2/27/2013
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A Staten Island Revolution
Is Quinn Using the BOE Commision Scandal
to Take Over the SI GOP? By Who?
A Coup D'etat of A Coup D'etat? Plus Another Coup D'etat?
SI GOP A Quinn Fifth Column? Who Would Ever Think the Revolution Would State on Staten Island
Is the BOE's Coup D'etat commisioner scandal who can be blamed in part on Speaker Quinn and the City Council being managed to help her take over the SI GOP? Councilman James Oddo who gets tons of Member Items $$$ from Quinn has not endorsed a mayoral candidate yet.
Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, a Conservative, is leaning towards supporting Council Speaker Christine Quinn for mayor, with GOP candidate Joe Lhota hoping to change his mind, the News writes:
James Molinaro endorses Chris Quinn for mayor in latest setback for GOP(NYP)
Quinn and Oddo Worked Together Before
Go back 10 years to 2003: GOP had a majority on the council
redistricting commission for the first time in nearly a century. Oddo casts
tie-breaking vote to pass the Dem plan, which cut Russian population in Brighton
Beach into two distrists.
Lunch today with @JoeLhota: informative, productive and more than a couple of laughs @eric_ulrich @Dan_Halloran @VincentIgnizio
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Board of Elections Fallout
GOP SI Boss Steps Down Over feuded over the borough’s GOP appointment to the city Board of Elections
BOE Commissioner Coup d'état Affecting GOP Leadership and the Mayor's Race
Thwarted SI GOP boss quits(NYP) GOP Chairman Bob Scamardella cited disagreements with some of the borough’s Republican elected officials — particularly Councilman James Oddo — as the reason for his decision to step down now. “My resignation occurs because I have been hamstrung in my ability to function and I want to put an end to recent public displays of party discord,” Scamardella said in a letter to GOP County Committee members.
2/24/2013
The NYDN Says Go Back to the Old Machines to Get Through Count in Time for the Runoff
What about changing the 10 day wait to open the ballots. You can still wait 10 days until all the votes come in. Just open on day 2 them and start the hand count early if the numbers are very close.
Board of Elections' botch of Queens balloting bodes ill for mayoral races(NYDN Ed) It should bring back the old reliable lever machines from retirement. There was a special City Council election in Queens last Tuesday that drew a grand total of 8,505 people to the polls.
Despite the meager showing, the Board of Elections will not know who won until . . . who knows when. Next up is a count of 645 affidavit and absentee ballots, which will start on Wednesday under the calendar prescribed by law. That process could take several days, meaning at least a week and a half will pass before a victor emerges — maybe. If the margin remains razor thin, the board will conduct a hand count of all the ballots, a chore that will take several additional days at the least, assuming there are no court challenges. Now think about September, when 3 million Democrats and a half million Republicans are eligible to vote for mayoral choices in multicandidate primaries. In the event that no one gets 40%, the law mandates a runoff two weeks later. Moral of the story: If the board cannot declare a winner in less than 10 days in a piddling race, it won’t be able to decide a close mayoral primary in the two weeks leading up to a runoff. There is a way to prevent such a debacle. The Legislature must let the board mothball the electronic scanners this year and put the old lever machines back into service. The contraptions got the job done for decades and can do so again.
What About the Sworn Papers Filed in Court by Ragusa?
Is DOI, the DA or the AG investigating if the papers were real or forged? Robert Hornak the director of machines for the Board of Election testified in sworn statements to the court that the Queens leadership executive committee members met and voted
Nov. 1 to reappoint Stupp, and that on Nov. 3, Ragusa signed a
certificate saying so. That information was to have been mailed to the
City Clerk and City Council on Nov. 19 -- although apparently neither
envelope ever arrived. Hornak sworn statement said he mail the papers to reappoint Stupp on Nov. 19. to the executive committee.Ognibene
said the gathering at which the organization members supposedly
agreed -- having met at Dante's Caterers on Nov. 1 -- to re-nominate
Stupp would have coincided with "GOP night," which is more of a cocktail
party than a formal party proceeding. "I don’t know if there was ever a
notice" of such a meeting, Ognibene continued. "I think they looked
back and said, 'Where we all together where we can say we did this?'"
Are BOE Employees Permitted to Owe Money to the City?
BOE Employer Hornak Owes $$$ to the NYC CFB
Robert A. Hornak The Board of Elections Director of Machines
and Queens GOP’s executive director, Robert Hornak was fined by the New York
City Campaign Finance Board for $5,528
for Failing to report and document in-kind contributions, Failing to respond to
the Draft Audit Report, Failing to respond to the Initial Request for
Documentation, Failing to file two disclosure statements and filing two late
disclosure statements.
BOE History of Corruption and Incompetence Timeline(True News)
2/20/2013
Quinn and Government Operations Chairwoman Brewer Missing On BOE Oversight
The right of every Amreican to a fair election is not important to most of the NYC media. The Tammany Hall system of control by the Board of Elections is on fire and most of media and so called progressive leader who know what is going on and what can be accomplished in reforming the board when is is weak and vernalable remain silent. For months True News has shown the incompetency and corruption of the BOE over and over. Last November New Yorkers waiting in long lines caused by scaners that broke and lack of staffing at the polls caused by the board incomptent managers understood just how messed up the BOE is. But thier leaders have not step up to demand change. Instead they remain erie silent. This cover up has continue even after a commission coup de tar by lead by Councilman Eric Ulrich.
Does Such Power to Shut Down the Press Exist in New York?
Ulrich figured out that BOE commissioner were not legally reappointed according to the NYS election law. As True News has pointed out months ago Speaker Quinn and the council are responsible for appointing commissioners to the BOE upon recomendations of the city's GOP and Democratic Party leaders. Only True News and the Daily News is covering the despots fight for control of a system that protects incumbent pols and corrupt party leaders. Ulrich coup was not for reform but to get even with the GOP county leader who has screwed him. Where are the editorals and Facebook posting demanding to know how the council and BOE could service in volation of the state's election law or demanding change to boss corrupt rule of the BOE. The NYT which frequently writes editorals offering those involved in the Arab Spring the hope democracy has not written one editoral about reforming the BOE so New Yorkers can restore their democracy. The old gray lady has decided to go all out to protect Quinn to elect her mayor. Councilwoman Gale Brewer head of the council government operation committee that oversees the citycouncil remains silent. So does the city's good government groups.
This is the Last Story the NYT Wrote About the BOE Slow Count - Date November 6, 2012
Will the Real ES&S' Phil Ragusa Please Stand Up?
From the NY Daily News:
The name would naturally jump out at anyone who's interested in Queens politics: Not only is Phil Ragusa the Queens GOP chairman, but his nephew -- also named Phil Ragusa -- works for the Board as a supervisor dealing with voting machines in the Queens warehouse. (Of note: Ragusa's brother, Biagio, retired in 2012 after 20 years of service at the Queens warehouse, and his son, Phil, ended up getting that job.) In response to a Daily News inquiry, the Board of Elections said ES&S officials specified via emails last October that the Phil Ragusa they paid for work done last November is neither the GOP chairman nor his nephew, but a totally different person who is unrelated to either. What are the odds? The Board also noted that "to avoid the appearance of impropriety," Ragusa #3, hired by ES&S on an outside-contractor basis as "a pre-election testing support person" and "a Call Center support person" for the November general election, was assigned to work in Manhattan, not Queens. I have put in requests to an ES&S rep for further explanation of how exactly they confirmed the lack of a family relationship between Ragusas #1 and #2 and their employee, Ragusa #3...
Keep Up With the Exploding BOE Story (True News)
Payout doesn’t compute
The Post report on city workers with big overtime pay includes Pablo Martinez, a computer programmer at the Board of Elections. His total haul of $210,000 more than doubled his $98,000 salary.
For that, taxpayers should at least get election computers that work.(Goodwin, NYP)
2/19/2013
BOE Pay to Play
Voting Machines
Lobbyists and Payoff Was All That Counted in the Awarding the BOE Contract for the New Voting Machines . . . . Result Long Lines and Broken Machine, Slow Counts and ProtectedCommissioners Who Awarded the Contracts. . . Democracy take a backseat to corrution in NYC and the Media could care less and pretends it does not notice. Evan as the the runoff requirements are forcing the moving up of the primary date or going back to the old machines
Meet The Briber Who the BOE Commissioners Fear More Than Councilman Eric Ulrich
Anthony Mangone, 37, of Purchase faces up to 45 years in jail when he is sentenced on March 18 for conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax evasion.
But his sentence is expected to be a fraction of that in exchange for his cooperation in two ongoing probes in which he is involved, sources confirmed yesterday.In addition to the Westchester case where Yonkers City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi and former Yonkers Republican chief Zehy Jereis also charged, there is a second into the selection of voting machines by New York City's Board of Elections.
A few years back, the Westchester lawyer Anthony J. Mangone, who shared an office with Jay Savino, the Bronx Republican leader, earned a cool $100,000 lobbying the board on behalf of a voting machine company, Election Systems and Software. In 2010, the board gave the company a $50 million contract. The next day, federal prosecutors indicted Mr. Mangone in an unrelated bribery case. Mr. Mangone has pleaded guilty and is talking with investigators. Mr. Savino received a subpoena two years ago.Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino, and his deputy and NYC Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco, were hit with Federal subpoenas, as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation into political corruption, in Westchester and in New York City. Here is a compilation of stories that ran in the New York Post, The Daily News and The Gothamist in 2010. According to the Post-”the subpoenas were sent ‘all over the place,’ said one source.” “Another source said Bharara began focusing on the voting-machine contract after indicting Anthony Mangone, a politically connected lawyer, for allegedly bribing a former Yonkers city councilwoman to switch her vote on two development projects. Mangone, who has ties to the Queens Republican Party, was one of several lobbyists hired by ES&S.” Guilty Westchester attorney Anthony Mangone will help feds in two seperate probes(NYDN)
Citizens Union Sticks Up For BOE Commissioner Who Have Been Issued Subpoenas In Corruption Invetigation
Citizens Union sticks up for J.C. Polanco (CrainsNY)Where are Quinn and Brewer Who Were in Charge of the paper work for the commissioners? Why have they not been touch in this scandal?The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption - True News * Brewer Threw Her Hearing on the BOE Screw Up on Election Day
A Key Figure in A Yonkers Corruption Cases Involving Bruce Ratner Could Be the Key to Breaking the BOE Apart
Disgraced ex-Yonkers City Councilwoman convicted of taking bribes for vote on proposed $600M development project(NYDN) Former Yonkers City
Councilwoman Sandy Annabi accepted $175,000 in cash, gifts and jewelry
in exchange for voting in favor of a Bruce Ratner development project. Here’s the tie to Mangone, the Westchester corruption investigation, and
the ES&S scandal. Interesting to note that the post states that
Mangone also has ties to Queens GOP.The Daily News writes-“Also served was Bronx Republican Party Chairman
Jay Savino, who stressed he plans to be as cooperative as possible with
investigators but declined to say anything more. “Among ES&S’ fleet of hired guns was Anthony Mangone, a Westchester-based attorney and lobbyist who was indicted on Jan. 6
on charges of extortion, tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery
in connection with a vote-selling scam.“ES&S paid Mangone’s
firm, Mardon Consulting, $63,100 from
January-December 2009.
A Secret World Of NY Corruption Interconnects . . . Why Did Ratner Step Down?
Mangone and Savino share an office suite in White
Plains. The subpoenas received by the chairman and elections
commissioners originated out of the US attorney’s White Plains office,
according to sources who viewed the documents.” From the Gothamist—“The suspicion comes after the indictment of Anthony
Mangone, a lawyer who allegedly bribed Sandy Annabl, a member of Yonkers
city council, to change her vote on development projects. Mangone was
hired as a lobbyist for ES&S, and was arrested on January 6th, the
day after the BOE voted 6-1 on ES&S.* Forest City Ratner was “relentless” in pursuit of Yonkers development * Outrageous, Dirty Lobbyist Sheinkopf A Character Witness for Convicted Lipsky(True News)*Bruce Ratner to step down as Forest City CEO | Crain's New York ...(CrainsNY)
Not to be outdone, ES&S has its own congressional brother on its team, John "Sean" Crowley of Davidoff Malito law firm and brother of Joe Crowley, who is not only a congressman but also head of the Queens Democratic Party (a major plus, since Queens Dems have their own commissioner on the board).
AEG is Not the Only Problem Sheinkopf is Facing
Also pitching hard for ES&S is the team of Hank Sheinkopf and Norman Levy. Sheinkopf was considered a die-hard Democratic consultant/lobbyist but he went to pitch for Team Bloomberg in the last election. Levy is one of comptroller Bill Thompson's closest cronies. Sheinkopf took the 5th when asked questions by the NY former state Inspector General Joseph Fisch about the AEG scandal The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections ... - New York Post More on Sheinkopf
The Competition for the Machine Contracts Was Extreme
The Daily News' Errol Louis reports today, the behind-the-scenes battle between Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Sytems(a/k/a Sequoia Voting) is being carried on by highly-paid proxies, namely the city's most politically wired lobbyists. Dominion/Sequoia's bid is being led by the estimable Stanley Schlein, who was Mayor Bloomberg's pick as chairman of the Civil Service Commission until he was found to be using the place and staff as his private law office. Schlein has a nice inside edge at the board, thanks to his long-time friendship with board deputy director George Gonzalez, a Bronx pol who is so cheap that he was billing the elections board for his morning coffee until the News caught him at it last year. Also on board for Dominion is the powerhouse Greenberg Traurig law firm, as well as Brown, McMahon, Weinraub which includes a brother of congressman Michael McMahon.
Queens GOP Boss Phil Ragusa's BOE Appointee Graves Asked for A Bribe to Support Company for New Voted Machines, His Office Was Raided by the FBI and He is Out of the BOE
The NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee
who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was
caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine
contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. Qns. elections official under fire for soliciting money from a contractor
(NYP) he city’s Board of Elections has suspended an employee who is a
top official in the Queens Republican Party after being notified that
he was caught on tape soliciting a $25,000 “finder’s fee” from a
company competing for a $65 million contract in 2009. Department of
Investigation provided information to the board that Stephen Graves,
first vice chairman of the Queens GOP and a $66,392-a-year board
employee, asked for the money from Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems
as it was battling rival Elections Systems & Software of Omaha,
Neb., to sell the city its first electronic voting machines.
The NYP Did Not Name the Lobbyist for Dominion But in 2009 the Village Voice and Daily News Did
From NYP:
"Graves
was recommending the use of a particular lobbyist,” said one source.
“In exchange for that he wanted a finder’s fee.” The lobbyist, who was
not identified, was supposed to receive $250,000 a year for five years,
the source said."
BOE History of Corruption and Incompetence Timeline(True News)
NYC Board Of Elections: Inquests & Invoices(NYDN)
From the NY Daily News:The name would naturally jump out at anyone who's interested in Queens politics: Not only is Phil Ragusa the Queens GOP chairman, but his nephew -- also named Phil Ragusa -- works for the Board as a supervisor dealing with voting machines in the Queens warehouse. (Of note: Ragusa's brother, Biagio, retired in 2012 after 20 years of service at the Queens warehouse, and his son, Phil, ended up getting that job.) In response to a Daily News inquiry, the Board of Elections said ES&S officials specified via emails last October that the Phil Ragusa they paid for work done last November is neither the GOP chairman nor his nephew, but a totally different person who is unrelated to either. What are the odds? The Board also noted that "to avoid the appearance of impropriety," Ragusa #3, hired by ES&S on an outside-contractor basis as "a pre-election testing support person" and "a Call Center support person" for the November general election, was assigned to work in Manhattan, not Queens. I have put in requests to an ES&S rep for further explanation of how exactly they confirmed the lack of a family relationship between Ragusas #1 and #2 and their employee, Ragusa #3...
City Board of Elections Mulls Lever Machines for UpcomingVote(WNYC)
2/18/2013
The Daily News wants to go back to the old lever machines and the NYT wants to push the primary up to June to help it chooice for mayor Quinn take advance of her strong lead in the polls. The DN said the the BOE solutions to the counting problem were unreal but did not discuss the commissional scandal or whose at fault for the long line on election day
Pull the levers of power (NYDN Ed) Albany must bring back the old voting machines for the 2013 mayoral election. The board has proposed several solutions, most of them preposterous.
Like printing up 826 million ballots with every possible combination of
runoff contenders, at a cost of $430 million. Let’s get real. The old lever machines are sitting in a Brooklyn
warehouse, protected from dust by plastic covers.
Back to the Future Voting Machines
Wheel them out and run the elections just the way the city did for decades. Why did New York switch to scanners in the first place? Because, after the Florida nightmare that failed to decide the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, Congress declared voting machines must produce paper records of the vote. The mandate applies only to federal elections, of which there are none in the city this fall. For this and only this occasion, the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo should enact a bill empowering machine politics. * Move New York City’s Primaries to June(NYT)
What is Going On At the BOE Gadfly Alan Flacks?
Nothing. They are still: pooling their ignorance (only one of the ten commissioners has institutional knowledge and knows something about the Election law: Fred Umane, Rep.-Manh.); granting an occasional salary increase to headquarters' staffers while leaving the low-wage borough workers impoverished; keeping on payroll two lawyers as counsel to the commissioners (not to the Bd. of Elect., whose lawyer, who does most of the work, did need a deputy general counsel, which he finally got) who get paid a lot of money for doing nothing; keeping on payroll an armed guard who is not needed (originally hired when an employee made threats against State Sen. Bill Perkins's wife who is the administrative manager); and still "finally" settling (certifying) the totals of the November, 2012, General election as paper ballots still roll in thanks to Andrew Cuomo's order that one may vote anywhere. They still--after two years--have failed to reach a consensus as to whom to select for Executive Director. THE FLACKS REPORT
Back to the Future Voting Machines
Wheel them out and run the elections just the way the city did for decades. Why did New York switch to scanners in the first place? Because, after the Florida nightmare that failed to decide the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, Congress declared voting machines must produce paper records of the vote. The mandate applies only to federal elections, of which there are none in the city this fall. For this and only this occasion, the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo should enact a bill empowering machine politics. * Move New York City’s Primaries to June(NYT)
What is Going On At the BOE Gadfly Alan Flacks?
