Voting Information

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Phone calls direct voters to incorrect polling places

Published on 11/7/2006 in the Post Star

Post Star By MADELINE FARBMAN

QUEENSBURY -- The Warren County Board of Elections received 12 to 15 phone calls Monday from voters who said they'd received phone calls giving them incorrect polling locations, said Mary Beth Casey, Republican election commissioner. Although both Democrats and Republicans said they'd been given misinformation, according to Casey, reports of the phone calls prompted representatives of each party to accuse the other side of wrongdoing. Casey said she was very concerned that voters won't know their correct polling place and encouraged anyone with questions to call the Board of Elections. ... [link to County Boards of Election] Casey said she figured about a third of the phone calls she received were from Democrats, the rest from Republicans, which she said mirrors the demographics in this area. Casey said some callers were concerned that they were being deliberately given misinformation. "I had someone say to me, 'It sounds like they're trying to get me to go to the wrong place,' " she said. Casey said she didn't know if the phone calls to voters were automated calls or placed by live callers. At least one person thought the phone call came from the Gillibrand campaign, but at least one Democrat said he thought the call was placed by Republicans, Casey said. Bill Montfort, Democratic election commissioner for Warren County, said he thought phone calls with incorrect polling locations could occur because of misreading information in a voter database available to campaigns. "I could see where that would happen," Casey said. Montfort said midday Monday that he had not received any phone calls from voters who'd been given incorrect polling information. Casey said she may have received the phone calls because her number is listed above Montfort's in the phone book listing for the Board of Elections. Bill Hyers, campaign manager for Kirsten Gillibrand, said the Gillibrand campaign is not making phone calls telling voters about polling stations. Blake Zeff, spokesman for the state Democratic Committee, said such calls were not placed by the Democratic State Committee, either. Mike Grasso, Warren County Republican chairman, said the county Republican headquarters had also received five to eight phone calls from voters who said they'd been given incorrect polling locations, and he said he believed the Democratic State Committee and the committee to elect Kirsten Gillibrand were disseminating erroneous voting information. "Why are Democratic committees calling Republicans telling them where to vote?" he said. Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said that office does make automated phone calls telling people their polling stations. Psaki said she was aware of one error in which a Saratoga County voter was given the wrong polling place, but that it's unlikely the DCCC would have given 10 voters in Warren County incorrect information. She said she believed such phone calls are made only to Democrats.