Queens Officials Show Off New Voting Machines

NY 1

September 3, 2010 

Voters will soon be casting their ballots using a brand new system.

Local leaders and officials from the city's Board of Elections demonstrated the new electronic voting system in Jackson Heights, Queens on Friday. 

The old lever voting booths will be a thing of the past, and the new system is designed to be in compliance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

From now on, with every vote cast, a verifiable paper record will be produced.

Officials say it will be easier and more accurate than the old booths. 

 

"You insert it into the machine. The machine scans it, it records it and marks in the system whether the person voted," said Queens Senator Jose Peralta. "The great thing is, you can't overvote. So if you mark two people's names for the same position, it will shoot it back out."

"New Yorkers can feel confident and comfortable that many of the problems that Florida had in 2000, for example, we don't have to face in New York," said J.C. Polanco of the Board of Elections. 

Most of the city's nearly 4.3 million registered voters will be using the new voting system, beginning with the September 14 primaries.

Every voter will use them in time for the general election in November.

For more information on the new voting system, visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us.

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