Officials Reject Plan to Fix Voting Machines

By Stephanie Saul
STAFF WRITER
April 16, 2003

The city won't fix its broken voting machines after all, and one elections commissioner alleged it's because Republicans want to keep voters confused.

The Board of Elections yesterday reversed a plan that would have repaired devices on the 7,000 machines, which people accidentally left without voting.

One Democrat joined with the five Republicans on the board to block the machine repairs.

"The Republicans understand it's in their interest to keep voters confused," said Manhattan Democratic Commissioner Douglas Kellner, who spearheaded efforts to have the machines fixed.

The broken devices are believed to be the cause of an estimated 60,000 lost votes in the 2000 presidential race, according to a Newsday analysis.

--snip

Kellner estimated that 80 percent of those votes would have gone for Democratic candidates.

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