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Dinowitz Calls for Use of Ballot Tracking Technology Following Voting Confusion

Voters come and go to cast their ballots at Public School 280 in the Norwood section of the Bronx on Jun. 23, 2020.
Photo by Síle Moloney

Following a state primary marred by unprecedented confusion among voters seeking to use the state’s vote-by-mail or absentee ballot system, State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz called on the State legislature to pass legislation that will mandate the future use of ballot tracking technology for absentee ballots, as is already the case in some other states.

 

The bill would require the New York City Board of Elections and the various county boards of elections to provide a user-friendly website for voters who request and submit absentee ballots, to track their ballots through the entire absentee voting process.

 

In states like Massachusetts, Iowa, and Florida, Intelligent Mail barcode, and other tracking technologies, are used by elections administrators to monitor and display the status and movements of individual ballots from the moment the ballot is requested until the moment it is counted. However, New York State does not yet have such a system in place, leaving every eligible absentee voter in the dark with regards to the status of their ballot.

 

Dinowitz said, “As we continue working to expand vote-by-mail options for New York’s voters, it is imperative that we have systems in place that ensure confidence and accountability between voters and Boards of Elections”.

 

He said if such legislation had been in place for the Jun. 23 primary, it would have alleviated significant voter stress and empowered voters to make educated decisions about how to participate in the country’s democracy. “Instead, voters were left in the dark and forced to choose between protecting their health and casting their ballot,” he said. “That is unacceptable and we must take tangible steps to ensure that never happens again.”

 

As reported by Norwood News, on Monday, Jun. 22, Dinowitz issued a statement in which he said that he had received a number of complaints from constituents who said they had not received their absentee ballots and had concerns about their votes being counted in the Jun. 23 primary.

 

In Monday’s statement, Dinowitz said he had gotten in contact with the Board of Elections, and the Board said that ballots had indeed been mailed to eligible voters. He said he had also been in contact with the United States Postal Service and representatives from the organization said that they had not experienced any backlogs with absentee ballots at their facilities.

 

Dinowitz thanked Comrie for introducing the new legislation about the proposed technology in the State Senate and encouraged his colleagues to join him in supporting the new bill which he said would improve the voting process in New York State.

 

Meanwhile, Comrie said, “In the days leading up to Primary Day, it became increasingly clear that we were dealing with a major malfunction of the absentee ballot system. Everyday, I heard from individuals that they never received their absentee ballots after submitting the application”.

 

He added, “New Yorkers should not have to choose between staying healthy and exercising their right to vote. We absolutely need a system in place that will let voters know when to expect their ballots and when their ballots are counted. This level of confusion cannot stand as a defect in our electoral system.”

 

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.

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One thought on “Dinowitz Calls for Use of Ballot Tracking Technology Following Voting Confusion

  1. Ron Wegsman

    Does the bill include funding for this purpose? If it doesn’t, it’s just propaganda.

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