Got our big turnout. DIDN'T get an ideal result. (Later note: 83% turnout in 12-1...in an OFFYEAR ELECTION. Mind-boggling. We got about 10 percent in the primary.)
Am very proud anyway of Minneapolis voters. They didn't sit back and wait the heavy boot to drop. Karen Pritz's discussion of 11-1 in Pearl Park was interesting. But if you back up and consider the big picture, I wouldn't be too proud. All kinds of things are wrong. In this election, over a hundred thousand Minnesota voters got disenfranchised. When has that EVER happened? We still insist on trying to do this on a Tuesday, for which no one can offer ANY sound reason. I grant that our law gives us time off to vote, but then we sacrifice a horrendous amount of productivity, so lots of people don't insist on the right. And we do it all on one day, something that is not all that common. I could go on, but the fact is that best Minneapolis precinct was hogtied by the law. When I complained in my precinct, all I heard was "it's the law, it's the law". But did God write that law and make it immutable? I don't think so. This law under which we labor is not for the benefit of the ordinary citizen, and the ordinary citizen should not settle for the continual diminution of his or her rights in this way. Wealthy interests would like it to continue, so it will take a serious fight to open up the system. But what is really the alternative? (Later note: Due to a private email, I sent some of the problems I experienced to a responsible person in Minneapolis city government) I'm STILL suspicious about this overall turnout. I see everyone assuming it is legitimate, but I really can't see anything to suggest this sudden swerve makes any sense. How does a lousy economy lead to REPUBLICAN gains? When did voters ever reward REPUBLICANS for a lousy economy? I smell a rat. ===== Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood Minneapolis ------------- Paul Wellstone: Best friend Minneapolis ever had in Washington. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
