Maybe no one had it worse than Donald Trump this morning, but some New Yorkers who headed to the polls Tuesday reported frustrations at city polling centers, from long waits to broken scanners.
Complaints began early this morning. On social media, voters complained about delayed openings at polling centers, or ballots delivered late:
Reports of broken scanners continued throughout the afternoon:
That added to the long lines at many polling stations across the city. Here’s P.S. 154 in Harlem:
Yorkville Community School, on the Upper East Side, had a line wrapping around the block:
And many other locations across the city reported heavy wait times and confusion:
In the Bronx, a police-involved shooting closed a block near the polling station at Bronx Regional High School, forcing voters to take a detour into the building — though they were able to get inside to cast ballots, just with a few minutes’ delay.
The Board of Elections predicted turnout of about 2.2 million New Yorkers, and the agency was busy on Twitter responding to complaints and sending out tech teams to fix broken equipment. Police are also posted at 1,200 polling stations throughout the city, as part of a major Election Day security detail. Election monitors from the Justice Department’s civil rights division will also be posted at some sites in Queens and Brooklyn to protect against rights violations. New York City comptroller Scott Stringer, whose office is conducting an audit of the Board of Elections after thousands of voters were allegedly purged from the rolls (along with other issues) during the primaries, also set up a website to report Election Day voting problems.
Mayor de Blasio, who voted with First Lady Chirlane McCray at the Park Slope library, reportedly waited about 30 minutes.
He also tackled voter concerns from Election Day chaos on Twitter, calling for reforms — including early voting in New York State.
