'Duh Moment' Caused Paper Jam Chaos At NYC's Polls, BP Says

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- The snaking lines in torrential rain, three-hour-long waits and packed polling sites that plagued Brooklyn on Election Day were caused by paper jams, according to the Brooklyn Borough President.

"The poll workers had to wait for someone to come and take the paper jam out," Adams explained.

"How about teaching the poll workers how to do a basic unclogging of the papers?" Adams added. "If that is not a 'duh' moment I don't know what is."

Adams' press conference Wednesday took place after an Election Day during which at least 49 polling sites in 19 districts reported serious problems.

"Imagine if the xerox machine was stuck at an office and an entire office shuts down to wait for a repair person," Adams said. "This is inexcusable."

Adams is joined by a host of city officials, and even the mayor, who have all expressed outrage that the Board of Election failed to adequately prepare for the high voter turnout expected for the midterm election on Nov. 6.

“[The BOE] simply can’t function,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who reported the BOE blamed Tuesday's rain for the delays. “It’s as if there was a purposeful plan to make voting as unappealing as possible.”

Adams blamed BOE leadership for the broken scanners mishap and proposed a five-prong plan to combat deep-rooted problems in the system.

Some solutions, such as teaching poll workers to fix paper jams, were simple. But Adams also called on the Legislature to pass early voting, a proposal that's languished in the Legislature for years, despite its wide use in other states.

The Borough President also called for investigatory hearings and technology updates to bring New York's voting process into the 21st Century.

"We have the wrong people making the decisions on the most important aspect of our society, and that's the right to vote," said Adams.

"You can track a package from Russia ... but we can't use technology to increase voter participation? That is unacceptable."

Patch reporter Noah Manskar contributed to this report

(Lead image: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams speaks outside NYCHA's Gowanus Houses on Monday. Photo by Noah Manskar)