A Top Good-Government Group demanded on Tuesday that New York City Board of Elections Executive Director, Michael Ryan, Abdicate his Office, after it was Revealed he holds a Perk-Laden Post with the Company that makes Voting Machines used at Poll Sites across the City's Five Boroughs.
The Report disclosed that Ryan has sat on Election Systems and Software's (ES&S) National Customer Advisory Board for Five Years, and that the Company has Paid for Trips, Hotels, and Meals the Official has taken.
"It is an outrageous conflict of interest for the executive director of the Board of Elections to sit on an advisory board for the company that makes the city's voting machines and accept all-expenses-paid trips from them," said Common Cause/NY Executive Director Susan Lerner, noting that Ryan Failed to Reveal this Position in his Disclosures to the City Conflict of Interest Board. "He's more invested in lining his own pockets than serving the public. He must resign or be replaced immediately, and the city should open an investigation into possible violations of the law."
Both ES&S and the Board of Elections have received Considerable Criticism in recent years. The Contractor's Machines suffered Numerous Failures on Election Day last Month, resulting in Long Lines and Delays at the Polls.
Meanwhile, Ethics Advocates view the Board as one of the Last Vestiges of the City's Old Political "Boss" system: the Democratic and Republican Party Chairs from each of the Five Boroughs Select its 10 Commissioners, who Alone have the Power to Remove Ryan from Office. The City Board of Elections has one of the worse cases of Nepotism.
"New York City elections have been a buffet of technical incompetence," Lerner said. "It's time to let New York vote and that means overhauling our elections so we have professional administrators, not corrupt party hacks."
It also has been previously Reported that ES&S has Retained the Lobbying firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, which employs Manhattan Democratic Chairman Keith Wright and John "Sean" Crowley, the Brother of Queens Democratic Boss Rep. Joseph Crowley.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
