Mayor Bloomberg yesterday hinted it’s time for a change at the city’s Board of Elections — his new favorite punching bag — after its handling of Tuesday’s chaos at polling stations.
“Maybe we’ve gotten to the breaking point,” Bloomberg said. “It was just a nightmare, and I think the real answer here is we should reform the system. It should not be two parties and county leadership picking their buddies to supervise the basis of our citizenship.”
Bloomberg did not go so far as to say he wants to control the board.
Such a move would require an amendment to the state Constitution or legislation in Albany, which would face political obstacles, sources said.
Bronx Republican Commissioner J.C. Polanco fought back, saying Bloomberg was involved in selecting new polling sites for voters displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
New Yorkers found chaos, long lines and broken equipment at polling sites this week.
Even Bloomberg himself had problems trying to vote when poll workers at PS 6 on the Upper East Side couldn’t find his name in the roster.
Polanco said long lines and mass confusion stemmed from new sites, new machines, new district lines drawn this year and an 11th-hour order by Gov. Cuomo to allow any New Yorker to vote at any polling site.