Villages may get voter machine reprieve

You may have not seen the last of those old, lever-style voting machines.

Villages across New York will be able to use the old models in next month's elections, if a bill passed Monday by the State Legislature becomes law.

Sponsored by two Nassau County lawmakers, the bill gives villages a short reprieve before switching to new, optical-scan voting machines.

Towns and cities used the new machines last fall, but not all villages can get the machines reprogrammed and ready for use by March 15, the day most are holding elections this year, said Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck).

The bill would allow villages to use lever-style machines until Dec. 31, 2012, if it's signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. A Cuomo spokesman could not be reached immediately for comment.

No opposition to the measure has surfaced to date.