Bumbling staff members from the state Board of Elections faced a three-hour interrogation Monday night by an anti-corruption panel, revealing a new level of disfunction by the board.
Although the Moreland Commission members were looking for malfeasance, they found only lots of bureaucratic bungling.
E-mails cited by the commission said one BOE investigator played solitaire and read the Bible as hundreds of complaints sat untouched.
The board has also initiated only six investigations since 2008 — out of 409 complaints.
The BOE members also admitted that they looked into cases in the order the complaints were made — not how important they were.
“How much did you have to steal to be a greater priority,” asked a commissioner, referring to a complaint by a candidate that a campaign treasurer was stealing money. “Was there any definition of priority?”
“Nope,” replied the BOE’s deputy head of investigation.
The Moreland Commission panel was formed by Gov. Cuomo to look into public corruption.