Board of Elections The City of New York Annual Report 202020 TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 INTRODUCTION 02 COMMISSIONERS OF ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 03 MISSION STATEMENT 04 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 05 COMMISSIONERS’ PROFILES 15 COUNSEL TO THE COMMISSIONERS 15 EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 16 SENIOR STAFF 16 BOROUGH OFFICES 18 IN MEMORIAM 19 CANDIDATE RECORDS UNIT 23 TURNOUT SUMMARY JUNE PRIMARY ELECTION – 06/23/2020 24 TURNOUT SUMMARY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION – 06/23/2020 25 TURNOUT SUMMARY GENERAL ELECTION – 11/03/2020 26 TURNOUT SUMMARY DECEMBER SPECIAL ELECTION – 12/22/2020 27 COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 31 VOTER REGISTRATION 37 ELECTION DAY OPERATIONS 50 VOTING EQUIPMENT OPERATIONS UNIT / POLL SITE MANAGEMENT 53 RAMP UNIT 54 FACILITIES OPERATIONS 55 PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT 56 ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT 60 PERSONNEL AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT 61 RECORDS MANAGEMENT / RETENTION DEPARTMENT 62 FINANCE 65 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL 67 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT (MIS) 70 PAYROLL 71 CUSTOMER SERVICE 72 BALLOT MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 73 POLL SITE DEVICES UNIT 75 ADA COORDINATOR 77 APPENDIX The Board is headed by ten Commissioners, two from each borough representing both major political parties for a term of four years appointed by the New York City Council Board of Elections The City of New York Introduction ... A similar bipartisan arrangement of over 351 deputies, clerks and other personnel ensures that no one party controls the Board of Elections. The Board appoints an executive sta consisting of an Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and other senior sta managers charged with the responsibility to oversee the operations of the Board on a daily basis. Together, the executive and support stas provide a wide range of electoral services to residents in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Using your Smartphone, download a FREE QR Reader. Once downloaded, The Commissioners of Elections meet every Tuesday at the Executive open the application and click the QR Oce, in addition to the special hearings, legislative sessions and code to discover the Board’s website. specic issue-oriented meetings (electronic voting, election legislation, labor management, rules and budget) during the calendar year. 1 Commissioners of Elections in the City of New York BOROUGH PARTY SIMON SHAMOUN Brooklyn Republican RODNEY L. PEPE-SOUVENIR Brooklyn Democrat JOHN WM. ZACCONE Staten Island Republican PATRICIA ANNE TAYLOR, PRESIDENT Staten Island Democrat GINO A. MARMORATO Bronx Republican MIGUELINA CAMILO Bronx Democrat FREDERIC M. UMANE, SECRETARY Manhattan Republican TIFFANY TOWNSEND Manhattan Democrat MICHAEL MICHEL Queens Republican JOSE MIGUEL ARAUJO Queens Democrat 2 Mission Statement The Board of Elections in the City of New York, FORDHAM RIVERDALE as provided under Section 3-200 of the New York State Election Law, PELHAM BAY is responsible: WASHINGTON HEIGHTS TREMONT MORRISANIA WESTCHESTER 1. To conduct fair and honest elections, from local to federal levels; MOTT CENTRAL HAVEN HARLEM RIVERSIDE 2. To enfranchise all eligible New Yorkers to register to vote and to EAST HARLEM practice those rights; KIPS BAY YORKVILLE FLUSHING 3. To conduct elections, certify the canvass and to retain the ocial records; LOWER CORONA ASTORIA WEST LONG ISLAND CITY SIDE 4. Voter outreach and education. LOWER EAST SIDE WILLIAMSBURG MASPETH GREENPOINT FOREST HILLS FORT JAMAICA Briey stated, this means: GREENE EAST RED HOOK BUSHWICK GOWANUS JAMAICA BEDFORD WEST First, the preparation of the ballot for Primary, Special and General Elections BROWNSVILLE SUNSET PARK to the extent that all vacancies for public oce and party positions may be lled. FLATBUSH NORTH SHORE BAY RIDGE Second, that qualied voters may exercise their right to franchise and that WEST SHORE every opportunity be given to voters to execute that right and to vote for MID-ISLAND GRAVESEND whom they choose. Third, that the votes of the electorate at Primary, Special and General Elections SOUTH SHORE be properly canvassed and that a true count be given for each candidate voted for. Finally, that we make every eort to inform and educate the voting public of their rights as a voter and also to reach out to all Americans to instruct them in the voting process. The following pages of this report will illustrate some of the duties as classied in the above synopsis. 3 President’s Message Despite the worldwide pandemic, it has been an honor and a and very eective. The MIS sta, the Technicians and the VMTs privilege to serve as President of the Board of Elections in the City accomplished their normal Herculean tasks! of New York during calendar year 2020. In the end, the voting completed during the General Election was The year 2020 will be permanently etched in our collective somewhat evenly divided, with one-third of the voters returning memories. Comparisons have been made to the inuenza absentee ballots, one-third voting during the 9-day Early Voting pandemic during 1918. Although 1918 was an election year, period, and one-third voting on November 3rd, Election Day. The however, it was a mid-term election year during the second term unprecedented number of absentee ballots meant, of course, that of the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, whereas during this year some races were unable to be called on Election night. Again, those we at the Board of Elections were taxed with conducting both a absentee ballots were reviewed and validated or invalidated by our Presidential Primary and a General Election for the Presidency of dedicated Legal teams and our bi-partisan Borough sta teams. the United States. Again, I commend and thank not only all of our sta members, but I commend the Board, our entire full and part-time sta, our also my fellow Commissioners, for keeping calm, focusing on the inspectors and poll workers throughout the ve boroughs, and issues, and rising to the almost immeasurable challenges presented all of our volunteers, for their tenacity in the face of such a totally by the many Executive Orders, new legislative requirements, and unexpected crisis. The Board did not close on any work days, as we yes, snafus, that had to be dealt with. were declared essential employees early on by the Governor. Many BOE employees worked long hours and many consecutive days I also oer my most sincere condolences, and I am sure that I speak without a break, throughout the pandemic, to handle the necessary for the entire Board, to the families of sta members who were challenges of the many hotly-contested primaries and elections. lost to the pandemic, and to all sta who lost family members, or suered other losses this year. Prior to the June 23, 2020 Primary, the Governor directed that absentee ballots be sent to every registered voter. The number Thank you for your support during this extraordinary year. I look of completed absentee ballots returned by voters increased forward to the Board’s continued progress during the upcoming year. more than ten-fold over the prior election, all of which had to be reviewed and validated by the dedicated bi-partisan sta in each Respectfully Submitted, Borough! We are thankful that Early Voting was introduced in 2019, along with the use of the electronic poll books, so that our workers and the voters were already familiar with those tools and technologies that made an incredible impact on the management of the November 3, 2020 General Election. The Board delivered Patricia Anne Taylor Esq., an extensive Voter Education campaign that was well-received President for Year 2020 4 Staten Island PATRICIA ANNE TAYLOR ESQ., President Patricia “Anne” Taylor, Esq., served as a Principal Court Attorney (Supreme Court, Criminal Term) and as a law clerk in the NY State Unied Court System (2007–2018). Anne holds the JD from New York Law School (1987) and an MS in Library Science from Drexel University (1970). Ms. Taylor was Deputy Counsel for Litigation and Records Management for the NY City Department of Transportation (1989 through 1997), and Counsel to its Pre-Kindergarten Transportation Program (2002–2007). She held the position of Dean’s Executive Assistant at the CUNY Law School between 1997 and 2002. Anne is admitted to practice in New York State, in the United States Courts of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and before the Supreme Court of the United States. Anne served as President of the Staten Island Women’s Bar Association (2009–2011) and as the Founding Chair of its Advisory Council of Past Presidents (2011–2014). She is an active member of the New York City Bar Association and the Richmond County Bar Association, and is a Fellow of both the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. For her professional and community involvement, Anne was recognized in 1995 as an outstanding alumna of the New York Law School. In addition to having several “substantially written” decisions published in the NY Law Journal, Anne co-authored an article that appeared in the Pacic McGeorge Global Business & Law Development Journal (Vol 24, 2011), “The Role of Law Schools in Educating Judges to Increase Access to Justice.” 5 Staten Island JOHN WM. ZACCONE ESQ., Commissioner John Wm. Zaccone is an attorney in private practice focusing on commercial real estate, transactional matters and civil litigation. He also serves as outside General Counsel for business and not-for-prot corporations in New York and New Jersey. He is currently the Commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections, representing Staten Island for the Republican Party. After graduating Pace University in 1984 with a Bachelors Degree in Public Accounting, John graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School in 1987. Upon graduation he served as an Estate Tax Attorney for the Internal Revenue Service, New York Oce, until establishing his own law oce in 1988.