Unlike other parts of the county where problems concerning voter confidentiality have arisen, Hudson County’s electronic voting machines seem to be working as intended with no apparent violation of voters’ rights.
County Clerk Javier Inclan told the Hudson County Board of Freeholders at the Sept. 26 meeting that changes to the machines being made as the result of a $50,000 contract will simply meet the requirements that a paper backup be available.
Under the contract with Sequoia Voting Systems – the manufacturer of the machines – the county would acquire 10 voting cartridge readers in order to meet the needs of the county on election night.
“Some states have had problems with their voting machines being compromised,” said Freeholder Chairman Sal Vega. “I’m told that our machines are safe, have a paper trail, and have not been compromised.”
County Administrator Abe Antun said the contract provides a paper backup for votes cast in order to assure that all votes are counted property.
Inclan said while other states have had questions about votes being compromises, those districts were using machines other than the Sequoia, and that he knew of no instance of votes being compromised in Hudson County or the other 13 counties in the state where Sequoia machines are in use.
Another machine showed that it could be hacked into provided the hackers had enough time to do so.
Since being introduced in April 2004, the new machines have always maintained the ability to provide a paper backup to the electronic votes. A more recent federal law enacted because of problems elsewhere in the state require that the paper backup be used as a safety net, Inclan said.
Jail expansion nearly ready
After numerous setbacks and more than $40 million, the expansion to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny has cleared nearly all of its hurdles to opening, according to a report from Ted Domuracki, the project manager, in his report to the Hudson County Freeholders on Sept. 26.
“We are in the final stages to opening the addition,” he said, noting that the construction has received almost all of the critical approvals needed to begin use.
The project has been in the works since first proposed in May 2000, when jail officials said the expansion was necessary to avoid violating federal space, safety and security mandates, and is the first major expansion since the jail was constructed in 1987.
The six-floor addition to the jail has been constructed along the western side of the existing facility and is designed to hold slightly more than 500 low-risk inmates.
Although population rises and falls, and has since diminished since, the daily population at the facility has reached more than 2,500 inmates, in a facility supposed to house no more than 1,400.
The facility has new kitchen facilities on the lowest floor, a mezzanine on the second floor, and four floors of dormitory-style housing complete with showers, toilets, a classroom, tables and outside exercise area for each unit. These dormitories house prisoners who need less security and leave the traditional cell structure in the current building for the more at-risk population.
Since many of the activities would be conducted in these dormitories, such as meals and other services, prisoners would be moved less often and lessen the security risks.
Each of the four floors would have two dormitories; each dormitory would house 64 prisoners. Officers in a special area would be able to observe all that goes on in each dormitory. Of the six floors, only two would be connected to the existing jail.
A suspected steam leak costs taxpayers $200 Gs
Among the last-minute change orders was a bill from William J Guarini, Inc., for $200,733 to find a suspected steam leak in one of the vents to the facility. Domuracki said the matter was treated as an emergency – so that the work could be done without seeking prior approval – because the suspected leak had to be found before work could continue. This involved digging the line up out of concrete at various places, checking out each joint that had originally be encased during construction in 2003.
“That’s why this cost so much,” Domuracki said.
The steam leak turned out to be condensation, raising some eyebrows among some freeholders who wanted to know if the problem was a matter of faulty construction and could the county recoup some of the expenditure from the original contractor.
Domuracki said that the matter was not a construction flaw and that future problems would be much more easily located once the system is up and running.
Freeholders question fundraising contract
Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons grilled county administrators about a resolution increasing the yearly payment to Corporate Concepts and Solutions from $35,000 to $54,000 a year to help the county and not-for-profit organizations win grants. This would include a seminar on how to get grants. Assistant County Administrator Laurie Cotter said the county wanted to increase its outreach program to not-for-profit organizations throughout the county, but that the original contract was not enough to cover the costs.
Fitzgibbons questioned the record of accomplishments, and noted that the company had not previously helped Hoboken-based not-for-profits, although had apparently followed up on a request by Fitzgibbons to help Secaucus Public Library.
Cotter said the purpose of expanding the program was to provide company expertise to more organizations through the county. The company – previously located in Edison – has opened officers in Union City this year. Freeholder Al Cifelli said while the company raised $95,000 in grants on its prior $35,000, most of this came from a single grant company – the U.S. Tennis Association. He said this raised concerns about future potential for gaining grants if the company cannot get the same grant again.
Freeholder Jeff Dublin said he hoped to get many groups to participate, and would be active in making use of the firm.