social Security numbers - are flagged "unverified." If they show one of a number of acceptable forms of ID, they can vote mechanically. If not, they get affidavit ballots.

Count among the concerned Douglas Kellner, a Democratic member of the state elections board. A voter may be designated "unverified" through a simple clerical error. Kellner said he examined 20 names for which ID was to be required and it turned out none should have been flagged. At the New York Public Interest Research Group, Neal Rosenstein cited a requirement that local boards review all flagged forms.

On April 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's law requiring its voters to present government-issued photo IDs. Some 25 states require ID for all voters. By contrast New York is among the least restrictive; in 2002 Democrats Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton were the only senators to vote against the Help America Vote Act, which drove current changes.

LEGISLATOR'S LEGACY? It may sound twisted, but a father of that Suffolk measure requiring licensed contractors to verify employees' immigration status is ex-Legis. Elie Mystal, who purportedly opposed it. First Mystal missed a key committee vote, allowing the bill to go to the floor. Then his residency drew scrutiny and he quickly resigned. So Jon Cooper, sponsor of a competing bill, lacked the votes to table the first one, pushed by Brian Beedenbender. The rest is history by default.