Nothing. They are still: pooling their ignorance (only one of the ten commissioners has institutional knowledge and knows something about the Election law: Fred Umane, Rep.-Manh.); granting an occasional salary increase to headquarters' staffers while leaving the low-wage borough workers impoverished; keeping on payroll two lawyers as counsel to the commissioners (not to the Bd. of Elect., whose lawyer, who does most of the work, did need a deputy general counsel, which he finally got) who get paid a lot of money for doing nothing; keeping on payroll an armed guard who is not needed (originally hired when an employee made threats against State Sen. Bill Perkins's wife who is the administrative manager); and still "finally" settling (certifying) the totals of the November, 2012, General election as paper ballots still roll in thanks to Andrew Cuomo's order that one may vote anywhere. They still--after two years--have failed to reach a consensus as to whom to select for Executive Director. THE FLACKS REPORT
Queens Republicans feud over Board of Elections appointment, John Catsimatidis endorsement(Queens Chronicle)
2/14/2013
Former Election Lawyer Paul Wooten is Hearing the Queens Fight Over Who Has the Right to Pick the Commissioners
BOECommissionerGate
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Paul Wooten today denied the Queens County GOP's request for an order that would block the firing of temp workers by a new elections commissioner Michael Michel, chosen by the Republican members of the City Council. While Wooten denied the TRO request made on behalf of Queens County GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa and Judith Stupp -- the commissioner ousted in a stunning power play for control of the elections agency -- the larger case will go on. "I am not a lawyer, but I understand TROs are not easily granted," Ragusa said in a statement to the Daily Politics. "But I believe the Supreme Court will get the law right and justice will ultimately be done. We don't believe the law was intended to reward trickery or interfere with political parties. New York has smart judges."
While the Fight For Control of the BOE Goes On No Media or Political Debate Over the Roles of Quinn, Brewer or Council
With NYC Board Of Elections Shake-Up In Court, Dan Halloran Has Questions Of His Own(NYDN)* “I have concerns about the information that was put in the lawsuits,”
Halloran said. “I have serious concerns about the timetables that were
alleged.” The councilman questioned how it could be that Stupp’s
re-recommendation wasn’t sent by certified mail and how both the copies
sent to the City Clerk’s office and to Council Minority Leader James
Oddo failed to show up. Halloran personally would have "walked them
over" to assure delivery, he said. The opposition lawyer Mandelker says Robert Hornak
of the Queens GOP -- who also himself happens to work for the Board of
Elections, a reader reminds me -- has sworn under oath that following the borough party's Nov. 1 decision to re-nominate Stupp for another term, he mailed (on Nov. 19) the necessary documents to the city clerk
and to Council Minority Leader James Oddo to renominate Stupp as a BOE Commissioner
1/9/2012
Goo Goos Offering Standards of BOE Commissioners Is A Lot Like Telling the Fox Not to Eat the Hens
NYC's Secret Government Star Chamber
The push by Common Cause/NY, The League of
Women Voters and NYPIRG on
questions for potential commissioners to answer (publicly) about their
qualifications and goals, is a cynical move to keep a Tammany Hall
created system in place that has robbed New Yorkers of our democracy for
generations. The BOE was designed by Boss Tweed and his success to
keep party leaders in control of who gets elected. Over time the city's
establishment has made peace with the bosses and joined there control
star chamber. The BOE is filled with a bunch of patronage appointments
by the county leader.
Friends, relatives and political supporters who have demonstrated that
they cannot count or run elections.
The goo goos now trying to save this Potemkin Board system which operates a Kangaroo Court before each election to remove candidates not supported by the party leaders off the ballot is more than misjudgement. It is just another example on how the good government groups in New York are in bed with those who want to keep things as they are.
Wild Animals Can Never Truly Be Trained or Tamed Ask Ziegfeld and Roy
What the Goo Goos should be pushing for is structural changes that corrupt the BOE, not meaningless cosmetic changes. The real role of each commisisoner is to help the party leader that appointed him or her. It is very curious that the good government groups are not demanding changes from elected leaders, who have done all they can do to hid from responsibility of the corruption and incompetence of the BOE and are the only ones who can make real changes at the board. Pols only care about one thing getting reelected. The BOE is their flu shot against challengers. They will not change the BOE without a strong public protest.
True News Discovers Sabotage
The media, reformers and the good government have abandoned their role to drum up support for change at this critical moment. When the public is mad at the BOE for the mess of election day and the pols must act to fix the commissioner appointed scandal. The pols are scared of the board. In 2009 when candidate de Blasio filed his petitions his very good election lawyer Henry Berger made a mistake in the volumn numbers, a fatal error under the state's election law designed to catch candidates not supported by the machine lawyers in mistakes to knoch them off the ballot. de Blasio and his very connected lawyer, got the commissioners to change their mind and put him back on the ballot for Public Advocate. We do not know why the media is silent. Pershaps they do not want to hurt Quinn's chances of being the next mayor. The speaker could be blamed for appointing commisioners without the proper paper work or leagal requirements. Perhaps the media is protecting the establishments star chamber of control.
What the Good People Are Not Doing to Ensure Democracy
First there should be a demand that Quinn and the city council should not approve any more BOE commissioners until Albany agrees to changes the function of the board. To restore democracy to NYC's election system the BOE should be striped of it function of removing candidates from the ballot. NYC is one of the last place in America that has a restrictive petitions process. Those supporting the process say that the petition system shows community support. In reality candidates supported by the party leaders mostly incumbents, give out BOE inspector jobs for petitions. Many of those same insider candidates resort to paid petitioners because of the weakening of the political club house system they can no long find people who want the election day inspector jobs. Let everyone run who wants to and hold a run off to every council race where a candidate does not get 40% of the vote (like in the citywide races). The only job the board of election should have to to run the election and that should be a board of civil service workers controlled by an independent board select by the judiciary.
BOE Coup May Lead To New Leader(NY1)
* Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
* Document Drop: Good Gov't Groups Have A Few Questions For NYC Elections Commissioners(NYDN)The goo goos now trying to save this Potemkin Board system which operates a Kangaroo Court before each election to remove candidates not supported by the party leaders off the ballot is more than misjudgement. It is just another example on how the good government groups in New York are in bed with those who want to keep things as they are.
Wild Animals Can Never Truly Be Trained or Tamed Ask Ziegfeld and Roy
What the Goo Goos should be pushing for is structural changes that corrupt the BOE, not meaningless cosmetic changes. The real role of each commisisoner is to help the party leader that appointed him or her. It is very curious that the good government groups are not demanding changes from elected leaders, who have done all they can do to hid from responsibility of the corruption and incompetence of the BOE and are the only ones who can make real changes at the board. Pols only care about one thing getting reelected. The BOE is their flu shot against challengers. They will not change the BOE without a strong public protest.
True News Discovers Sabotage
The media, reformers and the good government have abandoned their role to drum up support for change at this critical moment. When the public is mad at the BOE for the mess of election day and the pols must act to fix the commissioner appointed scandal. The pols are scared of the board. In 2009 when candidate de Blasio filed his petitions his very good election lawyer Henry Berger made a mistake in the volumn numbers, a fatal error under the state's election law designed to catch candidates not supported by the machine lawyers in mistakes to knoch them off the ballot. de Blasio and his very connected lawyer, got the commissioners to change their mind and put him back on the ballot for Public Advocate. We do not know why the media is silent. Pershaps they do not want to hurt Quinn's chances of being the next mayor. The speaker could be blamed for appointing commisioners without the proper paper work or leagal requirements. Perhaps the media is protecting the establishments star chamber of control.
What the Good People Are Not Doing to Ensure Democracy
First there should be a demand that Quinn and the city council should not approve any more BOE commissioners until Albany agrees to changes the function of the board. To restore democracy to NYC's election system the BOE should be striped of it function of removing candidates from the ballot. NYC is one of the last place in America that has a restrictive petitions process. Those supporting the process say that the petition system shows community support. In reality candidates supported by the party leaders mostly incumbents, give out BOE inspector jobs for petitions. Many of those same insider candidates resort to paid petitioners because of the weakening of the political club house system they can no long find people who want the election day inspector jobs. Let everyone run who wants to and hold a run off to every council race where a candidate does not get 40% of the vote (like in the citywide races). The only job the board of election should have to to run the election and that should be a board of civil service workers controlled by an independent board select by the judiciary.
BOE Coup May Lead To New Leader(NY1)
* Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
2/8/2013
Nobody is Fighting for Justin Wax Jacobs Right to Run For Public Office
The commissioners scandal, the inability to count and the mess on election day offers the best chance to give young Jacobs and dozens of other Jacobs their right to run for public office. But first the public must get mad and demand the pols reform the Board of Elections. To get mad the public must be informed. Year after year the BOE knocks candidates off the ballot or ties them up for weeks in expensive challengers who are running agaisnt the party leaders candidates. For three weeks True News has been trying to inform the media and get them to write stories about the commissioner scandal. Up until yesterday not a word has been written. Yesterday CrainsNY wrote the commissioner scandal was a power play City Councilman Eric Ulrich to take over at least a couple BOE commissioners. In Today's Daily News Celeste Katz copy cats CrainNY article This fact was reported in True News three weeks ago. But that is not the point.
True News was trying to show how the latest scandal could be used to pressure the pols to demand changes to stop the BOE's Tammany Hall rulers who protect incumbents or those chosen by party leaders. The idea that Ulrich has taken over for party leaders in controlling commissioners is still anti democracy, is as expected he uses that control to push candidates he supports and block those from getting on the ballot of those he opposes. A point missed by both CrainsNY and the Daily News reporters. The media should demand that Speaker Quinn and the council demand changes at the BOE before they appoint or reappoint any commissioners, which they are legally required to do.
More on Justin Wax Jacobs Attempted Run for Public Office
College student Justin Wax Jacobs was knocked off the ballot
on a technicality this year so a machine backed candidate could run without
democratic opposition. Jacobs somehow
gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent. Yet even though
he posed no real threat to Mayersohn's chief of staff Michael Simanowitz, Queens
Democratic election lawyer Frank Bolz working for Queens Boss Crowley was on hand at a Board of Elections
hearing Tuesday to make sure Jacobs was thrown off the ballot. Challengers
after challenger each year is either knock off the ballot or has to spend a
large amount of campaign cash and time to remain on the ballot.* In Queens, Political Center Is in Surrogate's Court - NYTimes.com
Congressman Joe Crowley on His Duet With Stephen Colbert(NYO)
Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest at today’s House Democratic retreat, where he performed a “dramatic” duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Rep. Joe Crowley
Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest at today’s House Democratic retreat, where he performed a “dramatic” duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Rep. Joe Crowley
Daily News' Katz Calls True News A Snake
Katz from the Daily News even sent us a tweet wishing us a
joyous Year of the Snake after we suggested the reporter include the roll the
speaker and Council will play in reappoint or appointing new commissioners.
Black Listing True News By New York's Gang of Group Think Political Blogger
True News Broke the BOE Story 3 Weeks Ago and Liz Benjamin
of YNN and Celeste Katz of the Daily News and City and State , did not link the reports in True
News that broke the story. Benjamin and Katz did not link the story until CrainsNY Publish A Story That
True News had 2 weeks ago. The NY
Bloggers McCarthy like Black Listing of True News is A Little Like Being on
Nixon's enemies list, A a Badge of Honor. True News favorite jouranalist is
Edward R. Murrow.
There’s upheaval at the NYC Board of Elections, related entirely to Republican commissioners.* GOP Councilmen seize opportunity to appoint election commissioners in Queens, Brooklyn, overruling county party leadership (NYDN) With
the shrewd power play, the three Republican representatives on the City
Council will now have some influence on who the city's Board of
Elections can hire and fire.
Seize the Moment Not
Citizen Union Instead of Demanding Reforms In the Management of the BOE the Fake Good Government Group Tries to Save Two Commissioners
It is clear BOE is in more trouble than it has ever been. Quinn and every good government group should be demanding change in the entire structure and function of the BOE. Instead the citizen union works to save a couple of commissioner who are key keep the corrupt operating. Commissioners the Goo Goos are trying to keep is Fred Umane the financial guy and J.C. Polanco. Alex Camarda said we much keep reform minded Polanco who is pushing for early voting. Polanco was appointed by the Bronx Democratic Boss. Everyone from Speaker silver to the Daily News has been pushing for early voting, interesting that Camarda credits Polanco. This is the second time the citizen union tried to get Quinn out of a big mess. In 2008 the Citizen Union back thespeaker in reforms meant to help her get out of the slush fund scandal mess. None of the reforms to the council member program that Quinn and the Citizens Union announced in a press conference ever were put into effect.Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
Some suggestions from Common Cause/NY, The League of Women Voters and NYPIRG on questions potential commissioners should have to answer (publicly) about their qualifications and goals. Document Drop: Good Gov't Groups Have A Few Questions For NYC Elections Commissioners(NYDN)
2/6/2013
From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You Long Lines and Close Polling Place On Election Day, A Scramble to Save Their Power At the BOE
The Political Party Leaders Are Scrambling to Reappoint the
BOE Commissioners Before the Public Finds Out. Tonight Manhattan Boss Wright is
meeting with district leaders in an emergency meeting to legally appoint
Manhattan BOE commissioner Gregory C. Soumas.
Souman and the other entire commissioner who were sitting until last week
did not follow the election law in their reappointment and possibility originals
appoint. Until City Council Eric Ulrich
used the appointment rules to get even with Queens Boss queens GOP Boss Phil
Ragusa. None of the Democrat or Republican bosses or the City Council gave a
dam about the legal procedures of appointing commissioner as long as they did their
bidding and protect who they wanted and knock off from the ballot who they
wanted. The media is now shameful covering
up the BOE commissioner scandal to allow the political bosses, city council and commission that rob NYC of it Democracy
for years, to legally appoint the same bum who gave us the worst election day
in history. This is the best time in years for the media and reformers to demand change and they remain silent.
Who Is Making Decisions On the Primary Date?
Talk of Putting NYC BOE in NYS Board of Election Recivership
As the NYC Redistricting Committe Rushes to Approve Its Gerrymandered
Council Lines. With the
BOE Leadership in Crisis and the Board on record it cannot handle the runoff,
just who is making decisions for the BOE? With the media black out on the commissioner
appointment scandal continuing the public has no idea what is going on.
What Role Will the City Council Play In Reappointing the Illegally Appointed Commissioners?
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal.
2/5/2013
Board of Election Commissioner Crisis Week 2
Media Continues the Blackout
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal.
1/23/201
Is the Corrupt and Incompetent BOE Dictating How New York City Elects It Nexts Mayor?
Instant runoff voting, ha- the BOE "sleeping beauties" would not know how to count the votes for quick results, They Can't Count the Regular Election
Quinn's BOE Conflict of Interests: Her Campaign Team Wants A Fast June Primary
Each of the commissioners that sit and make policy at the BOE must be approved by the city council after be nominated by the GOP and Dem party leaders. Last month the council reappointed another commissioner Maria R. Guastella after the long election day lines scandal, the slow vote count scandals and the fact that the board has not had an executive director in the last two years, since the last one left in ballot tampering scandal. Quinn conflict is that her campaign team wants a fast primary, meaning June. They feel that with Quinn way ahead in the polls the faster the election the better chance she has of winning. That is why many of her appointed commissioner on the BOE have been pushing for a June primary under the excuse that a September primary would not give the BOE time to count the voters for a run off. Can you imagine that after spending $100 on new machines the BOE can not do with it used to do with the 1950's built voting machines.
1/19/2013
BOE Pay to Play
Voting Machines
Lobbyists and Payoff Was All That Counted in the Awarding the BOE Contract for the New Voting Machines . . . . Result Long Lines and Broken Machine, Slow Counts and ProtectedCommissioners Who Awarded the Contracts. . . Democracy take a backseat to corrution in NYC and the Media could care less and pretends it does not notice. Evan as the the runoff requirements are forcing the moving up of the primary date or going back to the old machines
Meet The Briber Who the BOE Commissioners Fear More Than Councilman Eric Ulrich
Anthony Mangone, 37, of Purchase faces up to 45 years in jail when he is sentenced on March 18 for conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax evasion.
But his sentence is expected to be a fraction of that in exchange for his cooperation in two ongoing probes in which he is involved, sources confirmed yesterday.In addition to the Westchester case where Yonkers City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi and former Yonkers Republican chief Zehy Jereis also charged, there is a second into the selection of voting machines by New York City's Board of Elections.
A few years back, the Westchester lawyer Anthony J. Mangone, who shared an office with Jay Savino, the Bronx Republican leader, earned a cool $100,000 lobbying the board on behalf of a voting machine company, Election Systems and Software. In 2010, the board gave the company a $50 million contract. The next day, federal prosecutors indicted Mr. Mangone in an unrelated bribery case. Mr. Mangone has pleaded guilty and is talking with investigators. Mr. Savino received a subpoena two years ago.Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino, and his deputy and NYC Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco, were hit with Federal subpoenas, as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation into political corruption, in Westchester and in New York City. Here is a compilation of stories that ran in the New York Post, The Daily News and The Gothamist in 2010. According to the Post-”the subpoenas were sent ‘all over the place,’ said one source.” “Another source said Bharara began focusing on the voting-machine contract after indicting Anthony Mangone, a politically connected lawyer, for allegedly bribing a former Yonkers city councilwoman to switch her vote on two development projects. Mangone, who has ties to the Queens Republican Party, was one of several lobbyists hired by ES&S.” Guilty Westchester attorney Anthony Mangone will help feds in two seperate probes(NYDN)
Citizens Union Sticks Up For BOE Commissioner Who Have Been Issued Subpoenas In Corruption Invetigation
Citizens Union sticks up for J.C. Polanco (CrainsNY)Where are Quinn and Brewer Who Were in Charge of the paper work for the commissioners? Why have they not been touch in this scandal?The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption - True News * Brewer Threw Her Hearing on the BOE Screw Up on Election Day
A Key Figure in A Yonkers Corruption Cases Involving Bruce Ratner Could Be the Key to Breaking the BOE Apart
Disgraced ex-Yonkers City Councilwoman convicted of taking bribes for vote on proposed $600M development project(NYDN) Former Yonkers City
Councilwoman Sandy Annabi accepted $175,000 in cash, gifts and jewelry
in exchange for voting in favor of a Bruce Ratner development project. Here’s the tie to Mangone, the Westchester corruption investigation, and
the ES&S scandal. Interesting to note that the post states that
Mangone also has ties to Queens GOP.The Daily News writes-“Also served was Bronx Republican Party Chairman
Jay Savino, who stressed he plans to be as cooperative as possible with
investigators but declined to say anything more. “Among ES&S’ fleet of hired guns was Anthony Mangone, a Westchester-based attorney and lobbyist who was indicted on Jan. 6
on charges of extortion, tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery
in connection with a vote-selling scam.“ES&S paid Mangone’s
firm, Mardon Consulting, $63,100 from
January-December 2009.
A Secret World Of NY Corruption Interconnects . . . Why Did Ratner Step Down?
Mangone and Savino share an office suite in White
Plains. The subpoenas received by the chairman and elections
commissioners originated out of the US attorney’s White Plains office,
according to sources who viewed the documents.” From the Gothamist—“The suspicion comes after the indictment of Anthony
Mangone, a lawyer who allegedly bribed Sandy Annabl, a member of Yonkers
city council, to change her vote on development projects. Mangone was
hired as a lobbyist for ES&S, and was arrested on January 6th, the
day after the BOE voted 6-1 on ES&S.* Forest City Ratner was “relentless” in pursuit of Yonkers development * Outrageous, Dirty Lobbyist Sheinkopf A Character Witness for Convicted Lipsky(True News)*Bruce Ratner to step down as Forest City CEO | Crain's New York ...(CrainsNY)
Not to be outdone, ES&S has its own congressional brother on its team, John "Sean" Crowley of Davidoff Malito law firm and brother of Joe Crowley, who is not only a congressman but also head of the Queens Democratic Party (a major plus, since Queens Dems have their own commissioner on the board).
