Minor Glitches with New Voting Machines, but Most Voters Embrace the Change

Technical glitches with the new electronic voting machines caused hour-long delays in the opening of some local polling places, but most voters and poll workers said the upgraded system made casting ballots easier than in previous elections.

"We haven't had any glitches with the voting; we've had glitches among ourselves," said election inspector Jennifer Peterson, who was stationed at the polling place at Blind Brook High School.

Peterson said the Blind Brook polling place was scheduled to open at 6 a.m. but did not open until 7:30 a.m. because the voting machine had a paper jam and issues with its blue security tape. Poll workers had to wait until someone from the County Board of Elections came to resolve the issue, which led to the more than one-hour delay.

Tuesday's primary was the first time voters used the new optical scan voting machines. Called the ImageCast, the machine is an upgrade from the lever voting system used in previous elections. The new system works by scanning ballots that voters have hand fed into the machine. The ballot is either accepted or returned to the voter with one of three possible error messages, designating either an "undervote," "overvote" or "blank ballot."

Election inspectors in Westchester were given two training sessions on the new machines before the primaries.

However, some poll workers said they could have used a refresher.

"You're learning a whole new system," said poll worker Bill Hegedus. "I anticipated that it was going to be complex and it turned out to be that way."

Hegedus said the new machines require a bit more work from election inspectors, who have to complete paperwork for each voter. However, he said most voters who came to the polling place on Tuesday had few complaints about the new machines.

"It's a little more complicated for us, but it's better for the voters," he said.

At the polling precinct at Rye City Hall, some poll workers said both older and younger voters were a bit skeptical about the new machines.

"It's kind of a mixed bag," said poll worker Rosemary Forsberg. "One lady said it was very cumbersome and took too much time."

But Forsberg, who voted on the ImageCast earlier in the day, said she "thought the new machines were super."

Rye election inspector Patricia Sales also said that the machines simplified the voting process, but that one younger voter complained and said she liked the old lever system better.

"It's very simple; it's very secure," Sales said of the new machines. "One person didn't like it. I think she was suffering from dementia," Sales joked.

In Rye, the polling place at City Hall also opened about an hour later because of technical glitches. Voter turnout also was low, which several poll workers said helped to ease the transition to the new machines. By midday, only about 90 of the more than 1200 voters who had City Hall as their designated polling place had voted in Tuesday's primaries.

Several poll workers said that the November general election could present a different set of challenges, with more candidates and propositions on the ballot. However, some said the primaries gave them and voters the chance to work out any kinks before the general election, which will likely have a higher turnout.

"Thank God there aren't that many people here," Hegedus said, referring to the low voter turnout on Tuesday.  

However, a few voters said casting their ballots on Tuesday was much easier than they had anticipated.

Rye Brook resident Shelley Goldring-Silverman said voting on the new machines was a bit of a novelty.

Her husband, Arnold Silverman, agreed.

"I've been voting my whole life, using levers and what not," said Silverman, 79. "This was a good experience."