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July 3, 2012
Maria R. Guastella
President
New York City Board of Elections
32 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10004-1609
Dear Ms. Guastella:
I write to you as Public Advocate for the City of New York and
as a member of the Voter
Assistance Advisory Committee with concerns about the
administration of the recent June 26,
2012 primary elections. I am disturbed by reports that may point
to a larger set of election
administration issues in our city. In particular, I am concerned
by the election night vote tallying
process in which only hand-written canvas sheets, prepared by
poll workers and then reported
to the New York City Police Department, are used for totaling
election night vote returns,
instead of using vote count print-outs directly from precinct
voting machines.
I hereby request detailed responses to the following
questions.
1.) Given the advent of new voting machines, what is the
rationale for our election night
process of manual writing, counting, and delivery? What
adjustments is the Board exploring to
remedy the delays and inaccuracies experienced in recent
elections that have arisen as a result
of this election night process?
2.) What number of ballots remained to be counted by Friday,
June 29, 2012 in the NY-13
Congressional District?
3.) Does the Board anticipate any difficulty meeting the legal
deadlines for reporting a final,
certified vote count?
4.) What is the BOE's process for ensuring media observers are
allowed to monitor post-
election vote tallying and vote recounts? Is there a procedure
for members of the public
unaffiliated with any campaign to observe the count? Has that
process been followed since
June 26, 2012 in the NY-13 Congressional District?
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I further request that we convene a meeting of the Voter
Assistance Advisory Committee, the
Board of Elections, and the New York City Police Department to
assess the June 26, 2012
elections and implement best practices before the remaining
elections this fall.
I appreciate your willingness to share this information with my
office, and I look forward toworking with you to address these
issues in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Bill de Blasio
Public Advocate for the City of New York
