Opinion Exchange

Here’s a look at opinion content published today, Wednesday, Sept. 15:

Voting machines: Editorial
We comment on news that voters around the Lower Hudson Valley encountered problems with new, optical-scan voting machines in Tueday’s primary. We write:

The best thing that can be said about the new optical scan voting machines that were deployed Tuesday in primary elections statewide is this: At least they made voters nostalgic. Many voters across the state left polling places pining for the the old lever-style voting booths, with their legible ballots, unassailable privacy curtains and reassuring clicks to confirm that the votes had actually been cast.


The new voting machines were supposed to prevent another Florida 2000 scenario, confusion that ultimately made George W. Bush president. But if anecdotal reports coming out of polling places were any indication, expect some challenges to the primary results. …

Angry voters: Editorial
We comment on the relatively low turnout in yesterday’s primary vote:

Well, of course there were problems at the polls, optical scanners that wouldn’t scan, poll workers who didn’t show. This is New York, after all, last state in the union to roll out a “new and improved” voting system after the 2000 catastrophe. The real question is, what was your excuse for not voting? There ought to be a bounty of regrets. Tumbleweeds rolled through many polling places, notwithstanding incessant talk of mad voters not taking it anymore. In reality, given the skimpy turnout, the message delivered by most affiliated (non) voters was, “Whatever you voting folks decide, that will be just fine.” …

Tax cuts: Cartoon
Matt Davies comments on the debate over whether or not the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans should be preserved.

Rye’s duck pond: Commentary
Rye Supervisor Joe Carvin contends that the town has been doing all that it can to battle algae in the duck pond at Rye Town Park.