Brooklyn voters face long lines, faulty machines

Some Brooklyn voters who came out to cast their votes in the presidential election Tuesday were furious to find their polling sites closed. News 12 Brooklyn received reports of at least half a dozen

News 12 Staff

Nov 4, 2008, 9:58 PM

Updated 5,814 days ago

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Some Brooklyn voters who came out to cast their votes in the presidential election Tuesday were furious to find their polling sites closed.
News 12 Brooklyn received reports of at least half a dozen polling sites throughout the borough that failed to open, while other sites have been plagued by technical problems and overwhelmed by massive voter turnout.
At a polling site in Brownsville, the one and only machine that was supposed to service some 500 voters broke down at least three times throughout the morning, forcing about 40 people to wait for its repair.
Some voters, however, did not mind to stand in line, instead taking in the historic significance of this election.
?We?ve been waiting for a while, and it?s not a problem because we know how hard it took for us to get to this point,? says a voter Nathan Jones. ?We?re not going to turn around.?
At a polling place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, many voters had to fill out paper ballots after a voting machine malfunctioned.
?A lot of them didn?t want to fill out paper ballots their first time voting, they wanted to pull these little red knobs and vote,? says a voter Marcella McMurren.
Volunteers with the Election Protection Coalition will be standing by to respond to voters? complaints throughout the day. Brooklyn residents can contact them at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For Spanish speakers, call 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA.