Paper Jams, Lack of Privacy: Bedford Voters Pan New Machines

If locals could cast a vote on the machines themselves, it would likely be a "no" ballot.

One of the new ballot machines jammed early yesterday morning in Bedford, resulting in about 100 voters putting pencil to paper to cast their vote in the New York State primary Tuesday.

"I just can't believe in this day and age—and eco-consciousness—that we are using paper to vote," said one resident before leaving the town court polling location.

While county election officials said that problems were no different from any other election day, and Bedford Town Clerk Boo Fumagalli reported few problems overall, there was plenty of grousing at the polls.

People complained that it took longer, required more instruction and that the process lacked secrecy, said polling inspector Matthew Garrity. The extra-long "privacy shield," in which ballots were placed before scanning, was difficult for some voters to insert into the machine, and many opted not to use it at all.

By 4 p.m. a county repair person had arrived to fix the blocked machine, but they didn't have the right key to open it up. Finally, a second technician brought the key and the ImageCast machine was running again.

But Fumagalli remained positive. "It will get better. The county has worked so hard, and it's not that it's difficult—it's new and will take some getting used to."

Other voters weren't so optimistic.

Fred Silverman, who directed the documentary, Who Counts? Election Reform in America, about the 2000 election—which prompted the federal mandate resulting in the new machines—said the machines offered no transparency.

"The old machines could not be tampered with. This time, I put my ballot in, but who knows what happened to it after that?" he said, citing concerns about hacking.

Bedford Tea Partier Bill Nigey said the partition table offered voters no privacy to keep their votes secret. "I came at a time when there were no lines, but in November there will be more voters and anyone will be able to look over my shoulder," he said.

At least two locals gave a thumbs-up: Both Ruth Ragonese and Tracey Matson cast their votes with no difficulty.

"It was super-easy," said Matson.