Voters hitting the polls in state elections this fall won’t have any levers to pull this time. The State Board of Elections has traded in the old machines for a new voting system, debuting in New York on Sept. 14 during the Democratic primary.

In the buildup to the primary, the Board of Elections has been holding demonstrations throughout the five boroughs to teach voters how to use the new machines. Two weeks ago, the Bedford Park Senior Center on East 204th Street hosted one of these demonstrations.

The process goes something like this: voters are given new paper ballots to fill in by hand, using a pen and coloring in a bubble for the candidate of their choice, much like a high school standardized test. They then bring their ballots over to a scanner and insert them into the machines to cast their votes.

The changes were put in place to comply with a federal law enacted after the confusion of the 2000 election, and New York is the very last state to make the switch. Still, patrons at the Bedford Park Center were resistant to the change.

“I’m afraid of computers,” said Millie Gilliamsen. “But I’ll adjust.”
The machines have received mostly negative reviews so far.

Complaints range from ballot lettering that’s too small to read (it is, though magnifying glasses are provided) to confusing directions that could result in voters filling in more than one bubble (or voting for more than one candidate) for a seat. If the latter happens, the scanner machine will let the voter know that they’ve “over voted” and give them the option of going back to the beginning and getting a whole new ballot. Or they can choose to cast their vote anyway, in which case, it wouldn’t count.

“I think they should have left the old machines as they were,” said Mary Diab, as she filled out her demo ballot in the center’s rec room. “I don’t think it’s simplifying the voting process. It’s complicating it.”

Seniors weren’t the only ones at the Bedford Park Senior Center meeting. Two workers who said they were from State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.’s office were also in attendance. They showed up just before the voting demonstration was set to begin, and went around the room asking people to join a mailing list and handing out fliers that praised the embattled Senate Majority Leader.

“No one works harder for seniors than Senator Espada,” one of the leaflets read. It also advertised a “senior outing” to Yonkers Raceway, while another flier listed grants that Espada’s given out to neighborhood groups this year.

The staffers were soon pulled aside by the Senior Center’s executive dDirector, who told them they couldn’t hand out fliers during a voting event, since anything that could be deemed “campaigning” is not allowed.

Espada is one of three candidates who will appear on the new ballots Sept. 14. He is being challenged by political aide Gustavo Rivera. Daniel Padernacht will also be on the ballot, but withdrew from the race (see cover story).