City’s Board of Elections admits tabulation error
BY STEPHEN WITT
The error-prone Board of Elections
(BOE) admitted late Tuesday night,
June 29, that it accidentally added
about 140,000 votes to its preliminary
ranked-choice voting (RCV) calculations
released earlier in the day and promised an
accurate preliminary recount soon.
In atweet, 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, crossreferencing
against election night reporting
software 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 on June 30.
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% of
the vote (368,898 votes), with former Sanitation
Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in second
with 48.9% of the vote (352,990 votes).
Adams issued a statement following the
BOE’s admission, 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
PHOTO BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
timely conclusion of this critical process,”
said Adams.
Garcia called the BOE’s release of incorrect
ranked-choice 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
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.
“Both the BOE and pro-RCV advocates
assured voters that this would be a seamless
process, and yet, the opposite appears
to be true. 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.
“This country has recently witnessed
what happens when the integrity of our
elections are called into question. Right,
wrong or indifferent, Jan. 6 is a reality. We
cannot allow this process to erode confi -
dence in our democracy, and I question the
intentions of anyone who might be opposed
to putting RCV up for a public referendum
after witnessing today’s events,” he added.
NYPD plans deployment for Macy’s fi reworks
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re putting the blue in Red,
White, and Blue!
The New York Police Department
will be out in force at the largest ever
Macy’s Fourth of July fi reworks display on
the East River this Sunday, according to
the authorities.
The Boys in Blue will deploy offi cers
to restrict movement and car traffi c along
most of the shoreline on both sides of the
East River to ensure safety for the celebrations
of he United States of America’s
245th birthday.
Five barges with more than 65,000
shells will fl oat down the waterway and the
pyrotechnics extravaganza in the sky will
start around 9:25 pm and last until 9:50
pm, as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
earlier this month.
At the same time, fi reworks will go off of
the Empire State Building from the 72nd,
86th, and 103rd fl oors, and soon afterward,
at 10 pm, there will be fi reworks in Coney
Island.
The return of an in-person event after
People watch the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks from Hunter Point Park on
July 4, 2018, in New York City.
last year’s pre-taped show during the height
of the COVID-19 pandemic is possible
thanks to New Yorkers getting their vaccines
against the coronavirus, hizzoner
previously said.
The show will be livestreamed on NBC,
with a two-hour special featuring performances
from Coldplay, One Republic,
Black Pumas, and more.
To view the fi reworks from Manhattan,
FILE PHOTO
NYPD will limit access to four entry points
to the East River waterfront: Houston Street
and along First Avenue at East 23rd Street,
East 34th Street, and East 42nd Street.
Backpacks, duffel bags, large bags,
coolers, umbrellas, and other similar items
won’t be allowed past police lines or in any
spectator viewing area.
Cops will also deploy to the four
Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan,
and Brooklyn bridges to prevent traffi c
stopping and pedestrians viewing the
fi reworks from the spans, according to
the Department.
NYPD plans to send out the local
precincts in Manhattan and Queens, the
Intelligence Division, Counterterrorism,
Emergency Service Unit, Strategic
Response Group, Harbor Unit, Aviation
Unit, Canine, Disorder Control Unit, and
the Bomb Squad for the event.
Aviation Unit helicopters will conduct a
fl yover above the East River around 8 pm.
To accommodate the spectacle, NYPD
will close off streets to car traffi c in the
afternoon and evening along the East River
waterfront from the Brooklyn Bridge to
East 63rd Sunday afternoon, along with
the Brooklyn waterfront near Dumbo and
Brooklyn Heights, and the Long Island City
waterfront in Queens.
New York’s Finest advise folks to not
drive in these areas between 2 pm and 2
am and instead use public transportation
to get to these locations.
For a full list of street closures, check
NYPD’s advisory at nyc.gov.
14 July 1, 2021 Schneps Media
/nyc.gov
