Some confusion as NW Bronxites vote

Amalgamated Houses resident Carol Rich says she has voted as a registered Republican at Vladeck Hall for some 27 years. She was shocked on Tuesday when poll workers could not find her name among lists of registered Republicans and told her to fill out an affidavit ballot for the presidential primary.

“I was very uncomfortable. I had no idea why this happened to me,” said Ms. Rich, 73, who added that the longtime poll coordinator at Vladeck Hall also was surprised she was not on a list of registered Republicans.

There was confusion throughout local polling sites as dozens of residents discovered their names were not on lists of registered Democrats or Republicans. Unoffiical results from the Board of Elections in the City of New York (BOE) showed Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic primary with about 63 percent of the vote and Donald Trump taking the Republican ballot with about 64 percent on Tuesday night, as The Press went to print. 

At the polling site at Manhattan College’s Ray Kelly Commons, the coordinator said about 50 people had been turned away after workers could not find their names on the appropriate lists.

“Younger voters are trying to vote for the first time today and that presents some problems,” said the coordinator, Nate Gladstein. He added that several voters complained that their voting site had been relocated from the college’s Draddy Gymnasium to the Kelly Commons. Mr. Gladstein said that the BOE was supposed to send postcards to voters informing them of the change, but “somehow those postcards fell between the cracks.”

Northwest Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who spent much of the day campaigning for Ms. Clinton at the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy (M.S./H.S. 141, RKA), said he had heard some reports of people being turned away from ballots.

“It’s possible for the board to make a mistake. What’s also likely is that people who were not entitled to vote in the primaries today but who are otherwise registered were told they can’t vote,” he said.

Throughout the country, independent voters have complained of being unable to vote for candidates such as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, among other scenarios, since they are not registered Democrats. Mr. Dinowitz said among local examples, the BOE looked into individual voters’ complaints of being unable to vote and found they were not registered Democrats or Republicans.

A BOE spokeswoman did not immediately return messages requesting comment for this article.

At the Episcopal Church of the Mediator, where 715 people had voted by about 5 p.m., a poll coordinator who gave his name as Freddy said that 36 people had to fill out affidavits.

“I’ve worked here for a long time and I know their face, and when they come here, their name is not in the book, ” he said.

Lydia Belez, who said she votes every year at Church of the Mediator, was among those who had to fill out an affidavit on Tuesday.

“There’s no reason that my name should not be there. I always vote,” she said.

Al Tavarez, who moved from Manhattan to Riverdale last year, said that he changed his voting registration information to reflect his new address.

He said that he received notification that his polling precinct would Church of the Mediator, located at 260 W. 231st St. But when he arrived, his wife’s name appeared in the voter roll and his did not.

Elsewhere in the northwest Bronx, voting appeared to go smoothly. Voters strolled in and out of sites including the Robert J. Christen School (P.S. 81) on Riverdale Avenue with ease, while lines were slightly longer at the Promenade in Mable Hill.

“I want to contribute to changing America by voting for the person I voted for,” David Thompson, 54, said while waiting at the Promenade. He declined to divulge whom he supported.

First-time poll volunteer Jennie Stein reported one malfunctioning machine at the Promenade, but said it was fixed before voters arrived starting at 6 a.m.

“I came early enough,” Melba Diaz, 74, commented on her way to work after casting her ballot at the Promenade. She voted for Ms. Clinton, noting she disapproves of how the heated race has played out in New York City.

“I’ve never seen such a vulgar and terrible election in my lifetime,” she added.

Amalgamated Houses poll worker Evan Johnson noted a bit of confusion over where to vote among some residents. He said some people who were actually registered to vote at the St. Patrick’s Nursing Home came to the Amalgamated Houses’ Vladeck Hall instead. The confusion did not cause too much chaos, since the locations are about a block away from each other.

“Hopefully my vote will make a change,” Sari Santiano, 60, said on her way from Vladeck Hall to St. Patrick’s.

Shant Shahrigian contributed reporting.