Voting Problems Memo

Memorandum RE: Voting Irregularities in NY-13
To: Interested Parties

From: Espaillat for Congress
Date: June 24, 2014

During the 2012 primary, the 13
th
District was plagued by voting irregularities that included:

Insufficient numbers of Spanish-speaking poll workers;
Last-minute reassignments of Spanish-speaking poll workers from Washington Heights to other areas;
Prime voters in Washington Heights forced to use provisional paper ballots that were not immediately counted
because their names were missing from enrolled voter lists;
And incomplete election-night reporting, resulting from unreported results from heavily-Dominican poll sites.

With the widespread voting problems in 2012, we wanted to make sure you were aware of them in advance of
todays election.

If you have media inquiries on this topic, please contact Lis Smith at elisabethlsmith@gmail.com

Background is below.

2012 Congressional Primary Was Marred by Voting Irregularities

BOE Failed to Staff Spanish Language Translators. LatinoJustice PRLDEF, an advocacy group, says it
found that the board transferred an oddly high number of bilingual poll workers to other precincts that day. Mr.
Espaillat says his family members arrived at the polls to find their names not in the election books. [New York
Times, 07/02/2012]

Number of Translators Was Reduced Despite Expected High Turnout. Spanish interpreters were sharply
reduced throughout Washington Heights, Morillo said, even though the board knew to expect a surge of
Hispanic voters backing Espaillat, who is Dominican. [Daily News 07/06/2012]

Concerns About Adequate Translators, Poll Site Moves Continue in 2014

2014 Washington Heights Poll Site Moves and Translator Shortage Set to Once Again Disrupt
Turnout. So what has been the solution from the citys notoriously inept Board of Elections? It has
inexplicably reduced the number of Spanish interpreters by nearly 20% this year. In northern Manhattan, which
comprises the bulk of the congressional district, it has assigned 103 Spanish language interpreters to be on duty,
one for each of its 103 polling sites. Two years ago, 127 Spanish interpreters were spread out among 134
polling sites, a Daily News review of polling assignments for that primary found. The board, in other words,
consolidated voting districts and sharply reduced polling sites, and it then used that consolidation to justify cuts
in interpreters. But the number of registered voters has remained the same. So if there werent sufficient
interpreters two years ago, things are likely to get worse this time. [Daily News, 06/19/2014]

De Blasio Criticized BOE Performance in 2012 Primary

Then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio Condemned BOEs Improprieties. In a letter to the BOE, Mr. de
Blasio writes, I am disturbed by reports that may point to a larger set of election administration issues in our
city. [New York Observer, 07/03/2012]

Voting Barriers Led to Use of Paper Ballots

Latino Voters in Espaillats Base Were Missing from BOE Lists, Requiring Them to Use of Provisional
Paper Ballots Not Immediately Counted. Board officials began their tally Thursday of some 2,600 paper
ballots. Those are either mail-in absentee votes or affidavit ballots from people who went to the polls last
week but were told their name was not on the rolls. [Daily News, 07/06/2012]

Paper Ballots Were Not Immediately Counted Until BOEs Conduct Was Under Scrutiny. But until now,
no one has mentioned more than 2,000 additional paper votes the boards staff tossed out this week as invalid.
[Daily News, 07/06/2012]

Incomplete Election Night Reporting Led to Flawed Reporting

BOE Failed to Count Latino Poll Sites on Election Night. In the 13th Congressional District, the Police
Department recorded zeros, rather than the actual vote totals, in 79 of the districts 506 precincts. A Board of
Elections spokeswoman said that this could have been because poll workers failed to properly complete the
return of canvas sheets or because of errors by the Police Department. Those votes are now part of the unofficial
count, though Ms. Vazquez said the board was analyzing the sheets to see what had happened. [New York
Times, 07/01/2012]

Uncounted Poll Sites Were from Espaillats Base. The boards initial count recorded zeros, rather than vote
totals, in 79 of the districts 506 precincts. Most of these flat-lined precincts fell in Upper Manhattan and the
Bronx, in the Dominican neighborhoods that are at the heart of Mr. Espaillats political base. [New York Times
New York Times 07/02/2012]

After Missing Espaillat Precincts Added, Rangels Lead Fell to 802 votes. [New York Times, [07/01/2012]

BOE Failings Unique to Washington Heights Persisted Into 2013

Washington Heights Voters Confused by Poll site Moves; Problem Compounded by Insufficient
Translators. In parts of Washington Heights, in Manhattan, some polling places did not have enough Spanish-
speaking poll workers. Some voters reported arriving at the wrong polling places. [New York Times,
09/10/2013]

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Memorandum RE: Voting Irregularities in NY-13

To: Interested Parties

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