Few Problems Reported with New Voting Machines

Though the new electronic voting machines have caused some ire for election workers throughout Nassau County, voting locales in Rockville Centre have experienced few problems with the new machines, election officials said.

One problem cropped up at Hewitt Elementary School, but a chairperson for the voting district, Kathi Collins, said a technician from the Board of Elections was there within a half hour of the reported problem, and fixed it shortly thereafter. She added that another official from the Board of Elections videotaped the technician fixing the machine to ensure that there wasn't any tampering.

"It didn't stop anyone from voting," Collins said about the voting machine problem.

At the firehouse on the corner of Maple and Morris avenues, an elections inspector who asked not to be identified, said one of the voting machines was out of order and he was forced to switch to paper ballots. "Within 30 minutes, a technician showed up," he said, "but we've since moved to paper ballots."

Other voting locations, like Wilson and Covert elementary schools, as well as the recreation center, did not experience any problems. One of the coordinators at the recreation center, Susan Lysaght, said voters mentioned to her how easy it was to use the new machines. "They're easy to use and easy to read," she said.