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When New Yorkers cast their ballots in the statewide races next year, they may find themselves in front of some unfamiliar technology.

After years of delays, the city is poised to cast aside its lever machines and replace them with new state-of-the-art ballot casting equipment.

"We are going to visit every corner of the City of New York and raise awareness of the new voting systems," said New York City Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco.

The change is needed to bring the city, and state, into compliance with federal regulations put in place to improve voting after the hanging chad controversy during the 2000 presidential election.

New York is the only state that has yet to comply with the Help America Vote Act. But some have argued that the delays haven't been all that bad for New Yorkers.

So far, it's allowed the city to study other states to see which voting systems work well and which ones are problematic. Still, government watchdogs are keeping close tabs on the changeover.

"We don't want New York to be another Florida or another Ohio where you implement these machines and votes are lost, people are confused, there are long wait times," said DeNora Getachew of Citizens Union.

First, though, the city's board of elections commissioners must decide which of the two machines to use. The city is expected to order 5,000 to 7,000 of the machines, at an estimated cost of $50 million.

The first public demonstration was held Wednesday in Downtown, Brooklyn where one voter in attendance said she wasn't happy about either choice.

"The problem with electronic voting is that computers are very complex and they open up a lot of possibilities of mistakes, innocent mistakes, yet they can change the outcome of elections," said Teresa Hommel of WheresThePaper.org.

The commissioners are expected to make their final decision on January 5th.