In response to Rich, it is apparent I should have been more clear in my
first post. I have talked about this before. I think the lack of
leadership from the Secretary of State's office on voting in our
technological and informational explosion is horrific. I complained about
these ballots in the last election too.
Here is the deal for me:
First, we go to all the expense of passing laws like ADA to make private
business accountable for designing accessible spaces. But then government
many times exempts itself, like these elections. In addition to not paying
attention to the ergonomics of filling in a tiny oval for anybody with a
disability, there were not nearly enough handicapped accessible tables in my
polling place and none of them met the clearances for wheelchairs, walkers,
etc. And I have to bet many elderly just don't even show up because of the
lines. And those who can't see might have an even harder time. This starts
to make a more clear argument for mail-in voting or some such other system
that pays additional attention to the needs of our people.
Second, in the technological revolution we are into (albeit I understand the
cost argument) we shouldn't have to be filling in an oval with an old pen on
rickety stand that offers no privacy. And in the end, there isn't any
privacy even if you had the folder, because at my polling place you had to
pull the ballot out of the privacy folder in order to put it into the
machine. And in fact mine didn't go in correctly and as the election
observers were dealing with someone else, I pushed the button to release it
and then put it in again. You see, it is so easy for mistakes to happen our
system, it is amazing we don't have more complaints. It's only when we get
to close counts does the illumination on our poor system become so glaring.
As for the Secretary of State critique, people are right some of the
responsibility might be with local or county officials. Perhaps we should
be advocating for change in city and county officials. However, I think it
is time for some vision on voting in this city and state. We haven't had
that in a long time. In addition to making the polling places more
accessible and better for our citizens, we should be looking at new and
vital voting methods. As our state continues to lead the nation in the
percentage of voting and in third party voting, we should be calling for
systems such as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). This would be something I would
expect of the Secretary of State - advocating for the best election methods
for our citizens.
And while we are at it, we might as well make a move to eliminate the
electoral college. The time for elitist control is over. The progressive
city of Minneapolis should make the first move. Perhaps our city council
could pass a resolution encouraging the adoption of a constitutional
amendment eliminating the electoral college. We get into other countries
operations, we might as well get into our own.
If we want more people to vote in Minneapolis, a clear and easy way to vote,
and new methods that won't allow our votes to be wasted, it is time to find
new leadership on this issue. And no I'm not running for Secretary of
State, yet ;-).
Russell W. Peterson
Ward 9
Standish
R U S S E L L P E T E R S O N D E S I G N
"You can only fly if you stretch your wings."
Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID
Founder
3857 23rd Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407
612-724-2331
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
