SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: Blue387 via wikimedia commons

Marty Golden is following through on his promise to bring back the old voting machines by leading the New York State Senate in approving legislation that would allow the machines to be used in upcoming elections, according to a press release.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Golden, allows New York City to use lever machines for all non-federal elections, including the upcoming mayoral primaries, run-offs and general election. Golden praised the passage of the bill as a victory for making voting simpler.

“The lever voting machines had been successfully used in New York for over 100 years. They have proven to be reliable and easy for voters to use. In addition,  using lever voting machines will expedite the canvass of votes cast in the primary election and reduce the number of paper ballots that would need to be hand-counted,” Golden said in the release.

State Senator Simcha Felder believes that the machines will help seniors.

“The new voting machines are confusing to people and very hard to read, especially for seniors,” Felder said.

There have been concerns that the new voting machines, which rely on paper ballots and digital readers, were causing more problems than solving them. Voters, especially seniors, complained about difficult to read and confusing paper ballot instructions, and the Board of Elections has proven unequal to the task of tallying the votes on the new machine in a timely manner.

The bill will now go to the Assembly for a vote.

The flag of the great state of Texas. Source: AustinFlag.com

BETWEEN THE LINES: I truly intended to steer clear of politics for this column. However, when I read about the secession effort set in motion this week in states that, by and large, voted for Mitt Romney, and then quickly spread in a few days, it induced me to stick my two cents into the fray as our nation becomes more sharply divided.

Have you heard about this post-Obama re-election foolishness? It’s even more outrageous than the lame excuses offered by embittered losers Mitt Romney, who said Obama gave gifts to liberal constituencies, and Paul Ryan, who said the urban vote hurt them. It’s even crazier than when Karl Rove went ballistic on election night and stubbornly refused to accept the Ohio voting results on the Fox News Channel.

The secession movement started in Texas — the reddest state — and, as of November 15, approximately 100,000 Lone Star residents had reportedly signed petitions requesting the peaceful withdrawal of their state from the union. Small numbers of citizens from every other state, including New York, quickly joined the movement and signed similar petitions asking to secede. Residents of a few states without a petition cheerfully signed one from another state.

They may do everything big in Texas, but this secession movement is hardly one of ’em. One hundred thousand is a drop in the bucket compared to the 26 million people in the nation’s second most populous state.

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Source: DonkeyHotey / Flickr

BETWEEN THE LINES: The presidential campaign stretched out for 18 months, yet it seemed longer — a lot longer.

I’ve had my fill of annoying attack ads. At least we won’t have to see those fact-skewing, derogatory commercials — until local campaigns emerge less than a year from now.

I’m also fed up with constant robocalls. Why is it that political calls are exempt from “Do Not Call” lists? And don’t give me that free speech explanation. That’s just a flimsy excuse when self-serving representatives fashion expedient legislation to exempt themselves, yet block solicitations from private businesses.

One thing this election demonstrated was that the nation’s melting pot population is more diverse than ever — and must be given attention. While the Democratic Party got an overwhelming majority of the minority vote, it’s going to have to work hard to maintain that base and not just count on it as their base for years to come. On the other hand, though the Republican Party is far from being washed up, as long as the GOP adheres to its horse-and-buggy manifesto, it’s likely to remain losers for years to come.

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My voting station was busier than I’ve ever seen it at my usual mid-day voting time – a time I choose to go because it’s usually empty.

Not so today; voters were lined up inside St. Mark School’s gymnasium (East 18th Street and Avenue Z), where many voters from blocks hard hit by the flooding near Sheepshead Bay Road are assigned to cast their ballot.

A poll worker told us that turnout has so far been great – all things considered – and that it has been an uneventful day in terms of complications.

Reader Auxil B. noted the same at his polling site:

I voted a while ago at the Kings Bay Y and it was active but uneventful. Everyone and everything was working well and the wait period was very brief to get a privacy booth. There was no wait for scanning. I was voter 100, which is well above the number I register in some off year primarites but I think a tad lower than in the Turner vs. Weprin special election a while ago.

Another reader, Celeste L., reports the same, though we’re waiting to hear back on which polling site she was assigned to:

I voted at 6:10 AM and was the first in my district. I saw no problems but the turnout was not yet heavy.

How has your voting experience been today? We especially want to hear from you if you were in a relocated site due to Hurricane Sandy?

As we well know by now, Hurricane Sandy didn’t just decimate homes and businesses, but also schools and other institutions that double as polling stations on Election Day. And with damage still present, and power outages in many locations, poll locations are being moved for many local voters.

You can find the latest poll site relocations here.You can also text “NYCVOTES” to 877877, or call (855) NYS-SANDY. If you have any other questions, call (866) VOTE-NYC.

Additionally, Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order permitting victims of Hurricane Sandy to vote by paper affidavit at any poll site. However, we encourage you to attempt to try to get to your relocated poll site , as some affidavits may not be counted.