AEG is Not the Only Problem Sheinkopf is Facing
Also pitching hard for ES&S is the team of Hank Sheinkopf and Norman Levy. Sheinkopf was considered a die-hard Democratic consultant/lobbyist but he went to pitch for Team Bloomberg in the last election. Levy is one of comptroller Bill Thompson's closest cronies. Sheinkopf took the 5th when asked questions by the NY former state Inspector General Joseph Fisch about the AEG scandal The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections ... - New York Post More on Sheinkopf
The Competition for the Machine Contracts Was Extreme
The Daily News' Errol Louis reports today, the behind-the-scenes battle between Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Sytems(a/k/a Sequoia Voting) is being carried on by highly-paid proxies, namely the city's most politically wired lobbyists. Dominion/Sequoia's bid is being led by the estimable Stanley Schlein, who was Mayor Bloomberg's pick as chairman of the Civil Service Commission until he was found to be using the place and staff as his private law office. Schlein has a nice inside edge at the board, thanks to his long-time friendship with board deputy director George Gonzalez, a Bronx pol who is so cheap that he was billing the elections board for his morning coffee until the News caught him at it last year. Also on board for Dominion is the powerhouse Greenberg Traurig law firm, as well as Brown, McMahon, Weinraub which includes a brother of congressman Michael McMahon.
Queens GOP Boss Phil Ragusa's BOE Appointee Graves Asked for A Bribe to Support Company for New Voted Machines, His Office Was Raided by the FBI and He is Out of the BOE
The NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee
who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was
caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine
contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. Qns. elections official under fire for soliciting money from a contractor
(NYP) he city’s Board of Elections has suspended an employee who is a
top official in the Queens Republican Party after being notified that
he was caught on tape soliciting a $25,000 “finder’s fee” from a
company competing for a $65 million contract in 2009. Department of
Investigation provided information to the board that Stephen Graves,
first vice chairman of the Queens GOP and a $66,392-a-year board
employee, asked for the money from Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems
as it was battling rival Elections Systems & Software of Omaha,
Neb., to sell the city its first electronic voting machines.
The NYP Did Not Name the Lobbyist for Dominion But in 2009 the Village Voice and Daily News Did
From NYP:
"Graves
was recommending the use of a particular lobbyist,” said one source.
“In exchange for that he wanted a finder’s fee.” The lobbyist, who was
not identified, was supposed to receive $250,000 a year for five years,
the source said."
BOE History of Corruption and Incompetence Timeline(True News)
NYC Board Of Elections: Inquests & Invoices(NYDN)
From the NY Daily News:The name would naturally jump out at anyone who's interested in Queens politics: Not only is Phil Ragusa the Queens GOP chairman, but his nephew -- also named Phil Ragusa -- works for the Board as a supervisor dealing with voting machines in the Queens warehouse. (Of note: Ragusa's brother, Biagio, retired in 2012 after 20 years of service at the Queens warehouse, and his son, Phil, ended up getting that job.) In response to a Daily News inquiry, the Board of Elections said ES&S officials specified via emails last October that the Phil Ragusa they paid for work done last November is neither the GOP chairman nor his nephew, but a totally different person who is unrelated to either. What are the odds? The Board also noted that "to avoid the appearance of impropriety," Ragusa #3, hired by ES&S on an outside-contractor basis as "a pre-election testing support person" and "a Call Center support person" for the November general election, was assigned to work in Manhattan, not Queens. I have put in requests to an ES&S rep for further explanation of how exactly they confirmed the lack of a family relationship between Ragusas #1 and #2 and their employee, Ragusa #3...
City Board of Elections Mulls Lever Machines for UpcomingVote(WNYC)
1/18/2013
The Daily News wants to go back to the old lever machines and the NYT wants to push the primary up to June to help it chooice for mayor Quinn take advance of her strong lead in the polls. The DN said the the BOE solutions to the counting problem were unreal but did not discuss the commissional scandal or whose at fault for the long line on election day
Pull the levers of power (NYDN Ed) Albany must bring back the old voting machines for the 2013 mayoral election. The board has proposed several solutions, most of them preposterous.
Like printing up 826 million ballots with every possible combination of
runoff contenders, at a cost of $430 million. Let’s get real. The old lever machines are sitting in a Brooklyn
warehouse, protected from dust by plastic covers.
Back to the Future Voting Machines
Wheel them out and run the elections just the way the city did for decades. Why did New York switch to scanners in the first place? Because, after the Florida nightmare that failed to decide the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, Congress declared voting machines must produce paper records of the vote. The mandate applies only to federal elections, of which there are none in the city this fall. For this and only this occasion, the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo should enact a bill empowering machine politics. * Move New York City’s Primaries to June(NYT)
What is Going On At the BOE Gadfly Alan Flacks?
Nothing. They are still: pooling their ignorance (only one of the ten commissioners has institutional knowledge and knows something about the Election law: Fred Umane, Rep.-Manh.); granting an occasional salary increase to headquarters' staffers while leaving the low-wage borough workers impoverished; keeping on payroll two lawyers as counsel to the commissioners (not to the Bd. of Elect., whose lawyer, who does most of the work, did need a deputy general counsel, which he finally got) who get paid a lot of money for doing nothing; keeping on payroll an armed guard who is not needed (originally hired when an employee made threats against State Sen. Bill Perkins's wife who is the administrative manager); and still "finally" settling (certifying) the totals of the November, 2012, General election as paper ballots still roll in thanks to Andrew Cuomo's order that one may vote anywhere. They still--after two years--have failed to reach a consensus as to whom to select for Executive Director. THE FLACKS REPORT
Back to the Future Voting Machines
Wheel them out and run the elections just the way the city did for decades. Why did New York switch to scanners in the first place? Because, after the Florida nightmare that failed to decide the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, Congress declared voting machines must produce paper records of the vote. The mandate applies only to federal elections, of which there are none in the city this fall. For this and only this occasion, the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo should enact a bill empowering machine politics. * Move New York City’s Primaries to June(NYT)
What is Going On At the BOE Gadfly Alan Flacks?
Nothing. They are still: pooling their ignorance (only one of the ten commissioners has institutional knowledge and knows something about the Election law: Fred Umane, Rep.-Manh.); granting an occasional salary increase to headquarters' staffers while leaving the low-wage borough workers impoverished; keeping on payroll two lawyers as counsel to the commissioners (not to the Bd. of Elect., whose lawyer, who does most of the work, did need a deputy general counsel, which he finally got) who get paid a lot of money for doing nothing; keeping on payroll an armed guard who is not needed (originally hired when an employee made threats against State Sen. Bill Perkins's wife who is the administrative manager); and still "finally" settling (certifying) the totals of the November, 2012, General election as paper ballots still roll in thanks to Andrew Cuomo's order that one may vote anywhere. They still--after two years--have failed to reach a consensus as to whom to select for Executive Director. THE FLACKS REPORT
Queens Republicans feud over Board of Elections appointment, John Catsimatidis endorsement(Queens Chronicle)
1/14/2013
Former Election Lawyer Paul Wooten is Hearing the Queens Fight Over Who Has the Right to Pick the Commissioners
BOECommissionerGate
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Paul Wooten today denied the Queens County GOP's request for an order that would block the firing of temp workers by a new elections commissioner Michael Michel, chosen by the Republican members of the City Council. While Wooten denied the TRO request made on behalf of Queens County GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa and Judith Stupp -- the commissioner ousted in a stunning power play for control of the elections agency -- the larger case will go on. "I am not a lawyer, but I understand TROs are not easily granted," Ragusa said in a statement to the Daily Politics. "But I believe the Supreme Court will get the law right and justice will ultimately be done. We don't believe the law was intended to reward trickery or interfere with political parties. New York has smart judges."
While the Fight For Control of the BOE Goes On No Media or Political Debate Over the Roles of Quinn, Brewer or Council
With NYC Board Of Elections Shake-Up In Court, Dan Halloran Has Questions Of His Own(NYDN)* “I have concerns about the information that was put in the lawsuits,”
Halloran said. “I have serious concerns about the timetables that were
alleged.” The councilman questioned how it could be that Stupp’s
re-recommendation wasn’t sent by certified mail and how both the copies
sent to the City Clerk’s office and to Council Minority Leader James
Oddo failed to show up. Halloran personally would have "walked them
over" to assure delivery, he said. The opposition lawyer Mandelker says Robert Hornak
of the Queens GOP -- who also himself happens to work for the Board of
Elections, a reader reminds me -- has sworn under oath that following the borough party's Nov. 1 decision to re-nominate Stupp for another term, he mailed (on Nov. 19) the necessary documents to the city clerk
and to Council Minority Leader James Oddo to renominate Stupp as a BOE Commissioner
1/13/2013
Shame of the NYT NYers Are Not All As Dumb As You Think
Yesterday the NYT uses the dysfunction of the NYC BOE to Help Their Mayoral Pick by
Pushing for a June Primary
The newspaper has not written one article about the problems at the BOE since election day.
Today the NYT says Obama
failed to propose a strong legislative agenda to eliminate long lines at the polls, instead announcing a bipartisan commission to recommend changes, even though good bills to improve registration and early voting have already been introduced.More on the BOE Corruption * Obama Appoints a Controversial GOP Lawyer to His Voting Commission (Nation) * The Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans are again at an impasse about whether to change the date of the fall primary elections.
BOECommissionerGate
With NYC Board Of Elections Shake-Up In Court, Dan Halloran Has Questions Of His Own(NYDN)* “I have concerns about the information that was put in the lawsuits,”
Halloran said. “I have serious concerns about the timetables that were
alleged.” The councilman questioned how it could be that Stupp’s
re-recommendation wasn’t sent by certified mail and how both the copies
sent to the City Clerk’s office and to Council Minority Leader James
Oddo failed to show up. Halloran personally would have "walked them
over" to assure delivery, he said. The opposition lawyer Mandelker says Robert Hornak
of the Queens GOP -- who also himself happens to work for the Board of
Elections, a reader reminds me -- has sworn under oath that following the borough party's Nov. 1 decision to re-nominate Stupp for another term, he mailed (on Nov. 19) the necessary documents to the city clerk
and to Council Minority Leader James Oddo to renominate Stupp as a BOE Commissioner
2/12/2013
Shame of the NYT NYers Are Not All As Dumb As You Think
NYT uses the dyfunction of the BOE to Help Their Mayoral Pick
To Help Quinn Who is Way Out in Front NYT Wants June Primary NYT ignores the Corruption of the Board
Modernize Registration and Require Early Voting Periods(NYT Ed)
Labor unions have collectively agreed to delay making mayoral endorsements until unusually late this year, citing a desire to be more unified in the contested Democratic primary, Crain’s Insider reports:
A True News Exclusive
True News Reported Two Week Ago That Election Lawyer Working For Catsimatidis Was Going to Court to Save BOE Commissioner Stupp Job. TN also reported that it was a possible confilit for an election lawyer working for a candidate seeking the endorsment of the Queens GOP to work to save that party leaders pick at the BOE
Today's Daily News NYC Board Of Elections Shakeup: The Plot Thickens... In Court
Election law attorney Lawrence Mandelker -- a Democrat who happens also to be billionaire GOP mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis' campaign lawyer -- says his clients want ousted Queens GOP Elections Commissioner Judith Stupp reinstated.Until that gets worked out, the party wants Stupp's Council-picked replacement, Michael Michel, "temporarily restrained from either discharging or taking any adverse employment action against any employee of, or hiring any new employees [at the] Board of Elections." Mandelker says Robert Hornak of the Queens GOP -- who also himself happens to work for the Board of Elections, a reader reminds me -- has sworn under oath that following the borough party's Nov. 1 decision to re-nominate Stupp for another term, he mailed (on Nov. 19) the necessary documents to the city clerk and to Council Minority Leader James Oddo.* Wife of Grimm’s body man will not be picked for elex commission(CrainsNY)
2/9/2013
Like Telling the Fox Not to Eat the Hens
NYC's Secret Government Star Chamber
The push by Common Cause/NY, The League of
Women Voters and NYPIRG on
questions for potential commissioners to answer (publicly) about their
qualifications and goals, is a cynical move to keep a Tammany Hall
created system in place that has robbed New Yorkers of our democracy for
generations. The BOE was designed by Boss Tweed and his success to
keep party leaders in control of who gets elected. Over time the city's
establishment has made peace with the bosses and joined there control
star chamber. The BOE is filled with a bunch of patronage appointments
by the county leader.
Friends, relatives and political supporters who have demonstrated that
they cannot count or run elections.
The goo goos now trying to save this Potemkin Board system which operates a Kangaroo Court before each election to remove candidates not supported by the party leaders off the ballot is more than misjudgement. It is just another example on how the good government groups in New York are in bed with those who want to keep things as they are.
Wild Animals Can Never Truly Be Trained or Tamed Ask Ziegfeld and Roy
What the Goo Goos should be pushing for is structural changes that corrupt the BOE, not meaningless cosmetic changes. The real role of each commisisoner is to help the party leader that appointed him or her. It is very curious that the good government groups are not demanding changes from elected leaders, who have done all they can do to hid from responsibility of the corruption and incompetence of the BOE and are the only ones who can make real changes at the board. Pols only care about one thing getting reelected. The BOE is their flu shot against challengers. They will not change the BOE without a strong public protest.
True News Discovers Sabotage
The media, reformers and the good government have abandoned their role to drum up support for change at this critical moment. When the public is mad at the BOE for the mess of election day and the pols must act to fix the commissioner appointed scandal. The pols are scared of the board. In 2009 when candidate de Blasio filed his petitions his very good election lawyer Henry Berger made a mistake in the volumn numbers, a fatal error under the state's election law designed to catch candidates not supported by the machine lawyers in mistakes to knoch them off the ballot. de Blasio and his very connected lawyer, got the commissioners to change their mind and put him back on the ballot for Public Advocate. We do not know why the media is silent. Pershaps they do not want to hurt Quinn's chances of being the next mayor. The speaker could be blamed for appointing commisioners without the proper paper work or leagal requirements. Perhaps the media is protecting the establishments star chamber of control.
1/10/2013
What the Good People Are Not Doing to Ensure Democracy
First there should be a demand that Quinn and the city council should not approve any more BOE commissioners until Albany agrees to changes the function of the board. To restore democracy to NYC's election system the BOE should be striped of it function of removing candidates from the ballot. NYC is one of the last place in America that has a restrictive petitions process. Those supporting the process say that the petition system shows community support. In reality candidates supported by the party leaders mostly incumbents, give out BOE inspector jobs for petitions. Many of those same insider candidates resort to paid petitioners because of the weakening of the political club house system they can no long find people who want the election day inspector jobs. Let everyone run who wants to and hold a run off to every council race where a candidate does not get 40% of the vote (like in the citywide races). The only job the board of election should have to to run the election and that should be a board of civil service workers controlled by an independent board select by the judiciary.
BOE Coup May Lead To New Leader(NY1)
* Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
* Document Drop: Good Gov't Groups Have A Few Questions For NYC Elections Commissioners(NYDN)The goo goos now trying to save this Potemkin Board system which operates a Kangaroo Court before each election to remove candidates not supported by the party leaders off the ballot is more than misjudgement. It is just another example on how the good government groups in New York are in bed with those who want to keep things as they are.
Wild Animals Can Never Truly Be Trained or Tamed Ask Ziegfeld and Roy
What the Goo Goos should be pushing for is structural changes that corrupt the BOE, not meaningless cosmetic changes. The real role of each commisisoner is to help the party leader that appointed him or her. It is very curious that the good government groups are not demanding changes from elected leaders, who have done all they can do to hid from responsibility of the corruption and incompetence of the BOE and are the only ones who can make real changes at the board. Pols only care about one thing getting reelected. The BOE is their flu shot against challengers. They will not change the BOE without a strong public protest.
True News Discovers Sabotage
The media, reformers and the good government have abandoned their role to drum up support for change at this critical moment. When the public is mad at the BOE for the mess of election day and the pols must act to fix the commissioner appointed scandal. The pols are scared of the board. In 2009 when candidate de Blasio filed his petitions his very good election lawyer Henry Berger made a mistake in the volumn numbers, a fatal error under the state's election law designed to catch candidates not supported by the machine lawyers in mistakes to knoch them off the ballot. de Blasio and his very connected lawyer, got the commissioners to change their mind and put him back on the ballot for Public Advocate. We do not know why the media is silent. Pershaps they do not want to hurt Quinn's chances of being the next mayor. The speaker could be blamed for appointing commisioners without the proper paper work or leagal requirements. Perhaps the media is protecting the establishments star chamber of control.
1/10/2013
What the Good People Are Not Doing to Ensure Democracy
First there should be a demand that Quinn and the city council should not approve any more BOE commissioners until Albany agrees to changes the function of the board. To restore democracy to NYC's election system the BOE should be striped of it function of removing candidates from the ballot. NYC is one of the last place in America that has a restrictive petitions process. Those supporting the process say that the petition system shows community support. In reality candidates supported by the party leaders mostly incumbents, give out BOE inspector jobs for petitions. Many of those same insider candidates resort to paid petitioners because of the weakening of the political club house system they can no long find people who want the election day inspector jobs. Let everyone run who wants to and hold a run off to every council race where a candidate does not get 40% of the vote (like in the citywide races). The only job the board of election should have to to run the election and that should be a board of civil service workers controlled by an independent board select by the judiciary.
BOE Coup May Lead To New Leader(NY1)
* Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
3/9/2013
Nobody is Fighting for Justin Wax Jacobs Right to Run For Public Office
The commissioners scandal, the inability to count and the mess on election day offers the best chance to give young Jacobs and dozens of other Jacobs their right to run for public office. But first the public must get mad and demand the pols reform the Board of Elections. To get mad the public must be informed. Year after year the BOE knocks candidates off the ballot or ties them up for weeks in expensive challengers who are running agaisnt the party leaders candidates. For three weeks True News has been trying to inform the media and get them to write stories about the commissioner scandal. Up until yesterday not a word has been written. Yesterday CrainsNY wrote the commissioner scandal was a power play City Councilman Eric Ulrich to take over at least a couple BOE commissioners. In Today's Daily News Celeste Katz copy cats CrainNY article This fact was reported in True News three weeks ago. But that is not the point.
True News was trying to show how the latest scandal could be used to pressure the pols to demand changes to stop the BOE's Tammany Hall rulers who protect incumbents or those chosen by party leaders. The idea that Ulrich has taken over for party leaders in controlling commissioners is still anti democracy, is as expected he uses that control to push candidates he supports and block those from getting on the ballot of those he opposes. A point missed by both CrainsNY and the Daily News reporters. The media should demand that Speaker Quinn and the council demand changes at the BOE before they appoint or reappoint any commissioners, which they are legally required to do.
