State senators call for return to lever voting machines
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling for old-fashioned lever voting machines to replace electronic ballot scanners.
The lever voting machines had been used successfully in the city for over 100 years, according to state Sens. Martin J. Golden and Andrew Lanza, both Republicans, and Simcha Felder and Diane Savino, both Democrats. But things have not gone smoothly since the Board of Elections switched to electronic voting in 2010, the senators alleged.
“These new-fangled voting machines are a disaster,” Felder said in a statement. “Seniors can’t see the ballot text, voters are confused about how to fill out the ballot, and election day in New York City has become synonymous with chaos and dysfunction.”
Under a bill that the four introduced Friday, the Board of Elections would be authorized to conduct local elections, such as this year’s mayor’s race, using lever voting machines. Federal elections in 2014 would still have to be done with electronic voting.
