BY STEPHEN WITT
The error-prone Board of
Elections (BOE) admitted late
Tuesday night, June 29, that
it accidentally added about
135,000 votes to its preliminary
ranked-choice voting
(RCV) calculations released
earlier in the day and promised
an accurate preliminary
recount soon.
In a tweet, the BOE blamed
the error on not clearing test
votes from their Election Management
System before adding
up the round-by-round RCV
results. This led to an increase
of more than 140,000 votes,
or 941,832 ballots counted,
when there were only 799,827
counted, those counted during
the early voting period and on
Election Day.
“The board staff has removed
all test ballot images
from the system and will upload
election night results,
cross-referencing against election
night reporting software
6 COURIER LIFE, JULY 2-8, 2021
for verifi cation. The case vote
will be re-generated and the
RVC rounds will be re-tabulated,”
the BOE tweeted.
“The Board apologizes for
the error and has taken immediate
measures to ensure the
most accurate up-to-date results
are reported,” it added.
The BOE said on its website
that new results would be available
later today.
Frontrunner mayoral candidate
and Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams fi rst noticed
the error after the BOE
released the preliminary RCV
results with some 124,000 absentee
ballots still to be counted.
According to those results,
Adams had a razor-slim lead
after 11 rounds with 51.1 percent
of the vote (368,898 votes),
with former Sanitation Commissioner
Kathryn Garcia in
second with 48.9 percent of the
vote (352,990 votes).
Adams issued a statement
following the BOE’s admission,
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
saying the mistake was
unfortunate.
“It is critical that New Yorkers
are confi dent in their electoral
system, especially as we
rank votes in a citywide election
for the fi rst time. We appreciate
the Board’s transparency
and acknowledgment of their
error. We look forward to the
release of an accurate, updated
simulation, and the timely conclusion
of this critical process,”
said Adams.
Garcia called the BOE’s
release of incorrect rankedchoice
votes deeply troubling.
“Every ranked-choice and
absentee vote must be counted
accurately so that all New Yorkers
have faith in our democracy
and our government. I am confi
dent that every candidate will
accept the fi nal results and support
whomever the voters have
elected,” she said.
Attorney Maya Wiley, who
came in third place just behind
Garcia and could possibly
Board of Elections canvassers working to count ballots in Queens.
Photo by Gabrielle Holtermann
still come out on top once
all RCV and absentee ballots
are counted, called the BOE error
the result of generations of
failures that have gone unaddressed.
“Last summer the BOE
mishandled tens of thousands
of mail-in ballots during the
June 2020 primary. It has also
been prone to complaints of patronage.
The BOE must now
count the remainder of the
votes transparently and ensure
the integrity of the process
moving forward. New Yorkers
deserve it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Queens City
Councilman I. Daneek Miller,
co-chair of the Council’s Black,
Latino and Asian Caucus
ramped up the call to pass his
legislation (Introduction 2326)
giving voters another chance
to weigh in on the merits of
RCV in the November general
election.
“The fact that the Board of
Elections is unable to determine
the source of the discrepancy
and we are still waiting
on council and borough president
tallies highlights the total
ineptitude to hold an RCV
election in what is one of the
most impactful election cycles
as we begin to recover from
the pandemic,” said Miller.
Additional reporting by
Zachary Gewelb
City’s BOE admits tabulation
error, promises results ‘soon’
1st Session Trial Offer expires 8/31/2021