NYC DOI Releases Results of Investigation into the Operations of the NYC Board of Elections

The NYC Department of Investigation announced the release of a report on the operations of the NYC Board of Elections. The report is the first from the Board of Elections Inspector General Unit (“BOE IG Unit”), which was established in 2012 “to have additional dedicated resources for investigation of fraud, corruption, waste, mismanagement, and conflicts of interest relating to BOE.”

NYC BOE has been widely criticized for its shortcomings in administering elections.

The DOI report makes more than 40 recommendations for changes to policies and procedures at BOE that can be accomplished without legislation.  They include:

• standardizing BOE’s hiring process;
• curtailing the influence of county political committees in employment matters;
• implementing a specific anti-nepotism policy;
• professionalize poll worker training;
• better protecting voter privacy;
• reduce the presence of ineligible voters on the rolls; and
• eliminating outdated and wasteful processes.

Perhaps the most interesting (and most challenging) recommendation is for the State Legislature to amend the State Constitution and Election Law to eliminate bipartisan Boards of Election, and instead provide for nonpartisan election administration:

 “DOI’s findings about the BOE during this investigation also support the recommendations that have been made publicly and by good government groups, and could only be accomplished with amendments to the law: namely the elimination of the bipartisan composition of boards of elections, which requires equal representation of the two major political parties throughout BOE, replaced by professional boards designed to conduct election administration in a non-partisan manner. Many of the areas covered by DOI in this report reveal a systemic lack of accountability and transparency, dysfunctional operations, and inefficient use of resources and City funds at the BOE. A requirement of non-partisan election administration would not only curtail the influence of the county committees, but also, could facilitate the professional administration of elections by individuals selected based on merit.”