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New York Had More Voting Problems Than Florida, Says Study JULY 23RD, 2001

In last year's presidential election New York had more voting problems than Florida, according to a new report by two universities.

The study of voting technology by Caltech and MIT finds counties in New York City were among the nation's worst in terms of ballots that were uncounted, unmarked or spoiled.

According to the study, in the Bronx, 4.7 percent of all ballots had such problems. Brooklyn had 4 percent, Queens had 3.5 percent, and Manhattan had 3.2 percent.

The New York Public Interest Research group says the problems occurred because New York's voting system is technologically behind the rest of the country.

"We vote on 39-year-old machines, each with over 10,000 parts that are based on an original design by Thomas Edison," says Neal Rosenstein of NYPIRG. "Clearly, after forty years, in the computer age, it's time to look at other solutions and technologies for what might be best to make sure voters aren't disenfranchised when they show up on Election Day."

The watchdog group says problems with New York's voting technology weren't widely reported last year because the presidential race wasn't nearly as close locally as it was in Florida.

In contrast, the city elections coming up in the fall are expected to have many close races, meaning the glitches could have a more significant effect.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Answers

Everything in life is based on perception. It's my perception that Florida had the most extraordinary voting problems that I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Nothing else even comes close. And machine, or device, errors was just one part of a complex chaos there.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

My recollection is that Hillary C. was about even in the Senate race with what's-his-name, yet won by a landslide. OF COURSE there were irregularities!

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001