That is the only way to describe this. Systematic voter suppression and outright fraud in a state heavily dominated by the Democratic establishment and political machine. We here in the birthplace of Occupy know what democracy looks like, and this isn’t it:
- The BOE polling site coordinator for I.S. 222 in Jackson Heights, Jose Ruiz, told us early in the day that hundreds of registered voters had showed up to find out that their names were not on the voter rolls. "I'd say 30% are not registered, even though they thought they were," he said (those voters were administered provisional ballots).
- Brenda Bush Johannesen told us she arrived at PS 69 in Sunset Park around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and was told that the machines had been delivered with no Democratic ballots loaded in them. When she checked back at 5:00 p.m., there were still no ballots. She was instructed to fill out an affidavit.
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This Bronx man says he was tossed off the voter list because his name was too similar to another voter in the borough. "They [the BOE] told me I shared the same initials as a voter in the Bronx, it confused both registrations and I had become de-registered," he told DNAInfo. After two hours at the BOE office in Queens, he secured a court order allowing him to vote.
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This Queens woman contested her Republican registration status, insisting that she registered as a Democrat in 2004. When she arrived at the Queens County Board of Elections, her request for a court order was denied. A closer look at her 2004 registration revealed that her signature had been forged next to the box checked Republican. The judge's decision was ultimately reversed.
- The BOE staff for P.S. 073 on MacDougal street in Bed-Stuy was locked out until 7:45 a.m., almost two hours after the polls were supposed to open. The same thing happened at the Atlantic Terminal Senior Citizens Center on Carlton Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, and some voters reportedly gave up and left.
- Voters at Riverbend Coop at 2301 5th Avenue in Harlem and Bishop Ford School in Windsor Terrace found that their polling sites lacked voter books for last names starting with letters between N and Z. They were told to check back latter or fill out affidavit. The State BOE said the affidavits would "likely be counted," but didn't have an explanation for the phenomenon, referring us to the City BOE. The City BOE didn't respond to a request for comment.
- Announcing his audit on Tuesday, Comptroller Stringer sited numerous reports of understaffing at polling sites. Dee King, the poll site coordinator at Bayard Rustin Educational Complex in Chelsea, told reporters she was too busy to discuss voter turnout. "I'm sorry, but a bunch of people who were supposed to be working here never showed up," she said.
- The Brooklyn Board of Elections saw a "nonstop" stream of voters on Tuesday, making the case that their registration had been unjustly dropped or altered. "I never had this problem in all my years of voting, and I'm a consistent voter," said Thomas Williams, a seasonal Board of Elections worker. Earlier this year, the agency sent a letter to Williams to confirm his Flatbush address, but left off his apartment number. The postal service returned the notice as undeliverable, and the Board changed Williams's registration to inactive (a judge ultimately approved his right to vote on Tuesday).
- At P.S. 216 in Gravesend, all of the ballot scanners were down by mid-morning, around 11:00 a.m. "Both our scanners are down—it's horrible, we should have had four," one BOE worker told disgruntled voters. People were instructed to fill out their ballots and leave them behind to be fed into a scanner, eventually.
- At P.S. 154 in Harlem, multiple registered voters told reporters that they weren't on the list. Asked why, site coordinator Deidre Rock said, "I have no idea. It's just a one day job for me. I have no control over what's in the book."
So go on and crow about your “win”, Hillary folks, but we know this wasn’t a fair fight and we’re not going to take it sitting down. I went straight to my local legislator’s office this morning and demanded that they support A9661 and made it clear that we’ll be looking to primary anyone who doesn’t actively support it.
Frankly, that bill only addresses one relatively small part of the problem. It does nothing to address the outrageously early deadline to change affiliation, which passed back in October before many even knew there was a contested primary. It does nothing to address the obvious manipulation of voter records by the BOE. And it does nothing to address the constant rigging of the process by the local political machines.
We will keep throwing the bums out until this bullshit stops and we get elected representatives who actually represent US, not themselves or their shady fundraisers.
New York was very obviously rigged and we will not shut up.
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2016 · 6:27:19 PM +00:00
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Sean Robertson
Note that I never said it was a conspiracy for Hillary as some are assuming — it was a continuation of the same bullshit they pull in every election in New York, but this time it happened to disproportionately affect Bernie supporters. Every one of us here in NYC know the machine, especially in the city, is corrupt as hell, but this campaign brought in so many more new people that it blew the lid off the corruption and everyone actually saw it for a change.
That it has disproportionately affected Bernie supporters is largely coincidental, but is owing to the fact that the machine has never wanted new people entering the process in large numbers and they rig it to prevent that and cover their asses. The fewer people vote, the more stable and entrenched the machine and it’s allies are. That’s one of the reasons we have one of the lowest turnouts in the country — they literally don’t want you to vote (unless it’s for them).
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2016 · 6:59:21 PM +00:00
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Sean Robertson
There’s a good quote from Bloomberg back in 2012 in this article:
www.capitalnewyork.com/...
"There's no reason to have a system like we have, administered like we have it," the mayor told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.
Yesterday's elections in New York City were chaotic, and not just because of the hurricane that preceded it. The Board of Elections, whose commissioners are selected by party leaders, has a reputation for incompetence, which the mayor regularly reinforces.
"It should not be two parties and county leaders picking their buddies to supervise the basis of our citizenship, the ability to pick your leaders," he said.
So it happens every year, but we’re really seeing it now because of the high stakes nature of the race and the fact that New York actually has a voice in the primaries for a change.