I went in to vote for the first time in New York city. I hadn’t been registered or living in the county long enough to get the opportunity. The first thing I notice going into the local church in my hood is the 800 pound battleship grey machines lined up for the voting. Wow, these things have to be nearly 100 years old.
NY is one of few states still using mechanical lever voting machines. Some quick research with the NYTimes reveals, NYC has 7,295 machines and NY state has over 12,000 similarly antiquated machines elsewhere in the state. There was a federal requirement that all lever voting machines be replaced and retired by 2006, however, its obvious that my district hasn’t complied with the requirement.
When you walk in to the New York closet size machine booth, you’re immediately presented with all your voting options on a forward facing white panel (pic below). There are no instructions in or around the booths, so I guess these things have been around so long, everyone in NY inheritantly knows how to use them. I go though my options and plug those candidates I’m taking this year. Finally to make my options permenint, I pull the giant slot machine lever and there ya go…
Let’s see how the dems play out in this race…
