As New Yorkers set out to perform their civic duties during Tuesday’s primary elections, many encountered issues at the polls.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, alongside election activists, requested more training for poll workers in the coming months.
Voters say they saw delays at polling sites, some locations moved without warning, hourslong waits on lines that stretched blocks, and even incomplete ballots once inside.
The Board of Elections says the training its workers did receive before primaries were reiterated to them Tuesday as issues arose.
Recognizing the BOE’s fast-acting efforts to expand absentee voting to everyone in the state because of the coronavirus, they still say some of the 1.7 million who requested those ballots never received them.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James received 266 election-related complaints as of Wednesday morning: 173 on primary day and 93 during the early voting period.
This prompted calls for action in Albany to make reforms implemented during the coronavirus pandemic permanent.
News 12 reached out to the Board of Elections for an updated response to the issues experienced at polls on Tuesday and has not heard back yet.