More on Justin Wax Jacobs Attempted Run for Public Office
College student Justin Wax Jacobs was knocked off the ballot
on a technicality this year so a machine backed candidate could run without
democratic opposition. Jacobs somehow
gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent. Yet even though
he posed no real threat to Mayersohn's chief of staff Michael Simanowitz, Queens
Democratic election lawyer Frank Bolz working for Queens Boss Crowley was on hand at a Board of Elections
hearing Tuesday to make sure Jacobs was thrown off the ballot. Challengers
after challenger each year is either knock off the ballot or has to spend a
large amount of campaign cash and time to remain on the ballot.* In Queens, Political Center Is in Surrogate's Court - NYTimes.com
Congressman Joe Crowley on His Duet With Stephen Colbert(NYO)
Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest at today’s House Democratic retreat, where he performed a “dramatic” duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Rep. Joe Crowley
Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest at today’s House Democratic retreat, where he performed a “dramatic” duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Rep. Joe Crowley
Daily News' Katz Calls True News A Snake
Katz from the Daily News even sent us a tweet wishing us a
joyous Year of the Snake after we suggested the reporter include the roll the
speaker and Council will play in reappoint or appointing new commissioners.
Black Listing True News By New York's Gang of Group Think Political Blogger
True News Broke the BOE Story 3 Weeks Ago and Liz Benjamin
of YNN and Celeste Katz of the Daily News and City and State , did not link the reports in True
News that broke the story. Benjamin and Katz did not link the story until CrainsNY Publish A Story That
True News had 2 weeks ago. The NY
Bloggers McCarthy like Black Listing of True News is A Little Like Being on
Nixon's enemies list, A a Badge of Honor. True News favorite jouranalist is
Edward R. Murrow.
There’s upheaval at the NYC Board of Elections, related entirely to Republican commissioners.* GOP Councilmen seize opportunity to appoint election commissioners in Queens, Brooklyn, overruling county party leadership (NYDN) With
the shrewd power play, the three Republican representatives on the City
Council will now have some influence on who the city's Board of
Elections can hire and fire.
2/8/2013
Seize the Moment Not
Citizen Union Instead of Demanding Reforms In the Management of the BOE the Fake Good Government Group Tries to Save Two Commissioners
It is clear BOE is in more trouble than it has ever been. Quinn and every good government group should be demanding change in the entire structure and function of the BOE. Instead the citizen union works to save a couple of commissioner who are key keep the corrupt operating. Commissioners the Goo Goos are trying to keep is Fred Umane the financial guy and J.C. Polanco. Alex Camarda said we much keep reform minded Polanco who is pushing for early voting. Polanco was appointed by the Bronx Democratic Boss. Everyone from Speaker silver to the Daily News has been pushing for early voting, interesting that Camarda credits Polanco. This is the second time the citizen union tried to get Quinn out of a big mess. In 2008 the Citizen Union back thespeaker in reforms meant to help her get out of the slush fund scandal mess. None of the reforms to the council member program that Quinn and the Citizens Union announced in a press conference ever were put into effect.Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
Some suggestions from Common Cause/NY, The League of Women Voters and NYPIRG on questions potential commissioners should have to answer (publicly) about their qualifications and goals. Document Drop: Good Gov't Groups Have A Few Questions For NYC Elections Commissioners(NYDN)
2/7/2013
From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You Long Lines and Close Polling Place On Election Day, A Scramble to Save Their Power At the BOE
The Permanent Government Wants the BOE Just the Way It is
The Political Party Leaders Are Scrambling to Reappoint the BOE Commissioners Before the Public Finds Out. Tonight Manhattan Boss Wright is meeting with district leaders in an emergency meeting to legally appoint Manhattan BOE commissioner Gregory C. Soumas. Souman and the other entire commissioner who were sitting until last week did not follow the election law in their reappointment and possibility originals appoint. Until City Council Eric Ulrich used the appointment rules to get even with Queens Boss queens GOP Boss Phil Ragusa. None of the Democrat or Republican bosses or the City Council gave a dam about the legal procedures of appointing commissioner as long as they did their bidding and protect who they wanted and knock off from the ballot who they wanted. The media is now shameful covering up the BOE commissioner scandal to allow the political bosses, city council and commission that rob NYC of it Democracy for years, to legally appoint the same bum who gave us the worst election day in history. This is the best time in years for the media and reformers to demand change and they remain silent.
The Problem is the People Who Have Been Fighting the BOE For Years . . . Are the Real Tammany Hall Protectors
Instead of using the BOE's commissioners appointment Fuck Up to force changes, the media and reforms remain silent to allow the corrupt party leaders cover their tracks and fix the problems.
For Years The NYT, Daily News, NYP, Mayors and Reform Politicians Have Been Demanding Changes At the Board of Elections. Now in Spite of the 2012 Election Day Disaster and the BOE Commissioner Appointment Scandal They Remain Silent. Could it be they really want the party leaders in control and the corruption at the BOE to continue. This means when they cried about the BOE caused long lines, closed polls by poor planing rob NYC of its Democracy they really did not mean it.
What Role Will the City Council Play In Reappointing the Illegally Appointed Commissioners?
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal.
Seize the Moment Not
Citizen Union Instead of Demanding Reforms In the Management of the BOE the Fake Good Government Group Tries to Save Two Commissioners
It is clear BOE is in more trouble than it has ever been. Quinn and every good government group should be demanding change in the entire structure and function of the BOE. Instead the citizen union works to save a couple of commissioner who are key keep the corrupt operating. Commissioners the Goo Goos are trying to keep is Fred Umane the financial guy and J.C. Polanco. Alex Camarda said we much keep reform minded Polanco who is pushing for early voting. Polanco was appointed by the Bronx Democratic Boss. Everyone from Speaker silver to the Daily News has been pushing for early voting, interesting that Camarda credits Polanco. This is the second time the citizen union tried to get Quinn out of a big mess. In 2008 the Citizen Union back thespeaker in reforms meant to help her get out of the slush fund scandal mess. None of the reforms to the council member program that Quinn and the Citizens Union announced in a press conference ever were put into effect.Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
Black Listing True News By New York's Gang of Group Think Political Blogger Continues - Benjamin
True News Broke the BOE Story 3 Weeks Ago and Liz Benjamin of YNN Did Not Link the Reports in True News. Benjamin did not link the Strory Until Crains NY Publish A Story That True News Had 2 Weeks Ago. The NY Bloggers McCarthy Like Black Listing of True News is A Little Like Being on Nixon's enemies list, A a Badge of Honor. True News favorite journalist is Edward R. Murrow.
There’s upheaval at the NYC Board of Elections, related entirely to Republican commissioners.* GOP Councilmen seize opportunity to appoint election commissioners in Queens, Brooklyn, overruling county party leadership (NYDN) With the shrewd power play, the three Republican representatives on the City Council will now have some influence on who the city's Board of Elections can hire and fire.
2/5/2013
Media Continues the Blackout
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal.
2/4/2013
Board of Election Crisis:
Media and Activist Don't Want to Know
BOE in Crisis Were is the Media Again?
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal. * Last week True News reported that City Council Eric Ulrich
When Will the Brennan Center Comment on the NYC BOE
As the federal government works to address the long lines and administrative problems voters nationwide faced on Election Day, a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice argues that the first steps should be modernizing voter registration, providing a national period fo
* A New
2/2/2013
BOE in Crisis Were is the Media Again?
True News Told You On July 16th that the City Council Controls the Appointment of BOE Commissioner. City Council Eric Ulrich checked on the rules and found the council and BOE were not following the state law on the appointments of commissioners. Now Quinn, the Board and City Council are in a panic on what to do. The media as always is protecting the BOE and Quinn.So far this year they allowed votes that were not complete for certified to be cast in the electoral college voting process. The media also ignored the fact that Manhattan elected officials were serving in office before their votes were certified. Brewer Who Threw Her Council Investigation of the BOE Mishandling of Last Years General Elections is Also Silent of the BOE City Council New Commissioner Scandal.
Last week True News reported that City Council Eric Ulrich used the boards illegal appoints to get revenge on county leader Philip Ragusa by knocking out BOE commissioner Judith Stupp. Now Ulrich and other have become aware that most commissioner were illegally apointed by the BOE. Now there is lost of confusion on how to appoint them legally. The question is will the council use this opportunity To reform the BOE to stop the corruption there?
More on the Panic Over the Council Illegal Appointed Commissioners
1/31/2013
Board of Election Massacre
Buzz Most Commissioners to Be Let Go
Shakeup at BOE General office: GOP Commissioner Nancy Schacker and DEM Commissioner Julie Dent are out as Commissioners. (Checking) Last week City Council Eric Ulrich Got His Revenge on Queens GOP leader Charles Ragusa this week by knocking out Board of Election Commissioner Judith Stupp. Ulrich filed his own papers for his pick for Queens GOP commissioner Michael Michelle and got it passed right under the nose of Team Ragusa. Are effords to make Broox Commissioner Naomi Barrera executive director? All the commissioenr changes are coming with the approval of Speaker Quinn and the City Council who must vote to approve each commissioner for 4 year terms. The position of executive director at the BOE has been vacant for two years since the last Juan Gonzalez left after a ballot for a special election was tampered with.
BOE History of Corruption and Incompetence(True News)
City primary runoffs could be axed, BOE suggests (Queens Chronicle)
1/28/2013
Daily News Blames Albany For BOE Not Being Able To Hold Run Off Elections As The Law Requires
The News writes that the New York City
Board of Elections’
ideas to compensate for slow electronic ballot
machines that were forced on them by the state Legislature, are absurd * Billion-dollar ballots(NYDN Ed)
The city Board of Elections has produced an insane list of plans for
conducting this fall’s citywide primary elections — including the vote
that could well determine who becomes our next mayor.The plans include
the possibility of spending $430 million on a runoff, should one be
necessary.In 2010, Albany forced the city to buy electronic
ballot-scanning
machines. Since then, the Legislature has stubbornly ignored the
equipment’s limited and time-consuming capabilities.State law says a
candidate must get at least 40% of the vote to win. If
no one hits the mark, the law sets a runoff two weeks later between the
top two finishers. No can do. The scanners take far too long to produce
results, especially in close elections. Counting can go on for weeks or
months.
How about printing up 2.2 million Democratic runoff ballots and 350,000 GOP runoff ballots for every possible outcome among the top two candidates? There are more than 216 combinations.Add in the 50% extra needed for absentee, military and affidavit ballots, and the total comes to 826 million ballots. At a cost of 52 cents each, the cost for ballots would be $430 million.Here’s a great one: Leave the candidates’ names off the runoff ballots. Instead, list Candidate A and Candidate B. At each polling place, signs would say who is A and who is B. The solution favored by Albany is to have the primary in June.
Albany/BOE Incompetence Could Make Quinn the New Mayor
That means that the election would favor the candidate who is well funded and already ahead in the polls. How about holding the general election in December?
1/23/2013
Is the Corrupt and Incompetent BOE Dictating How New York City Elects It Nexts Mayor?
Instant runoff voting, ha- the BOE "sleeping beauties" would not know how to count the votes for quick results, They Can't Count the Regular Election
Quinn's BOE Conflict of Interests: Her Campaign Team Wants A Fast June Primary
Each of the commissioners that sit and make policy at the BOE must be approved by the city council after be nominated by the GOP and Dem party leaders. Last month the council reappointed another commissioner Maria R. Guastella after the long election day lines scandal, the slow vote count scandals and the fact that the board has not had an executive director in the last two years, since the last one left in ballot tampering scandal. Quinn conflict is that her campaign team wants a fast primary, meaning June. They feel that with Quinn way ahead in the polls the faster the election the better chance she has of winning. That is why many of her appointed commissioner on the BOE have been pushing for a June primary under the excuse that a September primary would not give the BOE time to count the voters for a run off. Can you imagine that after spending $100 on new machines the BOE can not do with it used to do with the 1950's built voting machines.
1/22/2013
Instant runoff voting, ha- the BOE "sleeping beauties" would not know how to count the votes for quick results, They Can't Count the Regular Election
1/18/2013
As the BOE Gets More and More Incompetent The Costs Goes Up While The Leadership of the Board is Protected by the Pols
Pay Raisers and New Director From Within the Swamp Coming Soon to BOE. Instead of Being Fired the BOE Workers Who Made It Possible for You to Wait Hours on Voting Lines, Get A Raise
New York City Elections Are Becoming Ever More Costly(NYT) Between 2010 and 2012 alone, the board’s budget for just personnel also more than doubled, to $58 million from $27 million. Between 2000 and 2010, the board’s total budget more than doubled, to $96 million from $44 million.Every 4 years the board uses the money it gets from the feds for running the presidental elections as a slush fund to raise board executives pay. Buzz that the deal is done to promote from within to fill the spot of executive director, Bronx Commissioner Naomi Barrera. It was not until Tuesday that Manhattan Certified its vote. Up until the certification every Manhattan elected officals was serving illegally
Commission Barrera's Bronx Board Screw Ups Go Un Investigative
1. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner VOTE COUNTING in the fierce congressional battle between incumbent Charlie Rangel and his insurgent challenger Adriano Espaillat is no longer a matter of the usual incompetence of the Board of Elections. Batista, and the whole of Espaillat’s camp, was even more astonished by what they found in the Bronx — 170 disqualified ballots on which poll workers failed to write down the Election and Assembly District in which the vote was cast. That’s something state law requires poll workers to do, board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez confirmed. On 67 of those Bronx ballots, a Board of Elections notation claimed the person was disqualified for being in the wrong Election or Assembly District. n“How can you be in the wrong E.D. when they didn’t even list where you voted?” Batista said. We were told that once Democratic County Leader Carl Heastie delivered the Bronx to keep Charlie Rangel in Congress, Manhattan Dem County Leader Keith Wright was supposed to keep his end of the bargain and pave the way by okaying for Barrera. So what happened?
Well, for one thing, Carl failed to deliver the Bronx, though he came close.(Bronx Times) * BOE takes no blame for botched election (Bronx Times) * At one point, it was "chatter", that Greg Soumas(Man. Dem Commish) was interested in the ED position.
2. Naomi Barrera responsible for the administration of the Bronx County Democratic Board of Elections office, which has a staff of 40 employees (Rivera and Colon)
The Brennen Center tallies from the electronic scanning machines at Public School 65 included high proportions of invalidated votes. The board did nothing. Actually, the board did worse than nothing. It refused to check — even when asked to do so by state election officials. A Daily News investigation found that in the In the September 2010 primary, the scanner processed 103 ballots and made errors on 69 of them, a failure rate approaching 70%. In the November 2010 general election, the scanner handled 289 ballots and misread votes on 156 of them, a 54% failure rate. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner
New York City Elections Are Becoming Ever More Costly(NYT) Between 2010 and 2012 alone, the board’s budget for just personnel also more than doubled, to $58 million from $27 million. Between 2000 and 2010, the board’s total budget more than doubled, to $96 million from $44 million.Every 4 years the board uses the money it gets from the feds for running the presidental elections as a slush fund to raise board executives pay. Buzz that the deal is done to promote from within to fill the spot of executive director, Bronx Commissioner Naomi Barrera. It was not until Tuesday that Manhattan Certified its vote. Up until the certification every Manhattan elected officals was serving illegally
Commission Barrera's Bronx Board Screw Ups Go Un Investigative
1. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner VOTE COUNTING in the fierce congressional battle between incumbent Charlie Rangel and his insurgent challenger Adriano Espaillat is no longer a matter of the usual incompetence of the Board of Elections. Batista, and the whole of Espaillat’s camp, was even more astonished by what they found in the Bronx — 170 disqualified ballots on which poll workers failed to write down the Election and Assembly District in which the vote was cast. That’s something state law requires poll workers to do, board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez confirmed. On 67 of those Bronx ballots, a Board of Elections notation claimed the person was disqualified for being in the wrong Election or Assembly District. n“How can you be in the wrong E.D. when they didn’t even list where you voted?” Batista said. We were told that once Democratic County Leader Carl Heastie delivered the Bronx to keep Charlie Rangel in Congress, Manhattan Dem County Leader Keith Wright was supposed to keep his end of the bargain and pave the way by okaying for Barrera. So what happened?
Well, for one thing, Carl failed to deliver the Bronx, though he came close.(Bronx Times) * BOE takes no blame for botched election (Bronx Times) * At one point, it was "chatter", that Greg Soumas(Man. Dem Commish) was interested in the ED position.
2. Naomi Barrera responsible for the administration of the Bronx County Democratic Board of Elections office, which has a staff of 40 employees (Rivera and Colon)
The Brennen Center tallies from the electronic scanning machines at Public School 65 included high proportions of invalidated votes. The board did nothing. Actually, the board did worse than nothing. It refused to check — even when asked to do so by state election officials. A Daily News investigation found that in the In the September 2010 primary, the scanner processed 103 ballots and made errors on 69 of them, a failure rate approaching 70%. In the November 2010 general election, the scanner handled 289 ballots and misread votes on 156 of them, a 54% failure rate. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner
1/17/2013
As the BOE Gets More and More Incompetent The Cost More $$$
New York City Elections Are Becoming Ever More Costly(NYT) Between 2010 and 2012 alone, the board’s budget for just personnel also more than doubled, to $58 million from $27 million. Between 2000 and 2010, the board’s total budget more than doubled, to $96 million from $44 million.
1/12/2013
Even After the BOE Screw Ups Election Day, A Slow Count That Still Might Not Be Over, They Still Are Importing From the Bronx an Executive Director Who Will Lead By the Text Messages She Recieves by Carl Heastie and Its Lobbyist Stanley Schlein
Only The Daily News Says No More BOE Puppet Directors
Vote of no confidence(NYDN Ed) A fter repeatedly and spectacularly failing to accomplish its mission of facilitating the vote, New York City’s Board of Elections is on the verge of hiring a new executive director. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Only by bringing in a top-flight manager can the board hope to end the incompetence that has made it a national laughingstock — in the process gaining the ability to count votes accurately and quickly, as well as, oh, properly staff polling sites. When the panel fired its last executive director in 2010 — for manipulating the placement of names on a City Council special election ballot — the board announced that it would conduct a nationwide search for a replacement.
The BOE Last Director Who Was Kicked Out Was Also From the Bronx Machine . . . Looks Like He Go Away With Attempted Ballot Fix
When the panel fired its last executive director in 2010 — for manipulating the placement of names on a City Council special election ballot — the board announced that it would conduct a nationwide search for a replacement.
WNYC Radio and Others Reported Last Executive Director Gonzalez Was Fired 26 Months Ago Attempted Ballot Fixing
Head of Board of Elections Fired One Week Before Election (WNYC) Sources
at the Board of Elections say Gonzalez was fired over
irregularities that initially appeared on the ballot of a special
election in Queens for the City Council seat in the 28th district.
