NYC election board defends poll-site notifications
The New York City Board of Elections, responding to Election Day complaints by voters in Brooklyn that they hadn’t been notified about changes to polling sites, says it had every reason to make those changes — and took the necessary steps to let people know.
According to an “urgent message” on its website on Election Day, the Board of Elections changed the site of 145 election districts for the November vote. The changes affected two districts in Queens, 18 in Manhattan and 125 in Brooklyn. No sites in Staten Island or the Bronx were affected.
Several sites in Brownsville were affected, and on Election Day, poll workers and voters expressed frustration about the confusion caused by the changes. Some voters went to three or four voting sites before being able to cast their vote. They claimed not to have been informed of the change.
But at least a few of them should have known better. The Board of Elections this week provided Brooklyn Bureau (of City Limits) with proof that a private mailing service confirmed notifications were sent in August to two of the people interviewed by the Bureau on Election Day. The BOE says both voters were informed that their old polling site, P.S. 327, was no longer active and that they would vote instead at the Betsy Head pool. What’s more, that change was made before the September 10 primary.