Syracuse, ny -- New voting machines mostly worked fine in Central New York, but there were problems with Tuesday’s primary election, voters and officials said. Ballots ran short at several polling places when turnout was surprisingly high, said Onondaga Democratic Election Commission Edward Ryan. The county printed 30 percent more ballots than would have been used for the primary in...
Syracuse, ny -- New voting machines mostly worked fine in Central New York, but there were problems with Tuesday’s primary election, voters and officials said.
Ballots ran short at several polling places when turnout was surprisingly high, said Onondaga Democratic Election Commission Edward Ryan.
The county printed 30 percent more ballots than would have been used for the primary in 2007 — “a good-sized primary” — but polling places were still running short said Republican Election Commissioner Helen Kiggins. In addition to a good turnout, more voters than expected spoiled their first ballot and asked for a replacement, she said.
The planned solution to a ballot shortage was to run off more copies from the printer at election headquarters. But the machine broke, Ryan said. “It was out of commission for three hours,” he said, and when it restarted, it ran slowly.
Ryan said, officials went ended up going with a backup plan — giving voters “emergency ballots,” absentee ballots that will be counted later by hand.
“If the race is close, we can sit down and count them out,” Ryan said.
Voters at Central Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center were upset Tuesday night when they were given emergency ballots. “I don’t think they are going to be counted,” said Melvin Hills, of Syracuse. He said he had walked two blocks and wanted to make sure his vote for Sam Roberts for state Assembly was counted.
Poll workers gave voters incorrect ballots in seven or eight cases, Ryan said. This happened at polling places where more than one district voted. In those cases, he said, voters cast separate ballots on the race they missed.
The new voting process, which involves filling in circles, like on standardized tests, and passing the ballot through a scanning machine, drew some praise and some complaints.
There were also some electrical problems with a couple of voting machines, but Ryan said that problem was quickly handled.
Katye Askew, of Syracuse, wished she had brought her glasses with her to the polling place at Pioneer Homes. She had some trouble reading the fine print on the ballot and seeing the lightly printed circle in which voters are supposed to make their mark.
The machine caught her error. “It spat it right back,” she said. She “colored that little dot,” she said and her vote went through on the second try.
Cayuga, Madison and Oswego counties switched to the scanning machines last year. Elections officials in those counties reported no problems.
John Stith contributed to this report.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.