Today the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee sent a letter to the New York City Board of Elections, relaying the experiences of voters, poll workers, and community members during the April 19th Presidential Primary. These accounts were collected on May 17th at the Committee’s semi-annual hearing for voters to share their experiences and express their concerns about voting in New York City.
Committee Chair Art Chang said, "In relaying these experiences to the Board of Elections, we hope to help the agency improve the voter experience for all New Yorkers. As always, we stand willing to help the BOE achieve that goal."
The Committee has organized the letter around the major themes of the evening:
- Voter registration problems: A number of voters had issues with their voter registrations, and were unable to vote by regular ballot in the primary.
- Affidavit ballots: Several attendees who served as poll workers commented on the high volume of affidavit ballots cast in the primary.
- Poll worker issues: A number of poll sites were understaffed; notices about working on primary day were sent to poll workers only two weeks before the election, and poll workers were not required to confirm that they would be available.
- Communication with voters: Voters who attended the hearing also generally felt that communication between the BOE and voters should be improved
Read the full letter and the transcript of the hearing sent to the Board of Elections. Watch video of the meeting on the CFB website.