Paper primary ballots predicted

Staff is lacking to set up all machines

By ROBERT J. McCARTHY
The Buffalo News 8/23/2005  
 
 Erie County election officials are preparing for a Sept. 13 primary that could see up to one-third of voters casting their ballots the old-fashioned way - on paper.

A Board of Elections staff severely depleted by layoffs is to blame, according to Democratic Elections Commissioner Dennis E. Ward, who says the loss of 28 workers means voting machines can't possibly be set up in time for the primary.

"We don't have the people available," he said. "That's the beginning and the end of the story."

For weeks, Ward and Republican Elections Commissioner Ralph M. Mohr have complained that the cuts stemming from the county fiscal crisis have left the board in an untenable position. But with the primary election only three weeks away, they now say they won't have enough people to set up and supervise the machines. The result will be paper ballots in 14 Erie County towns.

Ward said complaints about the cuts have fallen on "deaf ears" in the Rath County Office Building, where County Executive Joel A. Giambra has been forced to hundreds of county jobs. Ward said he simply lacks enough personnel to transport the machines, recalibrate them from last November's election and physically set them up.

The issue came to a head Monday when Leonard Roberto, head of a political group called Primary Challenge, summoned reporters to witness him confront Ward on the issue. Roberto, who cites the board and its methods as one reason so many incumbents are routinely returned to office, said his group would volunteer to transport the machines.

"Should this situation be allowed to continue, Erie County residents will have good reason to question the results of the election and the integrity of our county leaders," he said.

Roberto said his group could fairly be involved in the process even though it is backing several challengers in the primary elections. He has criticized the board as a politically stacked operation that goes out of its way to protect incumbents.

As a result, he said, an election assisted by Primary Challenge volunteers would carry more "credibility" than one run by Democrats and Republicans.

"I don't trust the Board of Elections," he said. "It's incumbent on the citizens to hold the Board of Elections to an extremely high standard. To allow them to force paper ballots on people is insane."

While Ward has no doubt that the election will be conducted in a fair manner, he said the process of counting the paper ballots may prove slow and tedious since they will have to be brought to the board's downtown headquarters and examined by hand.

"I'm sure we'll have a fair election," Ward said. "But whether we'll have expeditious results will be another question."

While Ward thanked Roberto for the offer of assistance, he said state election law is specific about the need for specially trained people to set up voting machines. He also said the board continues to pursue legal action in State Supreme Court that would free enough money to at least begin to address the problem.

In addition, Ward noted that because 2005 marks the last year for use of lever-type voting machines, new procedures will be initiated for 2006.