What do you think about the new state law?
By Laura Hand
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 at 5:25 p.m.
Read more: Local, Politics
New York State has added a new voting requirement this year: that all polling places within a county have, on hand, either maps of the whole county, or 'streetfinder' lists, to help people at the wrong voting place figure out where they should go to cast their ballots.
Most Central New York counties are not complying with the new law, just signed by Governor Paterson, for two reasons:
timing and money.
Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner Ed Ryan says he found out about the law in a phone call from the state elections people last Wednesday--as voting machines and elections materials for polling places were being placed for today's voting. We heard similar complaints from other counties, where commissioners pointed out they also had no time to train poll people, who, in many cases, already have their hands full with the new optical scan machines.
The other issue, says Ryan, is the cost: Onondaga County has 459 polling sites, and to furnish the lists would have cost $20,000, the maps, $18,000---at a time when budgets are being cut, and with no help from the state. "It's frustrating," says Ryan. "You can't do it all."
Madison County, which has only 33 polling places, got it done by having staff work late one night last week. Cortland County is also in compliance, but they already had a system of greeters, with lists, in place.
As for the others, the State Board of Elections tells Action News that they've asked the counties to do their best and try, but there's no punitive action if the counties are out of compliance.
>We want to know what you think about the law, and the value of the extra expense. Leave your comments below.
