No New Machines

Image (c) lrechis

Some have shown frustration at the city’s delay in getting newer, electronic voting machines.

Others don’t want to get rid of the old-fashioned lever machines at all.

On the steps of City Hall this afternoon, council members Helen Foster, Robert Jackson, Simcha Felder and David Weprin urged the city to keep the lever machines instead of the electronic ones.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Jackson.

In a nutshell, Foster argued the older machines are about “safety, integrity and the importance of keeping it simple.”

Foster has sponsored a resolution, which urges the state legislature and the state’s congressional delegation to “take all appropriate actions that may be necessary to enable New York counties to continue using lever voting machines supplemented by accessible voting technology for people with disabilities.”

The state is in the process of moving into an electronic voting system, as required by the federal Help America Vote Act. Foster’s resolution argues the act does not ban non-electronic machines, and the older machines can be used with the newer ones meant to help those with disabilities.

By Courtney Gross on October 28, 2009, 1:24 pm