Board of Elections sends out premature poll site changes

The New York City Board of Elections is still assessing poll sites for handicap accessibility and moving the ones beyond repair, but that did not stop it from sending out mailers prematurely notifying some residents they’d have to travel to cast ballots in the future.

At Tuesday’s Board of Elections meeting, Alan Flacks, an Upper West Side resident, said several neighbors received notices from the board that their poll site would be moving. Later, the board found it was able to keep one election district in place, which happens to be a home for the elderly and disabled. 

“This was sent out, ‘Attention, your poll site has moved,’” Flacks said, holding up a mailed notice. “Now we hear that one (election district) will stay there – about 750 voters. So this is going to have to be sent out again at a cost to the taxpayers. Couldn’t someone have told your mailing house to hold it up until it’s finally done?” 

Board officials said the situation was unavoidable. Under state law, officials said the board must mail out information in early August to voters about where their poll site is located. The board’s Executive Director Michael Ryan also said board staff recently discovered via training that they have somewhat more flexibility to move some poll operations from one part of a building to another to improve accessibility.

After advocates for the disabled sued the city in 2010, the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York asked plaintiffs and the city to propose a joint plan for alleviating hurdles to voting. No strategy emerged. So the Department of Justice issued a remedial plan and required the city to comply with it, court documents show. The board appealed, but lost, in May 2014.

The board hired Evan Perry Associates to survey poll sites and guide remediation and relocation plans. Since then, the board has finalized survey reports for 218 poll sites and is working through more than 600 draft reports, the board’s John O’Grady said at Tuesday’s meeting.

It is unclear exactly how many poll sites will need to be moved and what the cost of repairs and relocations will be. However, elections commissioners have begun receiving lists of poll sites deemed inaccessible and are already concerned about helping their communities navigate the transition.

“We have to try to find a solution,” said Queens GOP Commissioner Michael Michel, of plans to move a poll site from Junior High School 93 to another location. “You’re moving 5,000 voters 18 blocks away. I walked it last night. It took me 21 minutes.”