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New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) has co-sponsored legislation that would permit villages, special districts, improvement districts, library districts, and fire districts to utilize mechanical lever voting machines for their local elections. The State Legislature approved a law providing school districts with such authorization in 2010.
“Under the federal Help America Vote Act, the U.S. Congress mandated new voting machines for all general elections. However, this federal mandate does not apply to these elections," Thiele said.
"In 2010, we permitted school districts to continue to use lever machines. This bill would do the same for villages and other special districts. Use of the machines could provide significant savings to villages and districts as well as eliminate confusion as to the conduct of these local elections. Local villages and districts should have the option to utilize these reliable and less costly voting machines,” Thiele said.
Thiele says he was urging immediate legislative action in time for the March village elections.
Source: Assemblyman Fred Thiele press release dated Jan. 28, 2011