His lawyer is Stanley Schlein who runs the Bronx county and helped
Bronx DA Johnson win and residency case against him the first time he
ran for district attorney. Schlein is also represented the losing
bidder for new voting machines that the BOE brought last year and is
now being investigated by the feds.* George Gonzalez was a total,
if mercifully brief, disaster as head of the city Board of
Elections(NYDN) The Daily News blamed the commissions who voted for
Gonzalez including Naomi Barrera.
It is All About Loyality to the Machine, Not Qualification
Wonder of wonders — that search, now in its 27th month, has found a leading contender for the $172,753 job on the Grand Concourse, in the the board’s Bronx offices, in the person of Naomi Barrera, who sits on the board itself as a member of the Bronx Democratic organization. Barrera resume: She’s a solo-practitioner lawyer who handles mostly real estate closings. Saying that she has not officially applied for the post, Barrera declined an interview that would have pressed her for the slightest indication that she is qualified not only to run a $100 million operation but to modernize and professionalize it. Naomi Barrera law firm Rivera and Colon does very well with minority contracts according to Comptroller Liu Report Card Maybe she has political friends who owe her favors?
Commission Barrera's Bronx Board Screw Ups Go Un Investigative
1. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner VOTE COUNTING in the fierce congressional battle between incumbent Charlie Rangel and his insurgent challenger Adriano Espaillat is no longer a matter of the usual incompetence of the Board of Elections. Batista, and the whole of Espaillat’s camp, was even more astonished by what they found in the Bronx — 170 disqualified ballots on which poll workers failed to write down the Election and Assembly District in which the vote was cast. That’s something state law requires poll workers to do, board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez confirmed. On 67 of those Bronx ballots, a Board of Elections notation claimed the person was disqualified for being in the wrong Election or Assembly District. n“How can you be in the wrong E.D. when they didn’t even list where you voted?” Batista said. We were told that once Democratic County Leader Carl Heastie delivered the Bronx to keep Charlie Rangel in Congress, Manhattan Dem County Leader Keith Wright was supposed to keep his end of the bargain and pave the way by okaying for Barrera. So what happened?
Well, for one thing, Carl failed to deliver the Bronx, though he came close.(Bronx Times) * BOE takes no blame for botched election (Bronx Times) * At one point, it was "chatter", that Greg Soumas(Man. Dem Commish) was interested in the ED position.
2. Naomi Barrera responsible for the administration of the Bronx County Democratic Board of Elections office, which has a staff of 40 employees (Rivera and Colon)
The Brennen Center tallies from the electronic scanning machines at Public School 65 included high proportions of invalidated votes. The board did nothing. Actually, the board did worse than nothing. It refused to check — even when asked to do so by state election officials. A Daily News investigation found that in the In the September 2010 primary, the scanner processed 103 ballots and made errors on 69 of them, a failure rate approaching 70%. In the November 2010 general election, the scanner handled 289 ballots and misread votes on 156 of them, a 54% failure rate. Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing(NYDN Ed) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner
Instead of question what went why
thousands of voters were disenfranchised and inconvenienced on Election Day Chairwoman
Brewer became Kellner’s and everyone else’s puppet as she allows them to
testify only asking gentle questions which only enforced points to improve
procedures at the board. She never asked why are bad system or policy was in
place.
The Media Other Than the Daily News Has Done Not One Story on BOE Screw Up On Election Day . . . Do They Want the Board to Stay In the Machines Hands?
Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On (True News)
To understand what’s happening, you need to know that the 10-member board is composed of five Democratic and five Republican loyalists. All staff positions, the people who do the work, are allocated to party organizations as patronage hires. This includes the executive director slot.* Secret Mission Cover the BOE Ass Without Real Change (True News) * A Failed Opportunity to Dump the Board of Election(True News) * The Electoral College is meeting — and the Board of Elections still hasn't finished counting(True News) * How the Media is Playing the Board of Elections Melt Down vs LIPA Melt Down(True News) * True News Reported That The NYC Board of Election Would Suppress New Yorkers Right To Vote and We Were Right(True News * Manhattan Illegally Elected Gang (True News) * Update: Our Right to Vote Is In Danger (True News) * A Tammany Hall Fixer Tries to Save the BOE for the Bad Guys(True News) *
True News: The Media Let the BOE Get Away With It Again *The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption At the BOE and Can Reform the Place If It Wanted Too(True News) * Electorial College Vote Update Noting About the BOE Unfinished Count (True News) * Media Cover Up: Pay to Play BOE Connected to Queens GOP and Politically Connected Lobbyists(True News) Daily News Says: The city’s not-so-new electronic vote scanners are forcing a wholesale revamp of the way New Yorkers will choose their next mayor. This is nuts.(True News) * Today's Fairy Tale: The BOE Will Fix Itself(True News) * When It Comes to New Yorkers Voting Rights the Pols and Press Have Amnesia(True News)
1/9/2013
Inside the BOE
Cover Up
The media which is working hand in hand with the political party bosses and elected officials who run the corrupt incompetent Board of Elections has not noticed that Manhattan still has not certerfied the November 6th General Election. The cities perment goverment wants the BOE present leadership to continue despite their incompete performance on election day. The state election law state that nobody can be elected to office without the BOE certifying an election. This officegate scandal is another example how the election law is manipulated to help the powerful and block challengers to their power. This is not the only cover up on an illegal election this year. NYC's votes cast in the Electorial College for the president of the United State were also illegal according to one of the most known election lawyer in New York. At the time the Electorial College votes were cast on December 17th non of the city's boroughs vote counts were finished.
1/3/2013
City Board of Elections still leaderless(Brooklyn Eagle)
“
True News Demands The FBI Investigate the NYC BOE for Possible Criminal Activity in the Voter Count of the Presidential Race
In 2008 2,614,669 New Yorkers voted in the presidential elections.
This year according to the website politico only 2,053,871 NYC residents voted. That means 560,798 city voters did not vote
this year. Some of those missing votes
may be part of the 330,000 the board says it has in uncounted papers (stored in
garbage bags). Even is half of those paper
votes are good that means that 400,000 New Yorkers this year did not vote. There needs to be an federal investigation to
determine if Sandy caused the
hundreds of thousands of missing votes or if the incompetence of the BOE causing
long lines that caused hundreds of thousands of voters not to vote? Did the
internal infighting over where to place polling sites in a highly contested
state senate race cause the massive disenfranchisement?, as reported in True
News reported. Skelos vs Crowley. fight where to place the polls If
this board fight can
be documented then we have a serious criminal case against the BOE. Even
more mind blowing is the turn numbers. There are 4,640,422 registered
voters in NYC. According to the numbers on politico 2,053,871 New
Yorkers voted that is a 44% turn out.
2012 vote*
|
2008 Total Vote
|
# Down f/ 2008
|
% Down f/ 2008
|
|||
Bronx
|
Obama
|
91.20%
|
288,378
|
|||
Romney
|
8.30%
|
26,304
|
||||
314,682
|
385,397
|
70,715
|
18.30%
|
|||
Brooklyn
|
Obama
|
81.20%
|
503,291
|
|||
Romney
|
17.60%
|
108,630
|
||||
611,921
|
768,703
|
156,783
|
20.40%
|
|||
Manhattan
|
Obama
|
84.20%
|
417,861
|
|||
Romney
|
14.60%
|
72,300
|
||||
490,161
|
673,566
|
183,405
|
27.20%
|
|||
Queens
|
Obama
|
78.80%
|
399,970
|
|||
Romney
|
20.30%
|
103,193
|
||||
503,163
|
645,946
|
142,783
|
22.20%
|
|||
Staten Island
|
Obama
|
49.90%
|
67,524
|
|||
Romney
|
49.10%
|
66,420
|
||||
133,944
|
168,057
|
34,113
|
22.10%
|
|||
Total NYC
|
2,053,871
|
2,641,669
|
560,798
|
22.30%
|
Reported in True News on Novermber 3. 2012
For
the last few days the there has been talk of creating a queens supper
poll at the Aqueduct Racino were all the the voters flooded out could go
to vote on elections. True News has learned why that plan has been
delayed until today. The political leaders who control the board have
been fighting each other for control or where the new pollings sites are
put. Board watcher cannot believe that the peoples constitutional
right to vote was delayed for so long on such an important vote. There
is a power struggle going on within the board between the Crowly forces
and the senate majority leader Skelos GOP board loyalists on where to
locate the supper polls in Queens because of the Addabbo Ulrich close
race . The GOP lead by Skelso does not want the Racino because they say
the place is controlled by Crowley and the democrats. According to BOE
insiders that fight has delayed a voting plan for 3 or 4 days.
According to today's NYP the BOE has decided on a comprised plan of 3
supper polling sites in Queens. But that delay means less voters will
know were to vote and less time for the incompetent BOE to set up
emergency tent polls. Katy Bar the Door Time Guys.
State Senate Candidate Ulrich Says the Board Was Obstructing Justice
Ulrich campaign accuses BOE of obstruction (CrainsNY) So in advance of Tuesday’s election, Mr. Ulrich’s campaign has furiously
been trying to locate alternative sites for voting. But it says the
Queens Democratic Board of Elections commissioner, Jose Miguel Araujo,
has been obstructing those efforts.
Top 10 Reasons Why New Yorkers Do Not Care About the Right to Vote
1. No Outrage At the Board of Election Screw Up of Elections Day That Prevented Thousands of New Yorkers From Voting
2. No Outrage At 50% Drop of Voter Participation Over the Last 20 Years
3. No Demand for Early Voting in NYS New York Ranked 42 of 50 in Voting Age Turnout 50.7% 2008.
4.
Progressives Used Facebook and Twitter during the presidential campaign
to Demand the Right to vote in Pennsylvania and other states, But here
in NYC the are silent about the right to vote. Here they use twitter and
Facebook to give us traffic reports and asking people to donate pampers
for those hurt in the storm.
5. John Liu won a run off election in 2009 where only 2% of the cities registered voters cast their ballots for him
6.
Liberals. Progressive and Goo Goos like the Brennan Center have been
silent for decades about NY's restrictive ballot access laws.
7. The Next Mayor? You Don't Care, Do You? (Village Voice)
8. New Yorkers returned to office Vito Lopez and William Boyland
9.
It has been over 10 years since the Brennan center called NYS the worst
run legislature in the nation New Yorkers have reelected 95% state
incumbents running for office.
10. New Yorkers have not
demanded public financing of state campaigns to stop pols like Espada,
Brian Mclaughlin, Tony Seminerio and their colleagues from using member
items to help them get reelected for to fatten their bank accounts.
Heck of A Job Brownie . . . The Board Meeting Looks Like A Saturday Night Live Parody
NYC's BOE Baghdad Bob Epidemic
We Did A Great Job Pep Rally
While
the media has covered daily LIPA and Cuomo has appoint a Moreland
Commission commission to investigate LIPA almost nothing has been in the
media about how the BOE disenfranchised New Yorkers Right to Vote.
While the head of LIPA Michael Hervey apologized for days before he
resigned yesterday, the commissioners of the BOE bragged about what a
great job they did last Tuesday at the poll. A week after the debacle
that was Election Day 2012, members of the
beleaguered city Board of Elections were busy paying compliments to
each other.
“We managed to conduct a successful election,” said
Deputy Executive
Director Dawn Sandow after ticking off the challenges brought by
Hurricane Sandy. “We have many to thank for helping us to achieve the
seemingly impossible. Board commissioner were never confronted in the
media with questions about long lines, broken machines, lack of poll
inspectors and why it took them till Sunday night to come up with new
polling sites for the storm damaged polls, when the gov of NJ keep all
the polling sites open and told his everyone that the day after the
storm on Wednesday. Not a word has been printed in the media about the
boards infighting over where to place polling sites in an important
state senator race.
The BOE Secretary Frederic
M. Umane blamed Cuomo for running out of ballots and the election day
confusion. It is not clear if the BOE was blaming Cuomo for storing
some of the Affidavit's Ballots in garbage bags. They are not even sure
if those ballots will count. It will takes $$$ and temp works to do the
job. "I am not sure what we are going to do," Umane said. "We still have to decide this."
These
pigs are ndeciding who votes. Where are the civil libertarian lawyers
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer who will hold hearing on December 5th
wants changes but has not explained what she want only that she wants to
stop the problems. We would hope she gets into the real crimes the BOE
commits of protecting incumbents and hurting or knocking off
challengers. Will the City Council Hearing Go Beyond Putting Lipstick On A Pig? Board Of Elections Defends Performance On Election Day (NY1) * Huh? City Board of Elections officials gush over perfor (NYDN)* Cuomo Orders Moreland Commission Of Utilities(YNN) *Sandy Proves The Need For Early Voting (City and State)
Not Only Does New York Not Have Early Voting They Can't Even Process Legitimate Absentee Voters
Absentee Voting Hits Major Snag In New York(Huff Post)Some New York voters who requested absentee ballots may receive them late because the New York City Board of Elections faces a backlog of applications, according to CBS New York. The broadcaster reports that 100,000 New Yorkers plan to vote by absentee ballots this year, but the volume of applications may overwhelm the city's ability to get all the ballots mailed out.
Missing Outrage At the Board of Elections Violations of New Yorkers Right to Vote
Thousands of New Yorkers were disenfranchised from their constitutional right to vote on Tuesday and there is not on editorial or article in today's papers demanding change. Yesterday the NYT covered the horror of gaining 5lbs from stress-eating.'Sandy Five' - Weight Gain Due to Storm - NYTimes.com We understand why the pols are afraid to speak up against the BOE. They act as a gate keeper that can easily knock candidates off the ballot. In 2009 when candidate de Blasio was at first knock off the ballot by the BOE for a cover sheet which claimed 131 volumes of petitions, when in reality there were 132. de Blasio and his politically connect lawyer Henry Berger used their political connections and were able to convince the board to restore him to the ballot a few day after his was knock off.
If
There is to Be Real Reform at the BOE New Yorkers Will Have to Go
Beyone the Goo Goos and Pols Who Protect the Tammany Hall formed
Institution
Over the years the political parties that run the BOE have knock thousands of challengers to incumbert off the ballot or caused them to spend their campaign funds and time in court cases to save their candidacy. That is why a NYPIRG study found that only 53 incumbents have been voted out of office in the past 30 years. Incumbency has allowed Albany pols to get away with anything, including corruption. Incumbency gatekeeper is the real crime of the Board. So instead of using the fuck up or election day like the mayor is trying to to change the board Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York said in an inview in City and Stae we should
cut the BOE some slack due to the hectic circumstances in the wake of
the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy. The Common Cause director never
asks why the BOE stalled for days coming up with a plan to deal with
the flooded polling sites.
True News reported over the weekend that
Political Infighting between the commissioners of the BOE on where to relocate polls in the Addabbo Ulrich race, delayed for several days the BOE plan for election day (No Other Media Has Report That Fact). True News also reported taht the BOE is Dumping Ground
for the City's County Leaders, For Jobs For Party Loyalists and Family
Members. We even had a countdown clock to disaster (Election Day). We also reported missing votes and a criminal attempt to fix the ballot. We reported that Speaker Quinn and the City Council had to confirm each BOE commissioner. We don't want to tell you we told you so, But we did. BOE CYA Voter Plan and History of Corruption(True News)
“I don’t think I would fully blame the Board of Elections, in this
instance they get more leeway than a normal situation, but their
inherent limitations are still pretty obvious and they’re even more
stark in an emergency situation,” said Susan Lerner. It is courious why the goo goos never try to rally the public to support reform and alway go with the pols reforms and say this it the best we can get at this time. If you are good natured you see the good government groups are clueless and often tricked by the pols, if your not you see them as protectors of the establishment. New York City suffers from one of the lowest voting rates in the county. Where were the goo goos calling for early voting in NY which 39 other states alread have? They are protecting pols. More voting will result in more incumbents getting beat. Were are the progressive on this issues that spoke out at GOP attempts to disenfranchise voters in swing state? Why haven't the reformers tried to rally the public over the internet like they have tried to get blankets and food for the flood victims, an equally important duty as protecting the right to vote?
Fake Sheldon Silver
@ShellySilver Mazal tov to @BOENYC for making our state legislature look like a paragon of competence, virtue and functionality. New York City Board of Elections – A three- to four-hour wait to cast a
vote is simply unacceptable. Combine that with reports of broken voting
machines, poorly trained poll workers, and pathetically inadequate
outreach to displaced voters about their replacement sites, and it is
clear this year’s election should provoke big changes in the embattled
Board. (City and State)
True News Has Reported Exclusively That the BOE Was Incompetent and Corrupt for Years . . . We Just Need A Disaster Until the Media and Understood and the Pols Who Run the BOE Were Cornered
True News Reported On the
Political Infighting between the commissioners of the BOE on where to relocate polls in the Addabbo Ulrich race, delayed for several days the BOE plan for election day (No Other Media Has Report That Fact) True
News also reported taht the BOE is Dumping Ground for the City's County
Leaders, For Jobs For Party Loyalists and Family Members. We even had a countdown clock to disaster (Election Day). We also reported missing votes and a criminal attempt to fix the ballot. We reported that Speaker Quinn and the City Council had to confirm each BOE commissioner. We don't want to tell you we told you so, But we did. BOE CYA Voter Plan and History of Corruption(True News)
NYT: Yes Incompetence At the BOE
After a Chaotic Election, City Leaders and Watchdogs Call for a System Overhaul(NYT) Still no editorial The City Council plans to hold a hearing on Dec. 5
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city
officials called for a complete overhaul of the city’s Board of
Elections, as the City Council plans to hold a hearing examining the
various Election Day problems, the Times reports: * New York Elections Need a Makeover(NY Mag)
Why doesn't Quinn Get Criticized For the Boards Mess?
. . . She Has OKed Every Commissioner Who Works There
Bloomberg Charges: In New York City, the 10 Board of Elections members are recommended by
the Democratic and Republican Party committees in each of the five
boroughs and then confirmed by the City Council.
The parties also play a central role in installing people in staff
positions. The board currently has no executive director in part because
the county leaders have not been able to agree on a candidate. NYT
distracts and give ammo to fake progressives who are really BOE
supporters and who made us buy these crappy machines, by publishing this
crapProfessor Skeptical About Integrity of Electoral Process (NYT) Mark
Crispin Miller of N.Y.U. argues that relying on electronic voting
machines operated by private corporations invites fraud and poses a
danger to democracy.
On July 16, 2012 True News Wrote The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption At the BOE and Can Reform the Place If It Wanted Too
How Undemocratic is the BOE to Want to Change the Date of the Mayoral Primary Because They Can't Do Their Work
Bloomberg for eliminating the patronage system by which the commissioners are appointed.