Polling sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Source: barackobama.com

BETWEEN THE LINES: For habitual readers of this column, it should come as no revelation as to who my preference is in Tuesday’s presidential election.

Over the last three or four months, there’s nothing former Governor Mitt Romney or Rep. Paul Ryan did to convince me to change my mind. (I’d still rather be blue than red.) As a matter of fact, most of what they or their obstructionist Republican colleagues uttered only solidified my incentive for President Barack Obama to serve another four years.

Barack Obama is the only choice, if we hope to move forward and not revert to stale Republican policies that generated the chaos — overseas and nationwide — that we’re in today.

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Source: AP Photo

BETWEEN THE LINES: When Mitt Romney became the Republican’s designated presidential nominee following his victories in the spring primaries, the party’s conservative wing seemed as lukewarm about the former governor as they were four years ago for maverick Senator John McCain. In a calculated move to counterbalance his moderate credentials, and emulating what McCain did four years ago, Romney chose Congressman Paul Ryan, a Tea Party favorite, as his vice presidential running mate.

But even that didn’t seem to matter much because, after weeks of campaigning, until the first presidential debate, Romney trailed or was tied in nearly every poll. As a matter of fact, in the days leading up to the Denver debate, a lack of enthusiasm clouded the GOP.

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(Click to enlarge)

Ever since the city switched to new electronic voting machines, with their newfangled technology, Scantron-style ballots, and itty-bitty font, local voters have flooded our inbox every election day with complaints about the process. And it’s not all about the tech – some are fed up with the long lines and seemingly clueless poll workers, and the voters themselves are confused about what to do.

Well, Public Advocate Bill De Blasio and Animal New York to the rescue! The city pol and web magazine have teamed up to help end the confusion, and raise New York’s paltry voting rates.

According to De Blasio, New York had the lowest voter turnout rate in the nation in 2010, and, in 2008, when youth voters across the country voted heavily in the presidential elections, New Yorker’s young adults turned out at only 17 percent.

To make the jumble of online resources (and the city’s own archaic website) a little easier to navigate, De Blasio and Animal have created the above infographic with some need-to-know info about voting regulations, and put together NYCVoting.com, a site that presents links to some of the best voting tools around – and they do it in a very visually appealing, easy to understand way.

NYCVoting.com may just become our go-to link when our election day reminders come around.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz and Senator David Storobin previously announced the passage of legislation that required all voting materials, including ballots, to be translated into Russian.

The legislation (A.10609/S.7812) stated that New York City and other municipalities with populations of more than a million must provide written Russian language assistance for voters. This would include ballots, signs, voter mailings, employee and volunteer training materials and information on the Board of Elections’ website.

In New York City, voting materials are already translated into five other languages.

However, the New York City Board of Elections has yet to translate any voting materials into Russian. Cymrowitz is speaking out against the inaction and calling for the immediate resignation or termination of the board’s general counsel, Steven Richman.

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The following is a press release from the offices of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:

At a press conference in the heart of Brooklyn’s Russian-American community, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn) and State Senator David Storobin (R-Brooklyn) today announced the passage of groundbreaking legislation they introduced that will require all voting materials, including ballots, to be translated into Russian.

Also celebrating the bill’s passage were leaders from the Russian-American community and elected officials including Assemblymembers Alec Brook-Krasny and Helene Weinstein and State Senator Diane J. Savino. The announcement was made outside Tatiana Restaurant on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk.

“This historic legislation marks the dawn of a new day for Russian-speaking New Yorkers who have been unfairly excluded from the democratic process due to a language barrier,” Assemblyman Cymbrowitz said. “For the first time, Russian-speaking voters will be able to walk into the polling place on Election Day, look at a ballot, and say, ‘Now I belong.’”

Senator Storobin added, “This legislation is long overdue and will finally ensure that Russian-speaking Americans’ voting rights are protected here in Brooklyn and across New York State. I applaud my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate for taking this necessary action for our community.”

The legislation (A.10609/S.7812) requires New York City and other municipalities with populations of more than a million to provide written Russian language assistance for voters. This includes ballots, signs, voter mailings, employee and volunteer training materials and information on the Board of Elections’ website. In New York City, voting materials are already translated into five other languages.

Besides the press release, Cymbrowitz posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

Today I held a news conference on the Boardwalk in Brighton Beach to announce the passage of historic legislation I introduced that will require the Board of Elections to translate ballots and other voting materials into Russian. Joining me was State Senator David Storobin, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, and several of my legislative colleagues. For the first time, our Russian-speaking neighbors will be able to participate fully in the democratic process without the burden of a language barrier. Equally important, we worked together to make it happen. Democrat, Republican, Russian-speaking, non-Russian speaking, we all embraced the spirit of inclusion that the measure represents. No matter what language you speak, everyone deserves a voice in our democracy. (From left: Assemblyman William Colton, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Senator Storobin, Assemblyman Cymbrowitz, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, and State Senator Diane J. Savino.)