The city’s new electronic voting machines, are definitely, definitely going to work fine on Election Day, but just in case, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to call 311 and to use Twitter to report any and all problems they observe at voting sites.

This year for the first time, 311 will be collecting data on the complaints that come in.

In past years, 311 operators have simply transferred Election Day calls to the Board of Elections, the independent body whose handling of last month’s primary, the biggest test to date of the new computerized balloting system, the mayor declared “a royal screw-up.”

The mayor’s news release on the change took a few swipes at the Board of Elections, whose executive director, George Gonzalez, was just fired.
“For the last several election cycles,” the release reads, “the Administration has made offers to the City’s Board of Elections to have 311 handle election day complaints, and to collect data on such complaints. The Board, which operates independently, has declined these offers.”

The mayor added: “The performance of the Board of Elections on Primary Day was unacceptable, and New Yorkers deserve better. All government agencies should be held accountable for their performance, and that takes on added meaning when something as fundament as the integrity of our democratic process is at stake.”

Preliminary data on polling-place problems will be released to the public on Election Day, the mayor’s office said. The city asks that Twitter users employ the hashtag #nycvotes for their dispatches.

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(Source: NY Times)