According to this story, a New York State Board of Elections Commissioner criticized Nassau County elections officials for allowing poll workers in some precincts to see voted ballots before they had been cast. Thanks to Konstantin Doren for the link.
There is nothing in the story that indicates that the problem was restricted to a few precincts, nor that the county board of elections was letting the poll workers see ballots.
The precinct scanners, which you recall were deployed statewide (except New York City which had its own contract), had a long and extensive requirements phase.
One of the requirements was that voters be informed if they had undervoted. Now the SBOE staff is blaming Nassau County for insisting on enabling the feature. The race in the 17th Assembly District was not at all close, so it does not make any sense at all that only election workers in that area were told to look at ballots (there are 11 assembly districts in whole or in part in Nassau County).
The more likely explanation is that some election workers became aware of confused voters. If someone asks, “why am I getting this warning,”, it is a lot easier to diagnose the problem by taking a look at the ballot. More proactive or helpful workers may become watchful, and walk over whenever anyone seems confused.
It is not dissimilar to what happens in California when a DTS voter may request a partisan primary ballot. Some workers are going to avoid even mentioning the option; others are going to point at a card; others are going to ask “Do you want a Democratic or Republican ballot?”; and others may assume that the voter wants the Democratic ballot.
The “Secret Ballot” was not always so sacrosanct as we revere them nowadays. In the earliest years, people voted publicly. I’ve seen accounts of voters in a northern Virginia precinct in 1790’s hanging around the polls until a local person of prominence showed up and waiting to vote themselves until they heard how he voted. That guy was named George Washington. And, of course, in the days before govt-printed ballots when parties made up their own tickets and distributed to voters they were often of different colors for different parties or factions and all present could see what ticket a voter deposited in the ballot box. Then there is the famous 2000 Presidential election “hanging chads” and “butterfly ballots” problems – maybe if poll workers had checked ballots then there would have been quicker resolution due to fewer spoiled and contestable ballots? There likely will never be a perfect resolution about this topic.
Southern states and northern states had different traditions about voting, based on where the early settlers came from.
If public officials can be expected to vote publicly, why shouldn’t yeomen citizens?
When the Congress was establishing the manner regulations for the election of Senators (by the legislatures), there arose the question of how the legislators should vote. Representative from New England, thought it should be by secret ballot. Representative from the South were incredulous that legislators would not vote publicly just like citizens did.
It was only in 1872 that Congress required paper ballots, and this was along with other requirements that can reasonably be interpreted as “do like we do’.
I suppose our elections are better in some ways than they were a hundred or two hundred years ago. No matter what kind of system we have, and not matter how fair the election laws are to 3rd partisans and Independents, you are always going to have a handful of unscrupulous people who work the polls and will take advantage of their position to mislead voters to vote for a candidate or a party they prefer.
Call it the sin nature of mankind, or whatever kind of label you want. But every since Cain killed Abel, there has been “resentment” of one person toward another, and in the area of elections, we still find resentment of one type of another.
Let’s just keep the elections as honest and fair as we can and hope for the best.
Put the FELONS who violate SECRECY of the BALLOT in JAIL and sue them for $$$ DAMAGES to bankrupt them.
Electors-Voters have to have SOME brain cells regarding voting instructions.