The city Board of Elections was denied funding that could have made Election Day less confusing for voters – because the agency also requested personnel pay raises, the city’s top financial official said.
City Council Finance Chairman David Weprin told The Post the city during last year’s budget negotiations rejected the board’s request for about $1 million to improve its Web site and phone system.
The request was denied, Weprin said, because it was lumped in with other “operating expense” requests, including $6 million in personnel pay raises and $3 million for legal counsel.
The board got only $67,000 in operating expenses for two new interpreters, Weprin (D-Queens) said.
“If the Board of Elections requests more money for phone banks or Internet [in the future], we could certainly do that,” Weprin said.”
“The problem is last time they asked for money for personnel and legal services . . . The mayor took a very strong stance that items like that were not for us, but for collective bargaining.”
Board of Elections Executive Director John Ravitz pointed fingers back at the city, blaming a lack of funds for the agency’s Web site crashing and phone lines jamming on Election Day.
He said the $1 million he requested for technological help included $110,000 for more computer capacity and $885,000 to complete the Staten Island phone bank, which would have taken calls citywide.
The lack of accessibility led to a confusing Election Day, with voters trying to determine where their polling sites were.
The nonprofit group Common Cause had a national call-in line for questions and complaints, and more calls came from New York state than anywhere else in the country.