To the Editor:
I sent this email to the Superintendent of Elections Office, Donna DeSomma, regarding voting booth privacy in Bayonne:
I am a resident of Bayonne. As you are aware, we are having a runoff election for mayor on June 10. For some reason many people are under the assumption that our votes are not private. That there is a way to find out how people voted. They seem to think there is a connection to the book you sign at the voting poll and the number you are assigned when you vote. Is this true? Is there anyway someone can find out how you vote? Thank you for any information you can offer.
Response:
Good Afternoon, There is no way to associate a voter with their selection in the AVC Advantage voting machine used in Hudson County. Your choice of candidate at the polls is entirely confidential. When a voter casts his/her vote the onboard computer scrambles the order that it is received in preventing a match to the voting authority. The purpose of the signature in the poll book and again on the voting authority is strictly for verification of identity and to provide a means of checks and balances that there are no more votes cast than voters. Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Regards,
Donna DeSomma
Secretary Hudson County Superintendent of Elections Office
SUZANNE O’BRIEN