NEW YORK—Congress enacted the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after allegations of voting fraud in the 2000 presidential elections. In a hearing on Thursday morning, New York state Assembly members reviewed New York’s progress in complying with HAVA.
High-tech devices are replacing the old voting machines that operated at the pull of a lever. Though they provide electronic data storage, optical scanning, and other benefits, results are coming in slower.
“I ran more times probably than anyone under this new system,” joked Assemblyman David Weprin who was elected to his position in 2010 and recently lost a special election for the 9th District to Bob Turner. Results for this special election came in around 11:30p.m. after polls closed at 9 p.m.
Weprin ran for several positions on the old system and used to get the results around 10 p.m.
Robert Brehm, co-executive director of the state Board of Elections, explained that employees are unfamiliar with the new system, which leads to problems in processing the data.
Brehm suggests running the results through two different, independent, software systems. If they both come up with the same results, it is a good indication of accuracy. Short staffing and the short life span of the new machines present obstacles, says Brehm.
HAVA earmarks federal funds for improvements, but representatives of both the city and state election boards said the grants are not covering the shortfalls created by budget cuts in New York.
“We can’t just postpone or cancel an election because of budget shortfalls,” said Dawn Sandow of the NYC Board of Elections.
