No More Delays

On Feb. 19, more than 8,000 voters in Council District 31 went to the polls to vote for a new representative. The seat had been vacant for nearly two months due to the election of James Sanders to the State Senate. With such a relatively small number of voters and a new electronic voting system meant to simplify the process, it is simply unacceptable that it has taken more than a week to finalize the proceedings.

After the damage caused to the district by Superstorm Sandy, it should have been a priority to ensure that the people in the district had a representative on the City Council fighting for them. Instead, the Board of Elections once again provided the people of New York City with ineptitude.

The new schematics for elections were designed to make the process easier while providing faster results. The BOE, however, seems to have not received the memo. In November, lines were as long as they have ever been, as Election Night was fraught with information delays. Instead of ensuring the new systems run smoothly in the future, the BOE is floating the idea of going back to the old machines for the September primaries.

If the Board of Elections has trouble with one City Council district, what will happen when the whole City votes later this year? We can only imagine the problems.

It is time for the Board of Elections to be held accountable for the consistent mess we experience on Election Day. With all the technology we have available to us, we should not have to wait more than a week to announce the winner of an election with less than 10,000 voters.