Board of Elections Has Time to Rebuild Trust Among Voters
Eligible voters need to trust that their ballot will be available in time and without question whether they request it by mail or at a polling place. They need to trust that their vote will be counted accurately as they cast it. And they need to trust that the total vote count will be accurate.
Like all Boards of Elections in New York, the Westchester Board of Elections is still working to improve implementation of many new procedures required by legislative reforms in 2019 and 2020. These are big challenges.
On top of this is the pandemic, imposing many more challenges such as sanitation of polling places for Election Day and early voting, vastly increased absentee balloting and the need to inform voters of how to participate in voting in the face of new laws and COVID-19.
After the June primary election, many people felt that the Westchester Board of Elections was overwhelmed by all this. They worry that this situation has lowered voters’ trust in the election system. Lowered trust could lead to lower turnout. The promise of all the voting reforms would be lost.
There is still time to change this situation before the Nov. 3 general election, and the early voting period from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.
One way the Westchester Board of Elections could build trust would be to communicate more openly with and seek input from the voting public. Public meetings would offer opportunities to build trust in two ways. Through information distributed before meetings and presentations at meetings, the Board of Elections would have the opportunity to explain the complexity of running elections, especially during COVID.
With greater understanding, voters could contribute more meaningfully, offering input and working with the board to develop solutions. The time is short, but the possibility of building trust and improving voters’ experience is there.
Catherine Ray
Ossining
