Warning of the possibility of future election machine meltdowns, Suffolk elections officials took their first baby step Tuesday toward getting county lawmakers to authorize nearly $1 million to air condition a Yaphank warehouse where new computerized voting machines are to be stored.
Anita Katz, Democratic election commissioner, asked for immediate action because it will take 18 to 24 months for public works officials to get the work done so that the $12-million in new machines, federally funded under the Help America Vote Act, can be ready for the 2008 presidential elections.
The committee voted for the funding even though county executive aide Ben Zwirn asked the committee to table the resolution. He asked for the delay because a decision is expected in the next month on County Executive Steve Levy's lawsuit to to block the state and federal government laws which are forcing counties to replace mechanical lever machines.
Rick Brand
Katz promised the board will not move forward with the project if Levy wins his case, but worried that unless money is aqppropriated now public works officials will not have the time to develop plans for the work, put the project out to bid and get the work done.
"You don't want to vote against your own interest or the interest of the voters of Suffolk County" said Katz,
"What if something happens because we had to stoire those machines in a hot warehare."
New York, the only state in the country which has yet to comply with the federal HAVA law, is already under a consent agreement with the federal Department of Justice over the issue. The state has not even certified which machine are eligible for purchase, a decision not expected until June, Katz said. Once the state certifies machines, Katz said the state is giving counties only two weeks to decide on which machines to order.
Comments (1)
What does storing the computer voting machines have to do with air conditioning? Are the machines always going to be "on" in storage?, if so why? Not a very "green" solution, This sounds very fishy and a waste of money.
Rick start using your spell check, your spelling is getting real bad