De Blasio Blasts Board Of Elections Over NYC Mayoral Primary Mess

New York City NY

30 June, 2021

10:43 AM

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NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio isn't taking a botched ranked-choice voting count for his successor in stride. Hizzoner unleashed a broadside against the city's Board of Elections on Wednesday, calling for the entity's complete overhaul. The massive blunder Tuesday, in which 135,000 test votes were mistakenly added to the Democratic mayoral primary tally, showed "yet again" the BOE's "fundamental structural flaws," de Blasio said in a statement. "There must be an immediate, complete recanvass of the BOE's vote count and a clear explanation of what went wrong," de Blasio said. Statement from @NYCMayor on the Board of Elections: pic.twitter.com/6C9mx8RQEP— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) June 30, 2021 Trashing the BOE was a popular activity late Tuesday and into Wednesday. Even former president Donald Trump got in the game, although he used it as an opportunity to repeat his thoroughly debunked claims about the 2020 presidential election. De Blasio has long criticized the BOE. His statement notes at one point he offered the board $20 million to remake themselves, only to be rebuffed. State lawmakers must pass a bill to professionalize the board and make them fall directly under city elected officials, he argued. He also called to amend the state constitution to "allow for a new, professional board, removed of party affiliation." "It's a necessary, fundamental change," he said.