Friday March 19th the door to the Bronx Science poll site was open.
In the early voting for the 11th and the 15th City Council districts it was clear that after the first few days many more votes were being cast in the 11th council district over the 15th council district. The ratio was about three to one, with almost one third of the total votes being cast at the In Tech school in Council District 11. Since the early voting polling sites were far apart, hours limited and not the same every day, only a few of the early voting sites could be visited each day.
Each of the eight early voting poll sites were given two ballot scanning machines with the Bronx Science in District 11, and MS 45 in District 15 having three ballot scanners. MS 45 proved to be the largest vote getting poll site in the 15th district, but the Bronx Science poll site wound up with the lowest vote count of the four poll sites in District 11. The Bronx Science poll site was the only one of all the poll sites I visited where I had a problem with the poll technician or coordinators each time I visited that poll site.
On the first visit (Part One) the poll Technician claimed my Board of Elections media credentials were fake, and I should call the Bronx Board of Elections and talk to the Deputy Director. Since the authorization came from the NYC office I called the number on the paper, and was told the communications director would call me back. When she called back she said I was not on her list, nor did I have the proper NYPD press credentials. I informed her that we have been doing this for years, I was one of the few reporters who was able to renew their NYPD press credentials in mid February, and I received my letter from the Executive Director' secretary the day before because I could not get it all week long from her office. She said she would check on it, and a few minutes later said that my letter from the BOE was valid. In speaking to the Deputy Director of the Bronx BOE she apologized to me for the problem.
On my second visit (Part Two) the door to the poll site was locked even though the poll site was supposed to be open. I had to knock, bang, and even use my foot on the door before someone came to open it. When I went to sign in I had an argument why I was kicking the door, and the Republican poll coordinator came over wanting to take a photo of my letter. I said no and was told that I had to leave. As I was calling and speaking to the person on the Executive Director's office of the NYCBOE two police officers asked me to go out from the poll site, and hang up on the person I was talking to, telling her the police had arrived. The matter was cleared up when the officers read my letter from the BOE, went inside to tell the poll coordinators I could get the voter count from the ballot scanners. When I got to my car I called the Deputy Director of the Bronx Board of Elections to tell her what transpired. She apologized again, and said that she told the poll coordinators I had BOE authorization, and that I didn't need to show the letter again. I also resumed my call to the NYCBOE.
Part Three - As I approached the open door a poll worker showed me there was a bell under the handicap symbol for people in wheelchairs to ring. As I signed in I was asked for my authorization letter again. I said I was told by the Deputy Director of the Bronx Board of Elections that you know I have the authorization letter which she told you, and that I would not have to display it again. I was not allowed to get the vote totals off the ballot scanners, and had to call the Deputy Director of the Bronx Board of Elections to clear this up for the third time. She was in a meeting, and a short time later she called to say that she had taken care of the problem and I could get the vite totals from the ballot scanners. I asked why of all the Early voting sites I visited that I was being harassed by the poll coordinators here? For the third time she apologized, and I said that I am going to file a formal complaint with the NYCBOE to find out why this happened on the three times I visited this poll site after you had straightened it out two times before.
Part Four to come Monday with my prediction who will win in both districts, and why.
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