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Star-Gazette (www.stargazette.com)
August 7, 2007
State has saved millions as other states have stumbled on
poor choices.
By Cara Matthews
clmatthe@gannett.com
Star-Gazette Albany Bureau
ALBANY -- When it comes to spending federal money to
modernize election systems, New York state has barely made a dent in its $220
million savings account, according to a report released by a federal agency.
New York spent 1.43 percent -- just $3.1 million -- of the
$219.5 million it originally received from the federal government, the lowest
percentage of any state, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
South Carolina, by contrast, spent a little more than its total allotment of
39.2 million.
States received a total of about $3 billion, and they have
spent 60 percent of that, or $1.8 billion, the commission reported. The bulk of
it -- 76 percent -- was used to buy or upgrade voting machines and implement
statewide voter-registration databases. Expenditures are through September 2006
for some funds and December 2006 for others.
Why does New York appear so frugal? Lawmakers took a long
time developing the state's companion laws to implement the Help America Vote
Act. Missed deadlines for implementing the statute prompted the U.S. Department
of Justice to sue. The state Board of Elections had trouble with its
machine-testing authority and is in the process of choosing another, meaning
replacements for decades-old lever machines are still far from reality.
"It has taken New York longer to go through the
process, but that turned out to be the silver lining," said Barbara
Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.
All the delays mean New York has benefited from pitfalls
experienced by other states, namely the acquisition of new election machines
that were not secure enough and "compromised the integrity of the
ballot," Bartoletti said. Some states have had to use their own money to replace
such machines. New York has the highest standards of any state as far as
testing and certifying new machines, she said.
"We haven't squandered the money. It's making interest
and hopefully (with) the process we're now going through ... we will pick
machines that protect the fundamental right to vote and have that vote counted
accurately," Bartoletti said.
The Help America Vote Act was passed in the wake of the 2000
presidential elections, when it took more than a month to resolve disputes over
vote counts and decide who had been elected. Its purpose is to modernize
elections and make voting easier for people with disabilities.
New York has earned interest on its money by keeping it in
the bank, so the current balance is $224.7 million.
Most of it -- $190 million or more -- will go toward the
purchase of voting systems, said Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the state Board
of Elections. The agency is in the process of finalizing a contract with a new
testing company, he said.
The funds spent so far have gone toward building a statewide
database and providing grants to make county polling places accessible, he
said.
Copyright © 2007 Star-Gazette.