Written by Aaron Scholder Albany bureau

An estimated 60,000 votes went uncounted in last year’s elections because of over-voting, which occurs when voters choose too many candidates for one office, according to a study by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.

Based on data from New York City and 29 other counties, around 20,000 votes in the race for governor went uncounted due to over-voting, the study said. The report also estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 votes were lost in other races across the state.

Last year was the first time the state’s new system of paper ballots and optical scanners was in effect for all voters. Unlike the mechanical-lever machines, used for decades, there is nothing stopping someone from filling in too many ovals on a paper ballot.

According to the study, the lost votes were due to confusing messages that would appear on the optical scan voting machines. Voters were prompted to “accept” or “return” the ballot when the machines detected they had over-voted. They were not informed that their votes would be voided if they selected “accept,” the Brennan Center said. The term “over-vote” is election jargon that many might not understand, the report said.

“The more basic problem we have is a ballot design that’s very confusing,” said Larry Norden, the acting director of the Democracy Center at Brennan, who co-wrote the study. “What we really need to be doing is publishing all this data, which is very easy to do with these machines.”

Twenty-eight of the 57 counties outside New York City did not provide over-vote data requested, the study said. Among those counties were some of the most populated in the state including Monroe, Westchester and Erie counties.

But Monroe County’s Board of Elections provided data to the Democrat and Chronicle, which showed that over-voting is not prevalent locally.

In the 2010 race for governor, there were 472 over-votes, out of 222,955 votes cast in Monroe County, or less than one-quarter of one percent.

The most over-votes in statewide races in Monroe County in 2010 were in the governor’s race, which pitted Andrew Cuomo against Carl Palladino, though voters cast more votes in this race than they did in any other statewide race.

County election officials train election inspectors to help voters who have over-voted, said Deputy Elections Commissioner Doug French. The machine tells voters when they have over-voted. Election inspectors are instructed to let these voters know that they can spoil their ballots, which disqualifies them from being counted, and fill out a new one.

Rockland County is the only county in the state that voluntarily releases over-voting data by election district, the Brennan Center found. Across the state, 0.4 percent of all votes were over-votes in the governor’s race in the 34 counties studied, accounting for 9,669 of the votes cast.

In Chemung County, there were 118 over-votes or 0.5 percent, in the race for governor. In Broome County, there were 212 over-votes, or 0.34 percent, and in Genesee County, 34 over-votes, or 0.2 percent.

The study said the problem was exacerbated because candidates can be spread out over two rows on a ballot, leading some to believe they are voting for two different races or appropriately voting for two candidates for the same race.

That was the case in Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s race, the study found. That led to 3,350 over-votes in New York City. The Brennan Center estimated that if the same pattern occurred statewide, there easily could have been more than 10,000 lost votes due to over-voting.

It’s difficult to determine the impact that the over-votes may have had on elections. However, Norden said there could have been implications in smaller, more local races.

“Certainly in close races, this kind of thing I have no doubt will have an impact on who wins and loses an election,” Norden said.

The state’s Board of Elections said it is implementing a new, easier-to-read message for 2012 that will warn voters they are over-voting. The Brennan Center sued the state over the wording that was used in 2010.

“They decided that the language needed to be what they called clearer. We agreed to change it,” said John Conklin, spokesman for the Board of Elections.

However, Norden said, the correction will not fully alleviate the problem.

“It doesn’t prevent over-voting. Some voters may make a mistake even with a clear message and accidentally lose their votes,” Norden said.

Conklin said the optical-scan machines did provide enough of a message for those who were voting. “You have to remember this is new. The elector is still getting used to it,” he said.

ASCHOLDER

Includes reporting by staff writer Jill Terreri. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111219/NEWS01/112190331/Over-voting-uncounted-ballots