A sign for a polling station. Photo from Flikr/comedynose

By Jesse Friedlander
Staff Writer

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton dominated the New York primary this past Tuesday.

Voters were outraged by the voting process and the difficulty some had casting their votes.

Citizens went to their polling sites and had issues, with many forced to cast affidavits. Some sites did not even have ballots for half of their district.

In Brooklyn alone, more than 120,000 votes were taken off for several reasons.

For many, this was their first time voting, so many struggled to complete the ballot properly. In addition to unawareness, there was incompetence from the Board of Elections. Due to these issues, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer says he plans on auditing the board. Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed with the audit saying that “major reforms will be needed to the Board of Election and in the state law governing it.”

The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reported that their voter complaint hotline received more than 1,000 calls regarding the primary — a dramatic increase in comparison to the mere 150 made for the 2012 election.

The most common complaint was that voters were being told they were not registered whatsoever, followed by being told they were not registered with a political party either and the lack of affidavit ballots despite being requested.

Other complaints were a lack of privacy, accessibility issues, unclear instructions and the availability of only blue pens when ballots state they must be marked in black.

Voters also claimed that certain stations only had ballots for one party.

Overall the New York primary was a mess. We live in a democratic nation, yet many felt that they were being suppressed voters. The primaries are far from over, but New Yorkers will be unhappy for a while due to the difficulty many went through in order vote on Tuesday.