After numerous flops in several contested races in the city, the old lever voting machines are set to replace the city’s new high-tech optical scanning machines, at least for this year’s highly anticipated Democratic primaries.

A deal has been made in the New York State legislature that will allow the old machines to be used for the September 10 primary and for the runoff, if none of the candidates receive 40%, NY1 has learned.

New York City Board of Elections officials say the new optical scanners are too slow to allow them to plan for a likely runoff in the crowded Democratic primary race. The New York State Assembly passed a bill that would delay the runoff by one week. The bill extends to three weeks, up from two weeks, the timeframe in which the City must conduct such a runoff.

In a last-ditch effort to avoid an electoral embarrassment, the city is poised to redeploy the lever machines that have been preserved in two warehouses in Brooklyn, shielded from dust by plastic covers, according to the NY Times.

“We are right between the rock and the hard place, or, if you’re a literary type, between Scylla and Charybdis,” said Frederic M. Umane, the president of the city’s Board of Elections. “It’s the best solution that we’ve been able to come up with.”

Senator Marty Golden (R- Brooklyn) said “there is no other choice” than to bring back the lever machines in September. “If we had to do a paper recount, and with the setup that we have, it would take us through Christmas and into the New Year,” Mr. Golden said.

According to the Times, Government watchdog groups worry that a mythology about the older machines has taken hold — New Yorkers may be recalling the satisfying feeling of pulling the lever to record their vote, but not the machines breaking down and long lines forming at the polls.

It’s still unclear if the old machines will also be used for the November 5 general election.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)