“It should not be two parties and county leaders picking their
buddies to supervise the basis of our citizenship.” Changing the
system, however, would require state legislation, if not an
amendment to the State Constitution. And not everyone agrees that a
nonpartisan system would be an improvement.“Some people have said we
should have the mayor and the City Council
appoint the members of the board,” Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh of
Manhattan, said. But, he added, “when the mayor and City Council have an
interest in the outcome of the election, how is that any better?”* Five ways to make long elections lines shorter (Wash Post)
Inside City Hall’s Errol Louis spoke with Board of Elections
Commissioner J.C. Polanco about the long lines and communication
problems at the polls on Election Day
NY1 Online: Board of Elections Commissioner Comments on Voting Issues Baghdad Bob JC Polanco Part II
The critical question that Louis did not ask was why did it take the BOE several day to come up with a plan. JC blames the governor for his last minute order that says storm victims can vote anywhere. Here is what True News said last week: Board of Election Voter Suppression Plan for the Flooded Areas
Another important question Louis did not ask JC:
Why does the board have no way to communicate to the poll
sites or its workers?
True
News Has Learned that the Cheep Paper the Ballots Were Printed on
Caused the Rollers to Jam and the Scanners to Be Put Out of Service
JC Blames the new machines. Neither Louis or JC talked about the fact that the board uses cheep paper for it ballot that flakes and clogs up the scanners breaking them all over the city.
Louis blames one untrained senior for the delays at his polling site (2hrs). The reporter is talking about a bad system of checking in voters, an incompetent poll worker leafing through a book, trying to alphabetize last names. Why not more books? Why not more inspectors?. Louis suggest someone to check in voters with an Ipad walking up and down the lines like they do at fastfood places.
JC answers back about controls to prevent voters from signing in twice. Perhaps JC has never been to a convention where the split the alphabet into two or more lines. But what True News has learned that papers were missing from the registration boods and many voters were prevent from voting. JC Answers back that the city needs early voting. Louis says the training for the poll workers is a joke. JC says they are going to college students to find better works. Louis does not asked about the system that district leaders hire most of the poll workers on the basis of a reward for collecting petitions for them.
1/17/2013
Kellner: A Boss Tweed Double Agent
Media Delutes Public Outrage and Does Not Inform Public
Kellner the Right Secret Agenat for the Job
The Council Hearing Was Not Truth Seeking But Scripted to Preserve the Corrupt BOE
Kellner’s Push and Stroke Game Plan
Voter Disenfranchisement is No Joke
The young reporter for New York World not only did not have a clue about the machine structure of the BOE or it history of incompetence and corrupt she took the political appointee deputy executive director of the Board of Elections Dawn Sandow at her word. In an interview with Sandow, NY World reporters Beth Morrissey wrote that Sandow said we need more money to change the way the board runs elections. Morrissey even wrote how Sandow said the waiting in a long line was ok in Disney World. “Voters sometimes need to bring a measure of patience to their civic duty, said Sandow. She also quoted her as saying“Some people are camping out overnight for an iPhone.”
560,798 Less Voters in 2012 Than In 2008 and Nobody Notices
If the young reporter would have spent a few minutes on Google she would have found dozens of stories about the BOE and Incompetence. She would have seen that the purchase of the voting machines by the BOE is under FBI investigating. The reporter could have found the BOE has not had an executive director since the last one was shown the door two years ago after a ballot fix attempt. That the BOE has trouble counting the votes at the end of the voting day. She could have watch Sandow testify. reading a long statement that was writing by her PR team. Morrissey could have seen that Sandow who testified late in day did not look at Brewer as she read for 20 minutes. It was only after the chairperson gave her a couple of softball questions that Sandow looked at her and smiled. Understanding that everyone was in on the fix.* Board Of Election Still Counts Last Month's Affidavit Ballots(NY1) * No Early Voting in NYS New York Ranked 42 of 50 in Voting Age Turnout 50.7% 2008.
Reports About the Board Incomptence Before This Years FU
$100 Million for New Voting Machines and Training And the BOE Can't Count to Allow A Sept Run Off
Moving mayoral primary since scanners can’t handle a runoff does not compute(NYDN) NY1 Online: Board of Elections Commissioner Comments on Voting Issues Baghdad Bob JC Polanco Part II* Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On (True News) * Head of Board of Elections Fired One Week Before Election (WNYC) * History of BOE Corruption (True News) * City Board of Elections still stuck in its impotent rut - NY Daily News *Board of Elections botches another one: It missed 195,000 votes on Election Day (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed)
As Big Change in Voting Approaches, Election Board Lacks a Leader (Gotham Gazette) * Gonzalez Firing, DOI Investigation, Could Ease Awaited Bloomberg BoE Power Play(CHN) * Bronx Boss to Select Election Boss (Bronx Political Chatter) * Let's fix elections board(NYP) * Queens Crap: Machine bullies candidate off ballot * New York’s Benighted The Board of Elections got new voting machines, but concocted an overly complicated counting process that creates delays. We shudder to think what will happen in the 2012 vote. (NYT Ed) * The city Board of Elections has to end its foolish method of counting votes (NYDN Ed)* * The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election * Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing * Voting Machine Smack-Down: Lobbyists Brawl(Village Voice) * The NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. Qns. elections official under fire for soliciting money from a contractor (NYP) * Election Board's "Bungle George" Gonzalez Was Mayor Bloomberg's Baby(Village Voice)
1/17/2013
Kellner: A Boss Tweed Double Agent
Doug Kellner is the secret agent sent
into BOE by the political machines and incumbent politicians in power to fight
off democracy. To clueless reporters he
looks like a professional knowledgeable man who knows what is wrong with the
BOE and knows how to fix it. Kellner was
the first to testify this week at the City Council on what went wrong on
Election Day. His real secret mission is
to rescue the BOE from its incompetent corrupt self and preserve it gatekeeper
function of weeding out challengers to those in power. The county leaders who really run the BOE, who would
not as easily fool the media and public as Kellner, were not called to testify
at the council hearing.
Media Delutes Public Outrage and Does Not Inform Public
The BOE who piss off a million New
Yorkers on Election Day is in the battle of its life to save its corrupt
self. They know that the 23% drop in
voters from the 2008 presidential election and a millions more who waited for
hours to vote think they are incompetent and want to tear apart the BOE. However, public outrage may not be
enough. The media has decided to go into
almost total blackout mode. What little
that comes is written with so little understand how the BOE works that it plays
into the hands of the machines running the BOE.
Kellner the Right Secret Agenat for the Job
Douglas Kellner, co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections and
former Manhattan Commissioner from the NYC Board of Elections appointed by
Manhattan Boss Danny Farrell is the right man to save the Tammany Hall designed
BOE for the bad guys. His goal is to
change the BOE enough but save their jobs program and its main function of
protecting the political establish by knocking off challengers from the ballot. Kellner has manipulated the BOE and the city’s election process before.
Kellner was one of the first proponents of a
voter verifiable paper audit trail for electronic voting machines. He was the
leader of the opposition to New York City’s
contract to purchase unverifiable direct recording electronic voting machines.
The ATM bank styles easly reporgramable machines that he opposed could have given the city some
flexibility to handle closed polls and let the voters complete their ballot
quicker cutting down on waiting time all over the city. Kellner might have been
a little protective when he blamed during his testimony the long lines on the
sign in process, which most others who testified disagreed with. They spoke how
the voters had a hard time filling out the ballots and the scanners that Kellner frequently
jammed. Ulrich campaign accuses BOE of obstruction (CrainsNY)
The Council Hearing Was Not Truth Seeking But Scripted to Preserve the Corrupt BOE
In a classic disconnect from public
anger and the biggest dive since Sonny Listen went down to Mohamed Ali in 54
seconds, City Council Government Operations Chairperson Gail Brewer in her
opening statement blamed the BOE problems on Sandy and poor funding rather than
a corrupt incompetent management that has disenfranchised the voters of New
York City on Election Day. We highly doubt if she give
those same reason to the voters on Election Day in her district who had to wait
two hour or more to vote on Election Day.Chairwoman Brewer blamed Sandy and poor funding but most of the problems
she ask Kellner and others about were more about the BOE’s poor management
ability. Better training of poll workers, alphabetizing the sign in
book, recruiting CUNY students for poll working, using city, discontinue the
use of poll cards which slows up the sign in process,
Landscape the ballot to allow for larger fonts that seniors can read, Collecting
email from poll workers to be able to communicate with them, making sure the
poll workers number they have on file are correct, assign the correct number of
poll workers to each site and doing away with the canvas to count votes. * An Absurd Vote-Counting System(NYT)
Petitioning is the Reason Why the BOE Never Trys to Recuit More Competent Poll Workers
Almost all the district leaders and good government types
that testified ask for a change in the way poll workers were recruited, the New
York World Blog reported. The blog run
by Columbia Journalism students did not ask nor did anyone at the hearing
about the petitioning process, the real
reason the BOE has stop all efforts to recruit more skill Election Day workers.
Incumbent elected officials and the machine pay to play ballot access, give out
inspector jobs to voters in their district who collect petitions to get them on the ballot.
Brewer also never asked about the BOE infighting which delayed a plan for the
closed polls till the last day, increasing the confusing at the polls.
Brewer Threw Her Hearing
Instead of question what went why
thousands of voters were disenfranchised and inconvenienced on Election Day Chairwoman
Brewer became Kellner’s and everyone else’s puppet as she allows them to
testify only asking gentle questions which only enforced points to improve
procedures at the board. She never asked why are bad system or policy was in
place.
When it comes to the BOE and the
election law Kellner the is one eyed cyclops in a world full of blind. He knows more than most. But, his goal is to keep the machine in
control of the BOE not restoring democracy to elections in NYC. Kellner wants to
be able to influence the BOE to develop a better Election Day plan and to
manage it competently. In the past they
have stubbornly request many of his suggestions.
Kellner’s Push and Stroke Game Plan
At the council hearings Kellner testified that the city failed to adequately
prepare for increased voter turnout during this year's presidential election.
Yet, he called the election an overall success. “The fact is that there
were a lot of jurisdictions throughout the United
States that did far worse than New
York City without the complications of Super storm Sandy,”
Kellner said. He even attacked some of
the papers who he said have a habit of critizing the BOE. Should they have congulated them for a well
run Election Day. Many who attack the board on Election Day in editorials have
remained silent ever since. We are
leaving that the conspiracy theorists.
Media Clueless
Quinn On Board with Brewer, Kellner and Elected Officials to Clean Up the Board and Keep Political Machine Rule
Quinn On Board with Brewer, Kellner and Elected Officials to Clean Up the Board and Keep Political Machine Rule
WCBS TV reported that Speaker Quinn charged that New Yorkers have been faced
with chaotic polling place procedures and poorly-trained workers and the problems
must be fixed immediately. The speaker did not ask her questions to the BOE she
was not around when they testified later in the afternoon. She gave her suggestions to improve
recruitment with CUNY students, allowing in-person early voting and increased
access to absentee ballots to Kellner and Brewer. She had no interest in asking
the BOE questions about how they operate. The Gothmist also reported that Quinn
admitted that some of the issues the NYC BOE faced were the result of a lack of
funding. What Quinn and nobody else at the hearing testified about was the fact
that the speaker already has the power to change any procedure at the
board. The council speaker must confirm
all ten of the board’s commissioner appointed by the GOP and Democratic Party
leader in the city. On July 16, 2012 True News Wrote The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption At the BOE and Can Reform the Place If It Wanted Too
Voter Disenfranchisement is No Joke
The young reporter for New York World not only did not have a clue about the machine structure of the BOE or it history of incompetence and corrupt she took the political appointee deputy executive director of the Board of Elections Dawn Sandow at her word. In an interview with Sandow, NY World reporters Beth Morrissey wrote that Sandow said we need more money to change the way the board runs elections. Morrissey even wrote how Sandow said the waiting in a long line was ok in Disney World. “Voters sometimes need to bring a measure of patience to their civic duty, said Sandow. She also quoted her as saying“Some people are camping out overnight for an iPhone.”
560,798 Less Voters in 2012 Than In 2008 and Nobody Notices
If the young reporter would have spent a few minutes on Google she would have found dozens of stories about the BOE and Incompetence. She would have seen that the purchase of the voting machines by the BOE is under FBI investigating. The reporter could have found the BOE has not had an executive director since the last one was shown the door two years ago after a ballot fix attempt. That the BOE has trouble counting the votes at the end of the voting day. She could have watch Sandow testify. reading a long statement that was writing by her PR team. Morrissey could have seen that Sandow who testified late in day did not look at Brewer as she read for 20 minutes. It was only after the chairperson gave her a couple of softball questions that Sandow looked at her and smiled. Understanding that everyone was in on the fix.* Board Of Election Still Counts Last Month's Affidavit Ballots(NY1) * No Early Voting in NYS New York Ranked 42 of 50 in Voting Age Turnout 50.7% 2008.
Reports About the Board Incomptence Before This Years FU
$100 Million for New Voting Machines and Training And the BOE Can't Count to Allow A Sept Run Off
Moving mayoral primary since scanners can’t handle a runoff does not compute(NYDN) NY1 Online: Board of Elections Commissioner Comments on Voting Issues Baghdad Bob JC Polanco Part II* Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On (True News) * Head of Board of Elections Fired One Week Before Election (WNYC) * History of BOE Corruption (True News) * City Board of Elections still stuck in its impotent rut - NY Daily News *Board of Elections botches another one: It missed 195,000 votes on Election Day (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed)
As Big Change in Voting Approaches, Election Board Lacks a Leader (Gotham Gazette) * Gonzalez Firing, DOI Investigation, Could Ease Awaited Bloomberg BoE Power Play(CHN) * Bronx Boss to Select Election Boss (Bronx Political Chatter) * Let's fix elections board(NYP) * Queens Crap: Machine bullies candidate off ballot * New York’s Benighted The Board of Elections got new voting machines, but concocted an overly complicated counting process that creates delays. We shudder to think what will happen in the 2012 vote. (NYT Ed) * The city Board of Elections has to end its foolish method of counting votes (NYDN Ed)* * The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election * Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing * Voting Machine Smack-Down: Lobbyists Brawl(Village Voice) * The NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. Qns. elections official under fire for soliciting money from a contractor (NYP) * Election Board's "Bungle George" Gonzalez Was Mayor Bloomberg's Baby(Village Voice)
I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see. -JC Polanco, BOE, Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop - Louis, NY1
Louis: Early vote would be a start. Some
professional people who have maybe passed some version of a test, before
being put ahead of a line– Polanco: They’ve been trained. Louis: Training is not a test! Polanco: And then they pass their test! Louis: Look, I’ve done this. I’ve rounded up volunteers to work at the Board of Elections.You know, and I know, there’s no test. Polanco:Errol,there is! Louis: That says if you can’t find somebody’s
name in less than 30 seconds, you don’t get to sit there and hold up a
line for four hours. Polanco: Well, I’ll have to see, that’s a
question on the test. But there is a test and there is training. There
is training for each one of our poll workers.
12/27/2012
NYT Reporter Roberts Tweets About BOE Slow Count While the Paper He Writes for Refuses to Cover the Scandal
Sam Roberts
This is the Last Story the NYT Wrote About the BOE Slow Count - Date November 6, 2012
The BOE Repressed New Yorkers' "Right to Vote"
True News Has Also Told You:
That
Political Infighting On Where to Relocate Polls in the Addabbo Ulrich
Race Delayed For Several Days the BOE Plan for Election Day (No Other Media Has Report That Fact) Dumping Ground for the City's County Leaders For Jobs For Party Loyalists and Family Members. We even had a countdown clock to disaster (Election Day)
10/31/2012
Emergency Plan Needed to Save New Yorkers Democracy
Why Is the Media Silent On the Board of Elections Lack of A Plan to Allow People to Vote in the Black Out Areas?
Katy Bar the Door
It
is clear there will be no electricity in many parts of NYC next
Tuesday, election day. It also clear that many people will be living in
friends and family members homes far away from their homes. We are 130
hours away from voting and the media and elected officials by not
saying a word are allowing the proven failures at the NYC Board of
Elections to come up with solutions to there very serious problems to
all but elections lawyers will be representing the next Tuesday's losing
candidates contest their clients lost due to the BOE incompetence.
24/7 coverage on local TV on the effects of the storm and nobody is
asking the BOE or the mayor questions on how are New Yorkers in the
black out areas going to vote.* Meet a voter who waited 5 hours today to
cast an absentee ballot in NYC. Could this be a preview for Tuesday? (NY World) BOE Corruption * Tuesday is Election Day — Sandy Be Damned [Updated] (Gotham Gazette)
NYP: There is Corruption and Incompetence At the NYC Board of Election?
You Knew
That the Board Has Been the Gatekeeper for the Political Party Leaders
and Incumbents for the Last 100 Years Since Tammany Hall Created It
Invitation to grand larceny(NYP) Indeed, the BOE suffered a landslide of inefficiency and incompetence
that raises serious questions about the validity of future elections
here.The Post whacks the New York City Board
of Elections for doing little to remedy the confusion over polling
sites and voting machines
NY's Tea Party Are the Party Hacks At the Board Who Deny Or Can't Understand Reality Privilege World
Chaos Today Isn't A Problem Because It Only Happens Every Four Years - Jason Write of the BOE
INSTEAD OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT WAITING ON LINES, THEY SHOULD BE GLAD THAT
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE VOTING. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE FOR ALL ELECTIONS.
THE PEOPLE THAT CALL THE EMPLOYEES OF THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS "INEPT"
SHOULDREALLY BE LOOKING AT THEMSELVES. WE CAN RUN AN ELECTION, AND
PROUDLY. WE SHOULD ALL PAT OURSELVES ON THE BACK. WE DESERVE IT. -Barbara A Conacchio, Queens County Chief Clerk, NYC BOE
NYP, NYT and Other Trained Money Reporter Tell What Happened on the Election Day But Give No Reason for why the Problems Keep Happening or Investigate the Corrupt At the Board that Caused Yesterday Chaos
Heavy wait pummels NYC voters(NYP) Angry New York City voters yesterday waited hours on frigid lines only
to find disorganized polling places on a chaotic Election Day plagued by
broken ballot scanners, running out of ballots and yes even pens.*Chaos at City’s Polls Amid New Voting Machines and Last-Minute Rules(NYT) New Yorkers trying to vote encountered long lines, jammed ballot
scanners, poll sites that had run out of affidavit ballots and agitated,
exhausted poll workers. * Displaced by Hurricane, but Returning Home, Briefly, to Vote(NYT) * WNYC gives a detailed breakdown of yesterday’s elections, both nationally and locally, using numbers and interactive maps: *Ballot Confusion Leads to Voter Ire(WSJ) Voters dealt with long lines at polling
stations and mass confusion over the new voting methods, with paper
ballots replacing the typical voting machines * On Staten Island, Ballots Cast in Tents(WSJ) *The NYC Board of Elections Has a Few Excuses (Gotham Gazette) * Board of Elections Commissioner Comments on Voting Issues (NY1)
Ulrich Politics and Incompetence At the Board of Election Caused My Loss Until he Conceeded This Morning By Twitter
Storm brewing in Queens contest(NYP)
Far Rockaway, Belle Harbor and Breezy Point — areas where Ulrich has a
strong following — were slammed by the superstorm. Ulrich, on Monday
accused the Board of Elections of disenfranchising
voters in parts of the district by moving their sites to hard-to-reach
locations, wouldn’t concede. The board provided shuttle buses to the
polling sites.* Ulrich Concedes; Dems Look to Add Seats(Gotham Gazette) “This morning I called Joe Addabbo to congratulate him on a decisive
victory & pledged to work w/him to unite our community," he tweeted.
