Neutral zone enforcement mixed

State and federal officials were paying close attention, because September's preliminary election, Boston's first using new optical-scan voting machines, was marred by violations of the distance rule, understaffing of polling places, and a lack of voter privacy. In a six-page letter last month, Secretary of State William F. Galvin reminded city officials of their obligations under state election laws and ordered them to fix the problems.

But the US attorney's office said it didn't receive any complaints from voters yesterday, and a spokesman for Galvin adopted a conciliatory tone, saying the secretary is sympathetic to Boston's contention that the 150-foot rule isn't practical in some of the city's most congested neighborhoods.

The more relaxed attitude was reflected around the city: At some polling places, city workers drew white lines marking the distance and kept overzealous campaign workers behind it. But at other polling places, there were no lines and no enforcement.

There were no white lines marking the boundary outside the Christopher Columbus Plaza housing complex in the North End, for example, and campaign workers there clustered near the entrance to bombard voters with pamphlets. One voter argued about it with the warden, telling him she was tired of being "attacked" when she came to vote.

"I'm so sick of it," Susan Hand protested.

Outside St. Brigid's Church in South Boston, campaign workers gathered behind lines hurriedly drawn about two hours after the polls opened. The workers said Boston police officers had earlier warned them they would be arrested if they came any closer. But one worker, Council President Michael Flaherty's mother, was not dissuaded: She scurried through the "neutral zone" with nail files embossed with her son's name. By that time, police had left.

Meanwhile, Peter Wise, a campaign worker for Councilor Stephen Murphy, stood behind a line down the street, lamenting the new, stricter policy. "I think it's an erosion of tradition. It's all falling apart," he said. Some voters agreed, saying it just didn't feel like Election Day in South Boston without having to run the gantlet at polling place entrances.

There were other scattered problems, including malfunctioning scanners in Jamaica Plain and the South End and a failure to provide voters with privacy sleeves, or envelopelike ballot covers, at other polling places. A lack of privacy was a common complaint in September, too, as many voters lamented the passing of the curtains that were attached to the old voting machines.

To ameliorate the privacy problem this time, poll workers were instructed to offer the sleeves to voters, and signs were posted reiterating the message: "Attention voters. Ask for a secrecy sleeve when casting your ballot. Your vote is your business."

A handful of voters in Jamaica Plain complained that election workers would not let them vote for just one candidate in the at-large race, a practice known as bullet voting. Guillermo Quinteros, executive director of the Commonwealth Coalition, a nonprofit organization that promotes political participation, said that when he tried to bullet vote at the elderly housing center on Amory Street, he was told the machine would not accept his ballot unless he chose four candidates. The voting instructions on the ballot also suggested that voters had to pick four names.

But Boston election chairwoman Nancy Lo, who has come under fire for the violations that occurred in September, said that, overall, yesterday's election proceeded smoothly.

"The first time around, using the new equipment, we had a couple of kinks," said Lo, who was also criticized for opening sealed ballot boxes in search of some lost paperwork during the last election. "This time around, we reinforced some of the things people forgot to do, and I'm pleased with the outcome."

Brian McNiff, Galvin's spokesman, backed Lo's assertion.

"There were some minor things that were straightened out on the spot," McNiff said.

In a switch from the preliminary election, city officials tabulated the votes behind closed doors, with only police officers as witnesses. Seth Gitell, a spokesman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said city lawyers were confident that the private count passed legal muster. "Right now, the focus is on making sure the votes are counted properly and maintaining the security of the ballots," Gitell said.