Board of Elections gaffe may nullify New York soldiers' overseas absentee ballot

[Soul Crusher]

Board of Elections gaffe may nullify New York soldiers' overseas absentee ballots
BY Thomas M. Defrank and Lukas I. Alpert
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Originally Published:Monday, October 11th 2010, 2:02 PM

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Soldiers from Fort Drum, NY, vote via absentee ballots during the 2008 election while serving in Iraq. The Board of Elections is facing another "royal screwup" - this time for failing to ship absentee ballots to New York troops serving overseas.

"Our troops sacrifice their lives to protect our freedoms. They should never, ever be denied the right to vote," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, who pushed a 2009 law establishing deadlines for mailing absentee ballots.

New York election officials were required to ship the ballots to U.S. citizens living overseas by Sept. 17. Because New York primaries were held Sept. 14, the feds granted local officials an extension until Oct. 1.

Several New York counties blew past the extension - including the city's five boroughs.

Schumer urged election officials to rush delivery of the ballots to ensure that military votes are counted.

"Put these ballots on the next plane to Afghanistan," Schumer demanded. "There is absolutely no excuse for failing to get this done."

New York State Board of Elections officials informed the feds late last week of their failure to meet the Oct. 1 deadline, which also occurred in Westchester, Putnam, Erie and Niagara counties.

In all, there are 49,468 registered overseas voters in New York State, 20,172 of whom are in the military.

In the five boroughs, there are 36,446 registered overseas voters, including 6,557 who serve in the armed forces, election officials said.

"We send our young men and women overseas to fight and die for us, and we don't care enough to make sure they get the right to exercise their franchise?" fumed Mayor Bloomberg.

"That's what they're over there fighting for as much as anything else," he added.

City election officials said the absentee ballots for New Yorkers fighting abroad began getting shipped out on Sunday - 10 days past deadline.

City election officials, still reeling from a string of primary election snafus Bloomberg deemed a "royal screwup," said they were delayed because primary results weren't certified until last Tuesday.

Election officials reminded overseas voters that they can now sign up online at elections.state.ny.us to receive ballots.

The 2009 federal MOVE Act requires states to mail overseas ballots 45 days before the general election scheduled for Nov. 2 this year.

Absentee votes are counted until 13 days after Election Day.

State election officials said they would extend "the deadline for receiving those ballots back to New York State as much as we possibly can in compliance with our state law."

tdefrank@nydailynews.com

With Richard Sisk



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/11/2010-10-11_board_of_elections_gaff_may_nullify_new_york_soldiers_overseas_absentee_ballots.html#ixzz129LptBlP


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Truly disgusting and beyond words. 

[The Showstoppa]

"gaffe" my ass....completely on purpose because NY doesn't want soldiers to vote.....who traditionally vote conservative/republican.....fact.

[Soul Crusher]

"gaffe" my ass....completely on purpose because NY doesn't want soldiers to vote.....who traditionally vote conservative/republican.....fact.

Yup. 

Living in the devils' den of leftism, progressivism, liberalism,  this crap is par for the course.     

[The Showstoppa]

Yup. 

Living in the devils' den of leftism, progressivism, liberalism,  this crap is par for the course.     

I know the kneepad brigade wants to always harp on you for being pissed, etc.... but damn, if I lived there it would be like that Michael Douglas movie where he just snaps......

[Soul Crusher]

I know the kneepad brigade wants to always harp on you for being pissed, etc.... but damn, if I lived there it would be like that Michael Douglas movie where he just snaps......

Or Travis Bickle   

[Soul Crusher]

GOP prods Justice on military vote
By: Mike Allen
October 12, 2010 08:19 AM EDT

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A group of Republican lawyers and law students on Tuesday called for the Obama administration to do more to ensure that members of the military are able to cast ballots in the Nov. 2 elections.

David Norcross, chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, said in a statement: “The MOVE Act was passed last year to ensure that these brave men and women would have a voice in this fall’s elections. It’s unacceptable that any state would fail to meet that obligation. The Obama Administration must act swiftly to guarantee that ever service member receives his or her ballot in time to vote.”

The RNLA is a group of Republican lawyers who advise candidates on election laws and provide assistance on recounts and charges of voter fraud. The group’s announcement on the military vote is here.

Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had “filed a lawsuit against Guam and its election officials seeking emergency relief to help ensure that military service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election.”

But Norcross said in his statement: “Filing a suit in Guam is not a serious attempt to ensure that every state following the law and ensuring military votes. … The Justice Department should be filing similar suits in New York and any other state that is failing to meet the MOVE Act.”
 
 
© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC
 

[Kazan]

How hard is it to mail out some ballots? Someone needs asses kicked over this.

[BM OUT]

How hard is it to mail out some ballots? Someone needs asses kicked over this.

Typical democrat dirty tricks.They HATE the military.

[Soul Crusher]

New York City’s Board of Elections Chief Is Fired
By DAVID W. CHEN
Published: October 26, 2010
www.nyt.com


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 With Election Day just a week away, the head of the city’s embattled Board of Elections was fired on Tuesday following a series of missteps with new voting machines and other procedures.

 
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
George Gonzalez in September.
Post a CommentThe firing of George Gonzalez, the executive director, occurred after a meeting of the 10-member board in Lower Manhattan. The vote was 6 to 4.

Election officials emphasized that the change would have no impact on the elections next week, when New Yorkers are expected to turn out in much bigger numbers than the Sept. 14 primary to vote for governor, attorney general and comptroller, as well as members of the Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

But the move suggests that the board hopes to move beyond a barrage of criticism of the board that began almost immediately after the polls opened for the primary election.

With New Yorkers confronting new electronic voting machines for the first time, some polls opened as much as three hours late because they had not received the scanners needed to read paper ballots. Some machines malfunctioned. And some polling sites reported a shortage of manila folders to hold the ballots to guarantee privacy.

Even before the voting had concluded, a visibly irritated Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg called the problems “a royal screw-up.”

A day after the machines’ inaugural run, city election officials conceded that the problems were due, in part, to inadequate preparation, but they said the city was trying to abide by requirements imposed by the state.

By the time Mr. Gonzalez made his first public appearance to discuss what happened, though, he struck a more defiant tone. At a hearing on Sept. 29 held by the State Senate Elections Committee, he graded the board’s performance as “fair” and insisted that there were only “minimal difficulties.” He also took issue with news media accounts depicting “a day of chaos” and said, bluntly, that “simply put, that portrayal is incorrect.”