He followed that tweet up saying, "This was a hard-fought campaign and
while I truly appreciate the strong support I received on election day,
its time to get back to work." * Ulrich Concedes (And Then There Were Two)(YNN) * The 46th SD fight
between GOP Assemblyman George Amedore and Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk,
who was leading by just 139 votes with 100 percent of precincts
reporting. This race is coming down to paper, but both candidates claimed victory last night
Not only has the BOE not come up with a plan on how to get the New Yorkers in the flooded out areas, their departments and top employees are working out of temp offices throughout the city. There main offices at 32 and 42 Broadway have been been flooded and without electricity The backup headquarters in Staten Island has also flooded out. Some are workers from 32 are working out of the BOE 33rd Street warehouse. The hurricane also knocked out power to the board’s lower Manhattan and Staten Island offices, and has shot its central phone bank, disrupting preparations that had been underway. Sunday morning update: 32 Broodway computers and and power is still down. There is no access to the voting lists and there is no backup.
The Voting Plan for the Flooded Out Polls Has Been Delayed By Political Infighting
For the last few days the there has been talk of creating a queens supper poll at the Aqueduct Racino were all the the voters flooded out could go to vote on elections. True News has learned why that plan has been delayed until today. The political leaders who control the board have been fighting each other for control or where the new pollings sites are put. Board watcher cannot believe that the peoples constitutional right to vote was delayed for so long on such an important vote. There is a power struggle going on within the board between the Crowly forces and the senate majority leader Skelos GOP board loyalists on where to locate the supper polls in Queens because of the Addabbo Ulrich close race . The GOP lead by Skelso does not want the Racino because they say the place is controlled by Crowley and the democrats. According to BOE insiders that fight has delayed a voting plan for 3 or 4 days. According to today's NYP the BOE has decided on a comprised plan of 3 supper polling sites in Queens. But that delay means less voters will know were to vote and less time for the incompetent BOE to set up emergency tent polls. Katy Bar the Door Time Guys.
Perfect Political storm(NYP) Ballot-box chaos feared Tuesday
Just A Few Hours Before the Poll Open BOE Officials are Just Starting to relocating about 60 poll sites
Unusable poll sites will be replaced with outdoor tents housing voting machines and heaters hooked to generators. Paper ballots are being readied just in case the machines fail. Officials are discussing relocating about 60 poll sites. Two tents are going to be erected for outdoor voting, one in The Bronx, one in the Rockaways. Three “super” poll sites are on tap in Queens to handle 10 to 15 election districts from the Rockaways, including one at Aqueduct. While it was badly battered by superstorm Sandy, Staten Island had 90 percent of its voting machines in buildings on high ground, and they should be ready to go, said one official. Doug Kellner, co-director of the state Board of Elections, said there’s concern that some poll workers won’t be able to get to work, so arrangements have been made to allow anyone to be sworn in on the spot to fill unexpected vacancies. * No Plan Yet for Election Day, No Gas to Transport Voting Machines(DNAInfo).Even the guy that Albany uses to keep the corrupt BOE is worried. Doug Kellner, co-director of the state Board of Elections, said there’s concern that some poll workers won’t be able to get to work, so arrangements have been made to allow anyone to be sworn in on the spot to fill unexpected vacancies. Untrained workers at the polls? Oh My 10AM Sunday the BOE has released a list of polling changes .
The NYT Does Not Believe New Yorkers Have A Right to Vote
The NY Times Gets rightly offended when the GOP tries to fuck people of their right to vote or denying the vote to people who have committed felonies their but have completed their sentences their right to vote, but has not written an editorial or written one news story about how the NYC party leaders who control the BOE are denying New Yorkers their right to vote. Does what Crowly and Skelos did to the flood victims qualify as voters suppression.
Chances of A Second Election Day Not Going to Happen Unless A Federal Judge Orders It
Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver pointed out that there’s a provision in the election law for adding another day of voting if there’s a catastrophe that results in less than 25 percent of registered voters going to the polls. The problem is that the 25% turnout has to be in the district. The voters in the rest of the Addabbo Ulrich district will be voting at presidential levels over 50%. Since the areas of the Addabbo Ulrich district flooded makes up a small part of their district. The chances of having the entire district under 25% are almost impossible. But a federal judge can order a second voting chance if he or she thinks the voters in the flooded areas have been denied their right to vote. I can't wait till the losing candidates lawyers get some of these BOE commisioners on the stand.
12/26/2012
BOE Needs to Hire the Count
Fifty days after Nov. 6, the NYC Board of Elections is STILL
counting votes. Bill Hammond
Media Continues the Black-Out of the BOE Count Scandal A bunch of no-counts(NYDN Ed)
BOE History of Corruption and Incompetence(True News)Florida got lots of flack for being totally useless during the 2012
presidential election—it took them so long to count votes that by the
time President Obama was handed those once-legendary 31 electoral points
on November 10th we forgot for a blessed moment
that the Sunshine State was still part of the Union—but it turns out
New York City's Board of Elections isn't anything to boast about,
either. Votes in Manhattan and Brooklyn are still being counted,
and the rest of the boroughs' ballot counts were finalized just last
week. Democracy! To be fair, the BOE didn't miss its deadline by too
much, since they
apparently had until December 6th (a full two months!) to finish up all
that counting. But the counting wasn't the only problem: voters in both
the presidential and primary elections this year had to cope with long lines, erroneous poll site information, broken machines and eensy-weensy ballot type. The BOE was asked to address some of these concerns at a City Council hearing before and after
the presidential election, but it appears they still have some work to
do before next year's much-anticipated mayoral showdown. On the
bright side, though, now we can still hold out hope that the electoral
college will hand New York State to Jimmy McMillan. Media Continues the Black-Out of the BOE Count Scandal A bunch of no-counts(NYDN Ed)
Bloomberg Has ‘Absolutely No Idea’ if BOE Can Pull Election Day Off “
The Board of Elections tells us that about 143,000 voters in all five boroughs will be assigned to poll sites different from their usual site,” the mayor explained. “Over the next day, it’s going to be critical that the Board of Elections communicates this new information to their poll workers. Unfortunately, as you know, the Board has had a history of not opening all poll sites on time.” Mr. Bloomberg made sure to note the city’s Board of Elections is managed by the political parties, not his administration. “As you know, the mayor’s office does not run the Board of Elections, I’ve always believed the Board of Elections should be overhauled to increase its accountability and efficiency,” he said. “The fact that the board has been unable to agree on selecting a new executive director for two years, shows just how dysfunctional it is. The difficulties that they’ve had preparing for Tuesday, I think further underscores that.” This was not the first time he’s been critical; Mr. Bloomberg called the Board among “the most easily corruptible” in the world in the wake of the primary elections earlier this year.
Board Computers Down Because of the Flooded HQ Compounding Election Day Problems . . . Early Voters Showing Up A Boro Board HQs
Since the Boards computers are down all week (they are located at flooded 32 Broadway) poll workers showing up at the BOE offices cannot get assigned to a poll or check which polls they are working at.
The board is also trying to contact poll workers and finding many of their contact numbrs are not working. People asking for absentee voting applications cannot there ballots because there registrations cannot be check on the boards commuter. New York voters who were encouraged by Michelle Obama early voting pitch have been showing up at the BOE asking to vote. Only to be turned away because NY is only only one of 11 states that does not allow early voting. NJ is allowing voters to vote by email and fax in the flooded out areas. And you thought N(NBC) * Displaced NJ Voters Allowed to Vote by Email(NBC)
A Lession in Voter Disenenfranchisemen
The press has not reported the BOE headquarters problems because the Board operaterates in secret. Perhaps the transparency problem starts with the board communication director Valerie Vazquez-Rivera who is the sister-in-law of the outgoing Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera (Bronx Rivera dynasty) who has had the usually boyfriend non profit problems. A Google Search has found not a word from Ms Vazquez about what voters should do about the unopened poll sites. Yesterday Bloomberg slaped around city Board of Elections, saying the panel hasn't provided city with list of needs for Tuesday. "The ability to vote is something that we fight for and die for around the world," Mr. Bloomberg said. "It's a shame if some bureaucrats were to screw it up. And hopefully that won't happen. At a secret meeting held at in Brooklyn BOE yesterday office was unable to come up with a final plan to help voters in the flooded areas. The Voter helpline is still not working.
On November 1st True News Warned
Our Right to Vote Is In Danger
We said the BOE has no plan for voting in the flooded Out areas. Four days later NY1 reporter Courtney Gross who has been cover the voting problem tweeted “
Emergency Plan Needed to Save New Yorkers Democracy
Why Is the Media Silent On the Board of Elections Lack of A Plan to Allow People to Vote in the Black Out Areas?
Every Day That Goes By Means Fewer Voters Will Hear of A BOE Plan Even If Come Up. Gov Christie on the Day After the Storm Hit Come Up With A Plan to Use Military Trucks At Each Damaged Polling Site. The NJ Governor is also telling voters to vote this weekend by paper ballots at their local BOE. New York is one of 11 states that does not allow early voting which would have solved much of this problem. We are 60 hours away from voting and the media and elected officials by not demanding a plan are allowing the proven failures at the NYC Board of Elections to come up with solutions to there very serious problems to all but elections lawyers will be representing the next Tuesday's losing candidates contest their clients lost due to the BOE incompetence.
NY's Baghdad Bob J.C. Polanco
Juan Carlos "J.C." Polanco, a board commissioner, said all of the city's voting machines are operational. The board has requested the city help provide tents, generators, fuel and trucks for polling sites, he said. "We're still working on the details," Polanco said. Not only are there more than 100 polling stations in Zone A, but many sites don't have their voting machines yet as a result of the fuel situation affecting the tri-state area.
Disruptions From the Disaster Could Be Felt on Tuesday(NYT) * Storm Erects Voting Hurdles(WSJ) * Mayor puts onus on Board of Elections to prepare to get elections/polling on track "We'd be happy to help"
What: Council Can Block BOE Commissioners
Council to Board of Elections: Poll yourselves together(NY World) The party-appointed board faces demands for better ballots and public transparency * The City Council Is Responsible for the Corruption At the BOE and Can Reform the Place If It Wanted Too(True News)
$100 Million for New Voting Machines and Training And the BOE Can't Count to Allow A Sept Run Off
Moving mayoral primary since scanners can’t handle a runoff does not compute(NYDN) It's astounding. Somehow the BOE computerized everything, spent millions and made it worse.
The Board of Elections says vote may have to be rescheduled to June. Imposed on the state and the city by Congress, the machines have become more trouble than they are worth. They have delayed the reporting of unofficial results on Election Night. They have lengthened vote counting in tight races by days, if not weeks. And now, they are driving the Board of Elections to seek to reschedule the 2013 Democratic primary that will likely decide the next occupant of City Hall. More BOE Corruption (TN) * The time to get the scanners back and fix and refit them is approximately equal to the time to get the 700 pound Shoup mechanical machines back?
Other States Encourage Voter Participation
Voter Participation in the June Congressional Primaries in NY Was Tiny 14% Turn Out
39 States Allow Early Voting, Why Not NY
While the NYC BOE Wants to Dictate When Primaries Are Held, Nobody Is Looking At New York's Anemic Voters Turn Out. Why does a voter in NY need an excuse for an absentee ballot?
In the 2009 runoff primary that gave the democratic nomination (and automatic general election win) to John Liu for comptroller he received just 2% of the votes from registered voter in the city. * New York Primaries Voter Turnout Unsurprisingly Low, Even (Huff Post)
If Nobody Votes, the Machine and Special Interest Win
NY's Falling Voter Participation * The Mayoral election in 1941 between LaGuardia and O’Dwyer, which took place one month before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor received 1,100,649 more votes than Bloomberg
68 years before mayor won his third term. The 1940 census reported the
population of New York City to be 7,454,995. The most recent estimate
from the City Planning Commission, as of July 1, 2009, gives the
population of New York City as 8,363,710. Two decades before that Mayor John Francis Hylan(1921) Jimmy Walker(1925) both received 200,000 thousand more votes than Bloomberg in 2990* 50% drop in primary turnout since '89 * Voter Apathy Is Leaving Much of the City on the Sidelines of Democracy (NYT) 1.7% of all the registered voters voted in the city voted for Bloomberg in 2009 general. Before the paper is counted, the mayor received 548,660 out of the 4,657,516 registered voters.
New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout (True News)BOE Function As A Commission of Organized Crime Politics
With
the suspension of Steve Graves for a pay to play bribery attempt with a
BOE voting machine vendor and the candidacy of board employee Jeff
Gottlieb to split the Jewish vote in the 6th, is proof that the BOE is
more than a dumping ground for the city's Dem and GOP machines for
people who need a job and are not very good workers.
It
is a place where both major parties developed relationships, network
and learn how to work together. How else can you explain how the GOP
Jeff Golub can work with Dem Crowley in Queens to split the Jewish vote
to help his candidate Meng and work with Democrat Vito Lopez in Brooklyn
to help his candidate get the GOP line with the help of Queens GOP
leader Philip Ragusa.. Reports are that Golub is very involved in the congressional campaign for Brooklyn Boss Lopez's candidate Dilan against Congresswoman Nydia Vasquez. Golub seems to operate similar to the old murder inc from Brownsville Brooklyn. The the five mob fmilies hired Abe
Reles gang to kill their competition. Today the political mob leader of
the parties hires Golub and others o go after their competitors. There
a lot of ways party leaders at the board work together.
There is an ongoing federal investigation on the selection of bidding process for the selection of the new voting machines that do not work. Some of the cities top lobbyists and campaign consultants work for those companies. ES & S the winner has hired powerhouse lobbyists Hank Sheinkopf, Norm
Adler and Davidoff & Malito, while Dominion has Greenberg
Traurig and Bronx megalobbyist Stanley Schlein, who had been head of
the city's Civil Service Commission, but paid a fine to the Conflicts
of Interest Board in 2008 for allegedly misusing that office's
resources for his own legal work. Outside the board the most important way the political leaders work together is to choose council speakers. Ballot Fixing involving a queens ballot by a Bronx power broker who is also the lobbyist on the losing vendor of the boards voting machines. * A Close Tie Between the Gottlieb and Meng Campaigns (C&S).
Golub and Meng's Nussbaum Both Worked For Sasson in 2010 And Koo in 2009
But after the interview with Golub yesterday, I looked at Sasson’s 2010 campaign finance reports, and they show someone else who might have been impressed with Golub’s efforts. The main consultant on Sasson’s campaign turns out to have been Multi-Media, the Queens consulting firm run by Michael Nussbaum, which is now the main consultant on Meng’s campaign. During Sasson’s 2010 campaign for State Senate, Multi-Media was paid $143,877, according to campaign finance records, while Golub’s firm, GSP Consulting, was paid $57,500.
Meng Has A Corrupt Journalist and Corrupt Political Consultant Who is Trying to Divide the Jews Running Her Campaign
Golub and Meng's Nussbaum Both Worked For Sasson in 2010 And Koo in 2009
But after the interview with Golub yesterday, I looked at Sasson’s 2010 campaign finance reports, and they show someone else who might have been impressed with Golub’s efforts. The main consultant on Sasson’s campaign turns out to have been Multi-Media, the Queens consulting firm run by Michael Nussbaum, which is now the main consultant on Meng’s campaign. During Sasson’s 2010 campaign for State Senate, Multi-Media was paid $143,877, according to campaign finance records, while Golub’s firm, GSP Consulting, was paid $57,500.
Meng Has A Corrupt Journalist and Corrupt Political Consultant Who is Trying to Divide the Jews Running Her Campaign
Lancman Campaign Calls for Meng Campaign Aide to Be Fired(NYO) Ms. Meng’s campaigns spokesman told City & State that Mr. Nussbaum was only jokingly suggesting the other candidate, state committeeman Matthew Silverstein, jump into the race.* Jeff Gottlieb’s Campaign Will Respond to These Allegations, in Due Time(NYO) *Top Meng Operative Encouraged A Jewish Candidate To Run In NY-6 (C&S) * Jeff Gottlieb Emerges, Responds To Lancman’s Charges (At Length) * A Takeover Of Journalism by Lobbyist and Politicians(True News) * Joe Crowley: ‘Mr. Lancman Is Misinformed’ (NYO) * Gottlieb devoted much of his statement to slamming Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who called for Meng to apologize to voters and fire the operative who encouraged Gottlieb to get into the race.
Now
we have a clear example of the difference between MSM and the new
bloggers who cover politics. Yesterday dozens of stories were posted
by bloggers on how a candidate was being put into the 6th congressional
district to take away votes from Rory Lancman. He even responded with
an attack on his opponent Grace Meng and the Queens political machine
that is supporting her. But Not a word is written today in the Daily
News, NY Post or the NY Times about this very important development
in the race to replace Congressman Ackerman. For years the old media
silence has allowing corruption to run wild in the city. You would
think with the growing blogger coverage they would get the hint and
cover what the bloggers do. Who are they protecting and why? Or are
they to old or out of it to hit the fastball?
City and State Picks Up On A Story Broken in True News Saturday "Candidate’s Late NY-6 Bid Brings Talk Of A Queens Democratic “ to split the Jewish vote.
NYC
Dept of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn and Mayor Bloomberg
have the power to end political control of the Board of Election that
has been in effect since Tammany Hall ruled the city. All they have to
do is reverse there containment police and turn a few corrupt board
workers to rat. They have two investigation and a special election
recount that can blow the BOE apart. The first case became public
yesterday when the NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee
who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was
caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine
contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. There is even questions about his education background to qualify for his HAVA job at the BOE.
Pinky Dennis Gallagher is a Lobbyist Do You Think He Knows GOP's Graves . . .
All
DOI has to do is expose who was the lobbyist who Graves want to receive
the $1.250,000. The chances are that lobbyist is a BOE lobbyist
insider or Queens GOP operator who know where the commissioner who run
the board bodies are buried. Note the sting tapes on Graves were made
by the BOE vender not DOI. The second case involves the former head of
the BOE Gonzalez who left the board right after a
scandal of ballot fixing was disclosed in a Queens special election.
DOI said over a year ago that it was investigating what happen. That
investigation could be revived to force Gonzalez to rat on his former board members. It is interesting to not that Gonzalez lawyer Stanley Schlein is also the registered lobbyist for the same company that Graves tried to shake down, Dominion Voting Systems.
An
opportunity seems to be coming to build public support for BOE reform.
The possible hand count recount in the special election to replace
corrupt Carl Kruger. If the Fidler or Storobin victory margin is under
110 the BOE must recount every ballot by hand. It has never been done
with the new voting system and all Board observers believe that the BOE
cannot accomplish that task and get ready for the presidential primary
on April 24th and the congressional primaries on June 26th.
