Brooklyn –  With Election Day just hours away, Councilman David G. Greenfield is making voters aware of their privacy rights and providing some helpful information before the first General Election with the new paper ballots gets underway in New York.

“I received numerous complaints during, and after, the September 14th primary elections,” said Councilman Greenfield. “Voters reported poll stations opening late, machines breaking down and, most disturbingly, serious breaches of privacy. That’s why this election, we’ll be working over-time to make sure that every vote is counted.”

In response to these serious and credible concerns, Councilman Greenfield fired off letters to United States Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez and New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo calling for close monitoring of voting throughout New York City during the November 2nd general election, as well as additional training for poll workers.

As a result of Councilman Greenfield’s well-publicized efforts to remedy privacy breaches following the primary election, as well as the continued, persistent failure of the New York City Board of Elections over the last several weeks, the Board’s Executive Director, George Gonzalez, was fired effective October 25th.

When heading to the polls tomorrow, Greenfield asks that you keep in mind the following:

Voters have a fundamental right to a secret ballot.  This means:
1)      Voters should receive a privacy sleeve with their paper ballot. The privacy sleeve looks like a plain manila folder. If you don’t receive it, ask for it!
2)      Voters should be able to vote in booths where no one can view a voter’s selections over their shoulder.
3)      If a voter makes a mistake on the paper ballot, the voter may ask for up to two replacement ballots.
4)      Voters should be able to enter their own paper ballot, directly from the privacy sleeve, into the optical scanner. A poll worker should only handle a ballot if the voter specifically asks for assistance.

Any problems or irregularities while voting should be reported immediately to 311 Councilman Greenfield encourages voters to contact his district office at 718-853-2704 after filing a complaint with 311.  Please have your 311 reference number available when you contact Councilman Greenfield’s office.

To locate your polling site:Visit: http://gis.nyc.gov/vote/ps/index.htm or call the Kings County Board of Elections at 718-797-8800. Alternatively, you can also call Councilman Greenfield’s office directly at 718-853-2704 and a staff member will help you locate your polling site. Polls open on Tuesday at 6am and close at 9pm.

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(YWN Desk – NYC)