NYC Election Board, Tim Robbins continue dispute

NEW YORK — Tim Robbins' difficulty in voting on Election Day was his own fault, New York City's Board of Elections maintains.

Board representative Gregory C. Soumas wrote a letter to Robbins, telling him that he was not on the rolls at the poll site he visited last week "because you simply went to the wrong poll site."

(enlarge photo) This Sept. 18, 2008 file photo shows actor Tim Robbins arriving to the premiere of 'The Lucky Ones,' in New York. Voting was more than painful for Robbins. The 50-year-old actor told The Associated Press he was only allowed to cast his choice for president after being granted a court order. (AP Photo/Andy Kropa,File)

Soumas said Robbins filed a new voter registration form in February 2004, changing his voting address — which meant he had to vote elsewhere, about six blocks away.

The letter said Robbins should have gone to the new site and that this problem would have arisen earlier had Robbins voted in either the presidential primary in February or a second primary in September.

The confusion appears to stem from the double registration of Robbins — one his home address, the other his nearby office address — and the board eliminated one.

The 50-year-old actor — a longtime resident of New York — strongly disagreed with the board's explanation.

He told The Associated Press he voted at his old polling place numerous times in recent elections (which Bettye J. Williamson, a longtime poll worker in his precinct, has verified) and was never notified that he should vote anywhere else.

"The system is in need of repair," said Robbins. "And the people that run it are pretty petty and vindictive when they would release to all the major newspapers in the New York area private information like your home address and your driver's license number."

Robbins thinks the board's actions were meant "to save face," and reiterated that he hoped his case brought attention to broader voter troubles.

"If it hadn't been for shenanigans like this, Obama's margin would have been much, much higher," he said.

A spokeswoman for the board didn't return a call Tuesday.

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On the Net:

http://vote.nyc.ny.us

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