The Media Has the Power to Change the BOE All They Need to Do is Demand DOI do Its Job
WNYC Radio and Others Reported He Was Fired And DOI Was Investigating Him on Oct 26, 2010
Head of Board of Elections Fired One Week Before Election (WNYC) Sources at the Board of Elections say Gonzalez was fired over irregularities that initially appeared on the ballot of a special election in Queens for the City Council seat in the 28th district. His lawyer is Stanley Schlein who runs the Bronx county and helped Bronx DA Johnson win and residency case against him the first time he ran for district attorney. Schlein is also represented the losing bidder for new voting machines that the BOE brought last year and is now being investigated by the feds.
The ballot in question had all of the candidates lined up one slot to the right of where they should have appeared. For example, the name of the first candidate on the ballot slot, Democrat Reuben Wills, was listed under the slate of Republican candidates. However, the ballot that voters will receive on November 2 has been corrected. The issue is still under investigation by the New York Department of Investigations. Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On (True News)
The Gonzalez Schlein Connection
In
October, 2010, the Board of Elections booted executive director George
Gonzalez after revelations that he had incorrectly placed Wills on the
Republican ballot line beneath GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl
Paladino, rather than beneath Democrat Andrew Cuomo, among other
mistakes. The error would likely have cost Wills votes in the heavily
Democratic district, but ballots were eventually fixed. A number of
people close to the situation suspected the ballot placement was
politically motivated, given Gonzalez’s close connections with election
lawyer Stanley Schlein, who was serving as the attorney for Nicole
Paultre-Bell, Wills’ chief rival in the Council race. The Department of
Investigation launched an investigation, but the outcome is unknown.
(C&S) The architect of Gonzalez's promotion was Schlein, a
charming and perennially troubled
lawyer who has been helping make the big decisions for the Bronx
Democratic Party for decades. The general consensus was that Schlein
wanted George in the job for a simple reason: He did what Stanley asked
him to do.
Is the Mayor Protecting Gonzalez
One
of the most important favors performed by Gonzalez for Schlein and
others was to feed them early election returns. In a politically astute
move, Gonzalez made sure that his friends at City Hall got the numbers
first. Even a top Republican with longtime dealings with the board
confirms it: "Gonzalez was the inside guy," he says. "He was always
protected. He was the mole for the mayor. Whenever I got returns I'd
say, 'Where'd you get this?' The answer was always 'Gonzalez.'" When
it came time for the board to choose the deputy director in late
January 2003, top Bloomberg aide Vincent LaPadula worked the phones on
his behalf from City Hall, calling all the Democratic county leaders to
push them to support Gonzalez. When the $172,000 executive director job
became available again in 2010, Gonzalez slid right in. He did so with
the backing of current Bronx Democratic leader Carl Heastie, who, in
his organization's great tradition, is taking his political advice from Schlein.
Election Board's "Bungle George" Gonzalez Was Mayor Bloomberg's Baby(Village Voice)
Election Board's "Bungle George" Gonzalez Was Mayor Bloomberg's Baby(Village Voice)
From DNA Info: With redistricting after the 2010 census, concerns have risen across the city that new districts formed earlier this year would cause mass confusion on Election Day in November.
With the
Political Parties and Their Lobbyists Controlling the Board of
Elections is Anyone Surprised Investigators Found Bribery in Their
Contracting Process
The NYC Board of Elections suspended an employee
who’s also a top Queens GOP official, Stephen Graves, after he was
caught on tape soliciting a “finder’s fee” from a voting machine
contractor in exchange for recommending a particular lobbyist. Qns. elections official under fire for soliciting money from a contractor
(NYP) he city’s Board of Elections has suspended an employee who is a
top official in the Queens Republican Party after being notified that
he was caught on tape soliciting a $25,000 “finder’s fee” from a
company competing for a $65 million contract in 2009. Department of
Investigation provided information to the board that Stephen Graves,
first vice chairman of the Queens GOP and a $66,392-a-year board
employee, asked for the money from Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems
as it was battling rival Elections Systems & Software of
Omaha, Neb., to sell the city its first electronic voting machines.
The NYP Did Not Name the Lobbyist for Dominion But in 2009 the Village Voice and Daily News Did
From NYP:
"Graves
was recommending the use of a particular lobbyist,” said one source.
“In exchange for that he wanted a finder’s fee.” The lobbyist, who was
not identified, was supposed to receive $250,000 a year for five years,
the source said."
Dominion Voting Sytems(a/k/a Sequoia Voting) is being carried on by highly-paid proxies, namely the city's most politically wired lobbyists. Dominion/Sequoia's bid is being led by the estimable Stanley Schlein, who was Mayor Bloomberg's pick as chairman of the Civil Service Commission until he was found to be using the place and staff as his private law office. Voting Machine Smack-Down: Lobbyists Brawl(Village Voice)
Is the Bronx Fixer Involved in A BOE Bribery Scheme? Or Some Queens Operatives Who Help Get Graves His HAVA Job At the Board
More
on Schlein: The lawyer, Stanley K. Schlein, a well known lobbying is
representing Senator Pedro Espada, he was the lawyer representing D.A.
Johson against accusations that he live in Westchester County. Sound
familiar? (see article by Sam Roberts NY Times July 26, 2005).Pedro Espada Jr. live in Westchester County too. * A Bronx fixer's scandalous history doesn't bother Yankees or Democrats
Schlein was there representing the three renegade Democratic senators
who are demanding a fat share of the spoils before they agree to give
their own party its long-sought majority in the state senate. *
While rooting the Yankees to a new home, Democratic political fixer Stanley Schlein failed his other clients. *In an investigative profile in The Village Voice, Tom Robbins delves into Stanley Schlein's record,
not as lawyer to George Steinbrenner, nor as counsel to the Bronx
Democratic Party-which he both, fortunately for the new Yankee stadium,
serves as. But rather as court-appointed guardian for the incapacitated
* Schlein the Lawyer Making Bronx Judges -- Again (Village Voice) * Bronx Lawyer Is a Power Behind Several Thrones(NYT)
There he was, advising the Rev. Al Sharpton during last year's
presidential primaries. This spring, he joined the legal team promoting
the Jets' proposed West Side stadium. Now he is navigating government
bureaucracy for the Yankees and also counseling Fernando Ferrer about
mayoral campaign arcana. His name is Stanley K. Schlein, and he has a
hand in some of the city's biggest projects and political campaigns.
But few people outside the city's intimate political world have ever heard of him. Even one of Mr. Schlein's political rivals in the Bronx, Vincent A. Marchiselli, a former assemblyman and former member of the Civil Service Commission, said: "He'd always have a connection to protect himself. He was a judge-maker, a kingmaker.* Bronx City Council member Larry Seabrook's go-to guy was longtime powerbroker Stanley Schlein(NYDN) Schlein is not mentioned by name in the indictment, but sources confirm he's the "Yankees representative" described by prosecutors as a bridge between Seabrook and the team. He's been a lobbyist and consultant to the Yankees for years and helped draft an agreement that required the team to give 25% of Stadium contracts to Bronx firms.
10/20/2012
Alternate Polling Sites Possible
How will New York handle the election in seven days? (Capital)
NYC BOE is "analyzing which poll sites have the electricity and viability to serve the public on election day."* On election day, storm damage could force alternate polling sites in some parts of N.Y.(NYT)
But few people outside the city's intimate political world have ever heard of him. Even one of Mr. Schlein's political rivals in the Bronx, Vincent A. Marchiselli, a former assemblyman and former member of the Civil Service Commission, said: "He'd always have a connection to protect himself. He was a judge-maker, a kingmaker.* Bronx City Council member Larry Seabrook's go-to guy was longtime powerbroker Stanley Schlein(NYDN) Schlein is not mentioned by name in the indictment, but sources confirm he's the "Yankees representative" described by prosecutors as a bridge between Seabrook and the team. He's been a lobbyist and consultant to the Yankees for years and helped draft an agreement that required the team to give 25% of Stadium contracts to Bronx firms.
10/20/2012
Alternate Polling Sites Possible
How will New York handle the election in seven days? (Capital)
NYC BOE is "analyzing which poll sites have the electricity and viability to serve the public on election day."* On election day, storm damage could force alternate polling sites in some parts of N.Y.(NYT)
It Could Take A While to Get NYC Results
Madness of the machines(NYDN Ed) The city’s not-so-new electronic vote scanners are forcing a wholesale revamp of the way New Yorkers will choose their next mayor. This is nuts. Imposed on the state and the city by Congress, the machines have become more trouble than they are worth. They have delayed the reporting of unofficial results on Election Night. They have lengthened vote counting in tight races by days, if not weeks
The News Should Demand DOI Finish Its' Investigation of BOE If They Seek Change At the Board
Board of Elections does nothing as hundreds of Bronx votes go missing (NYDN) Ignores warnings of busted ballot scanner The Board of Elections is ignoring voting machine errors discovered at a South Bronx polling site that botched scores of votes in the 2010 elections * True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again * Gonzalez Firing, DOI Investigation, Could Ease Awaited Bloomberg BoE Power Play(CHN) Gonzalez was fired over irregularities that initially appeared on the ballot of a special election in Queens for the City Council seat in the 28th district. The ballot in question had all of the candidates lined up one slot to the right of where they should have appeared. Giving the candidate in the special election under the democratic line the better shot. * The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections (NYP)
NYC's Party Machines Use the BOE to Win Elections Not to Run Elections
Daily News Says Nassau County uses the same machines the right way, as computer The city Board of Elections has to end its foolish method of counting votes (NYDN Ed)
NYT Does Not Understand That the Problems At the BOE is Not About Cut and Paste Counting
New York’s Benighted The Board of Elections got new voting machines, but concocted an overly complicated counting process that creates delays. We shudder to think what will happen in the 2012 vote. (NYT Ed)
Instead of downloaded onto flash drives the geniuses at the Board of Elections have set up a cut-and-paste system that slows things down and invites human error. Workers are required to take printouts from the scanners and cut them into sections by election district. They then must add up votes with a calculator and manually record the totals on “return of canvass” forms. These forms then have to be delivered to the New York City Police Department, where the totals are entered, again manually, into a computer before they are released to the news media and the public.
The Real Problem With the BOE is that It Acts As A Gatekeeper Protecting the Machines Incumbent Pols
College student Justin Wax Jacobs was knocked off the ballot on a technicality this year so a machine backed candidate could run without democratic opposition. Jacobs somehow gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent. Yet even though he posed no real threat to Mayersohn's chief of staff Michael Simanowitz, Queens Democratic election lawyer Frank Bolz was on hand at a Board of Elections hearing Tuesday to make sure Jacobs was thrown off the ballot. Challengers after challenger each year is either knock off the ballot or has to spend a large amount of campaign cash and time to remain on the ballot.
The NYT Has the Power to Change the BOE All They Need to Do is Demand DOI do Its Job
NYT Says the Executive Director of the BOE Quit
WNYC Radio and Others Reported He Was Fired And DOI Was Investigating Him on October 26, 2010Head of Board of Elections Fired One Week Before Election (WNYC) Sources at the Board of Elections say Gonzalez was fired over irregularities that initially appeared on the ballot of a special election in Queens for the City Council seat in the 28th district. His lawyer is Stanley Schlein who runs the Bronx county and helped Bronx DA Johnson win and residency case against him the first time he ran for district attorney. Schlein is also represented the losing bidder for new voting machines that the BOE brought last year and is now being investigated by the feds.
The ballot in question had all of the candidates lined up one slot to the right of where they should have appeared. For example, the name of the first candidate on the ballot slot, Democrat Reuben Wills, was listed under the slate of Republican candidates. However, the ballot that voters will receive on November 2 has been corrected. The issue is still under investigation by the New York Department of Investigations. Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On (True News)
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Memo to the NYT: One Serious Criminal Investigation Will End Corruption At the BOE
The U.S Attorneys Uncover and Convict Political Corruption, DOI Stalls and Buries Investigations. The Feds after they caught Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin on bid rigging and stealing from little leagues, got him to agree rat on Assemblyman Tony Seminio stealing from Queens hospitals. Seminio in turn gave the feds the goods Senator Kruger and Assemblyman Boyland and the head of company running several city hospitals who was recently convicted of doing so. Can You imagin if DOI went after the former head of the BOE and got him to spill the beans on what really goes on with the commissioners appointed by the city's corrupt party leaders. We would quickly see the end of this left over from Tammany Hall rule that acts as a gatekeeper to protect incumbent pols and be well on our way to restoring democracy to our government
Tammany Hall Board of Election Control Goes On and On
Sunday Update
Memo to the NYT: How about use the removal of Mr. de Blasio from the ballot by the Board of Election (BOE) as a teachable moment. The paper of record should show how they BOE run by the corrupt political parties (according to the Supreme Court in Lopez Torres vs the BOE) since he days of Tammany Hall. How about the dozens of candidates who get removed from the ballot for the same technical reasons that never make the papers or even the blogs. True News last year examined how hard it is to change the BOE why not the times. Instead they beg for change. For a Typo? The board of elections needs to find ways to keep candidates on the ballot, not to push them off for a picayune mistake (NYT Editorial) *** Prominent Democrat Removed from New York City Primary Ballot for Tiny Technicality *** Understanding the Labyrinth: New York's Ballot Access Laws *** Sunday Fix the Election Law First DN Citizen revolt would fix state Senate Salup: Now is the time for all citizens to run for a New York State Senate seat - and urge their friends and neighbors to vote against the incumbent state senators (DN Editorial)
Let's fix elections board(NYP)
The six votes needed to appoint a new executive director of the Board of Elections appear to finally be lined up -- but the departure of Staten Island Democratic commissioner Michael Ryan to run for Staten Island District Attorney has thrown another wrench in the works. Board sources say the five Democratic commissioners have essentially agreed to join with Bronx Republican Commissioner J.C. Polanco to vote in a six-person bloc for a new executive director chosen by Bronx Democratic chair Carl Heastie. That would allow Dawn Sandow, a Bronx Republican, to keep the deputy director post. But Ryan's resignation to run a quixotic campaign against Dan Donovan leaves the bloc one vote short, and any new board member from Staten Island once selected would have to go through a lengthy vetting process. That could take a year.
What happen to the DOI investigation of BOE?
Bronx Boss to Select Election Boss (Bronx Political Chatter)
A BOE Cover Up By DOI Leads to a new deal by Bronx Boss, Assemblyman Carl Heastie, to select the person. It was the former commissioner Gonzalez also picked by the Bronx Boss who was removed and the time of his removal investigated by DOI for corruption. The Bronx Bosses new deal has fellen apart when the Staten Island Election Commissioner, who was going to provide the needed vote, resigned to run for DA.* THE PEREZ NOTES: Carl Heastie on THE PEREZ NOTES
A BOE Bronx Machine Cover Up by DOI
A product of the Bronx Democratic party, Gonzalez is taking the rap for many of the screw-ups and embarrassments that have buffeted the board in recent weeks -- from the problem-plagued Sept. 14 primary, to a snafu regarding voter instructions for marking the ovals on the paper ballots for Tuesday’s election to the suspicious shifting of the order of candidates’ names on the ballot for the special election for the late Tom White’s former City Council seat in Queens, to the ordering of expensive office furniture while crying poverty... NYC Board Of Elections Chief George Gonzalez Canned: Updated! * Gonzalez Firing, DOI Investigation, Could Ease Awaited Bloomberg BoE Power Play(CHN)
Board of Elections: Top slot for NYC agency is vacant for six months
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again
NYC Board of Elections
http://nycboardofelections.blogspot.com/
The Built-In Corruption at the NYC Board of Elections
The Gotham Gazette has this article, which explains that the New York city Board of Elections has been without an executive director since January, just as it is charged with using entirely new vote-counting equipment in this year’s elections. The story also explains how the Board has become a patronage plum for the Democratic and Republican Parties. As Big Change in Voting Approaches, Election Board Lacks a Leader (Gotham Gazette) Background on the BOE From True News Tammany Hall Board of Elections Control Goes On and On * Much More
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption) Media discovers problems at BOE Election Assured, Victor Over Espada Will Face a Tough Job in Albany (NYT) * Primary Day 2010: The Machine and the Machines Voting in New York City was an ordeal, but don’t blame the new optical scanner machines. Blame the Board of Elections. (NYT Ed) * Before Vote, City Officials Fretted About New System (NYT) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC)
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption) Media discovers problems at BOE Election Assured, Victor Over Espada Will Face a Tough Job in Albany (NYT) * Primary Day 2010: The Machine and the Machines Voting in New York City was an ordeal, but don’t blame the new optical scanner machines. Blame the Board of Elections. (NYT Ed) * Before Vote, City Officials Fretted About New System (NYT) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC)
NY BOE Under Investigation Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the awarding of a $50 million contract by New York City in January to Election Systems & Software.
Board of Elections botches another one: It missed 195,000 votes on Election Day (DN Ed)
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption)
After His Charter Disaster Bloomberg Tries Reform Again
Throw The Bums Out: Board of Elections Bozos Have to Go!
The Built-In Corruption at the NYC Board of Elections
The Gotham Gazette has this article, which explains that the New York city Board of Elections has been without an executive director since January, just as it is charged with using entirely new vote-counting equipment in this year’s elections. The story also explains how the Board has become a patronage plum for the Democratic and Republican Parties. As Big Change in Voting Approaches, Election Board Lacks a Leader (Gotham Gazette) Background on the BOE From True News Tammany Hall Board of Elections Control Goes On and On * Much More
"That The Way It Is" Walter Cronkite Still On the NY Voters Role
Dead celebs still on a (voting) roll
My Crash Course in NYC's Broken Election System(NY Civic)
Paper Weights And Payback, As Board of Elections Preps for Petition Challenges (CHN)
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption) Media discovers problems at BOE Election Assured, Victor Over Espada Will Face a Tough Job in Albany (NYT) * Primary Day 2010: The Machine and the Machines Voting in New York City was an ordeal, but don’t blame the new optical scanner machines. Blame the Board of Elections. (NYT Ed) * Before Vote, City Officials Fretted About New System (NYT) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC)
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption) Media discovers problems at BOE Election Assured, Victor Over Espada Will Face a Tough Job in Albany (NYT) * Primary Day 2010: The Machine and the Machines Voting in New York City was an ordeal, but don’t blame the new optical scanner machines. Blame the Board of Elections. (NYT Ed) * Before Vote, City Officials Fretted About New System (NYT) * Board of Incompetence: Elections hacks botch introduction of new voting machines (DN Ed) * Rage Against the Machine: The Primary Day Voting Fiasco (WNBC)
NY BOE Under Investigation Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the awarding of a $50 million contract by New York City in January to Election Systems & Software.
Board of Elections botches another one: It missed 195,000 votes on Election Day (DN Ed)
True News Has Pointed Out the Problem with the Board of Elections Against and Again (History of BOE Corruption)
After His Charter Disaster Bloomberg Tries Reform Again
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