Board of Election set to fire official after her error purged over 100,000 Brooklyn voters from the rolls, wrecking havoc at polls
‘New York City BOE has a long history of screwups, mysteriously removed 126,000 Democrats from the rolls ahead of the election.’
Many people who were long-time voters showed up and were told their names weren’t on the books.
Other polling sites had long lines, too few workers and other issues that made the day a nightmare for voters.
226 New York City voters had to sue to get an order to be able to vote
Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the Board of Election’s chief clerk, was suspended without pay
Haslett-Rudiano personally deleted over 100,000 voters from roll
‘…NY Comptroller Scott Stringer has opened an online complaint system after thousands complained they were unable to vote in the New York primary, however there are concerns about conflict of interest since Stringer is a democratic super delegate committed to one of the contestants, Clinton’
The massive purge of over 100,000 Brooklyn voters from the rolls — which caused huge problems at polling sites this past Tuesday — was the result of an epic screw-up by a long-time official expected to be forced out over the debacle, sources said.
Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the Board of Election’s chief clerk, was suspended without pay on Thursday, two days after the city’s botched presidential primary prompted criticism from both the winners and losers on the Democratic side.
She was suspended “without pay, effective immediately, pending an internal investigation into the administration of the voter rolls in the Borough of Brooklyn,” the BOE said in a statement. She’s in the process of being forced out over the voter roll mishaps, perhaps as early as the board’s next commissioner meeting on Tuesday, sources said.
Photo: Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Brooklyn lost 102,717 — or 8% — of its active voters from Nov. 1 2015 through April 1, 2016, according to state stats.
The problems began when she was trying to clean up the voting books, which must be periodically purged to eliminate people who die, move or are ineligible for other reasons.
Sources said she skipped one of the steps that was built in to stop the system from purging eligible voters, which caused a chain reaction that led to people being improperly removed.
Brooklyn lost 102,717 — or 8% — of its active voters from Nov. 1 2015 through April 1, 2016, according to state stats.
It’s the only county in the state that lost voters in that time period.
The high number of dropped voters — combined with other issues like long lines, late starts, and inadequate equipment — led to both the City Controller and the state Attorney General to launch investigations into the widespread irregularities.
“The administration of the voter rolls in Brooklyn is of major concern to our office and is a key focus of our investigation,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, whose office is also looking at other parts of the state that had voting problems.
Photo: nydailynews
Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the Board of Election’s chief clerk, is in the process of being forced out over the botched voter rolls.
His office received over 1000 complaints on Election Day about voting problems. The BOE, in a statement, said it will “fully cooperate with the investigations currently being conducted by the Office of the New York State Attorney General and The Office of the New York City Comptroller.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, said he was “concerned about the conduct of the voting process in New York.”
And John Podesta, top Clinton campaign official, addressed the issue on Twitter, saying “Every eligible voter has the right to have their vote counted.”
Haslett-Rudiano, who has worked at BOE since 1999 and made $125,758 last year, has made headlines before.
Photo: JUSTIN LANE/EPA
The high number of dropped voters prompted both the City Controller and the state Attorney General to launch investigations.
Investigation into New York’s voting irregularities launched after botched presidential primary
The state Attorney General’s office is opening an investigation into voting irregularities after receiving over 1,000 complaints from New Yorkers in the wake of Tuesday’s botched presidential primary.
Meanwhile, city Controller Scott Stringer, who had previously announced he’d audit the fumbling city Board of Elections, opened an online complaint line on Wednesday where voters who had problems can submit their complaints directly to his office.Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he was “deeply troubled” by the reports his office had received.
“If any New Yorker was illegally prevented from voting, I will do everything in my power to make their vote count and ensure that it never happens again,” he said.
Controller Scott Stringer opened an online complaint system after thousands complained they were unable to vote in the New York primary.
His probe will focus on the city’s BOE and spread to state boards if necessary, he said.
The city BOE, which has a long history of screwups, mysteriously removed 126,000 Democrats from the rolls ahead of the election. Many people who were long-time voters showed up and were told their names weren’t on the books. Other polling sites had long lines, too few workers and other issues that made the day a nightmare for voters.
The problems were so bad, 226 New York City voters went to court to get an order to be able to vote, according to court records.
Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News
Controller Scott Stringer opened an online complaint system after thousands complained they were unable to vote in the New York primary.More than half of those people — 134 — were from Brooklyn, while 44 were from Manhattan, 15 from the Bronx, 23 from Queens and 10 from Staten Island.
“The BOE has disenfranchised voters. This election could have very well decided who the next president should be,” Stringer told the Daily News.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost the primary to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, called for reforms to the system.
Photo: Steve Sands/WireImage
Stringer is a super delegate who has pledged to back Hillary Clinton in her bid for the Democratic nomination.“While I congratulate Sen. Clinton, I must say I am really concerned about the conduct of the voting process in New York State and I hope that that process will change in the future,” Sanders said from the Vermont airport following the loss.
Clinton’s campaign echoed Sanders concerns.
“Every eligible voter has the right to have their vote counted,” Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta wrote on Twitter just after midnight on Tuesday.
Stringer, who is a delegate for Hillary Clinton, took some heat on Wednesday from Sanders supporters for leading the probe into the board.
Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP
Bernie Sanders said he is concerned about how voting is conducted in New York State“NY Comptroller says purges are a serious matter. Sounds good until you know he is a Hillary delegate,” Twitter user Anthony L. posted to social media on Wednesday.
The spokeswoman for Election Justice U.S.A., a voting rights advocacy group that put together a lawsuit against the state’s Board of Elections for voter registration issues, said she is “concerned” about a possible conflict of interest with Stringer.
“But at the moment we’re deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt,” said Shyla Nelson.
Stringer said he could be impartial.
“I understand why people are upset, if you’re an enthusiastic Bernie supporter and you don’t think things went your way,” he said.
“We are not auditing the results of the election, we are auditing the management of the board of elections … We don’t take sides.”
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