What's On Your Ballot? Find out...... http://www.e-democracy.org/myballot/ -----------------------------------------
This is as good a message to use from the digest as any, I suspect. Glad to have Steve over here on the western sector of St. Paul. I voted absentee over a week ago because I'm serving a split shift as a DFL Voting Rights Legal Team challenger in another precinct - 3-13 near Macalester College. (I live in 2-2.) By 10 AM this morning, 40% of that precinct had voted (890 of 2,200) - about 20-25% of them new registrants. At this rate, it's possible that 2,500-3,000 voters could go through that precinct. Between 110% and 120% of eligible voters. At 7 Am when the polls opened the line from the basement of the little church on Fairmount ran out the door and down the block, 150 people standing in the wet and under showers for over a half an hour. Inside, the alphabet was divided by at least four with many election judges, 12 voting "booths" and people filling out ballots at several tables marked off with masking tape. Up to 25 people could be voting all at once. The initial crush from 7-8:30 AM ran like a clock, thanks to veterans judges like Chief Judge Bob Mooney, an old salt and anal retentive in the fairness department; Dennis Gerhardstein, Bob's lieutenant, and another unflappable veteran. Good pair to draw to, with Dennis the easy-going one by a country mile. By the way, Bob Mooney insists that the ongoing tally of votes cast - registered on the scanners - is not public information because, as he reads it, such information could be used to illegally influence the election. I disagree, but I'm not the election judge. I've never been denied that information in all my years in politics, and while he may be right that such information might be used to get out the vote (or suppress it, I suppose, by nasty people :-)), so what? Public information is what it is and that should be enough to secure the running totals. Any thoughts? Which of us is right? No serious challenges. The GOP challenger is a good guy, a young law student at St. Thomas with deep roots in that area - name of O'Connell. The other half of our team, a young lawyer from Apple Valley sat outside with her sign and and newspaper under an umbrella, but was told she was way inside the 100-ft. Perimeter. Mooney appeared and paced off 100 feet putting challengers across the street. Of course, it was at least another 100 feet inside and down the stairs to the voting booths. But, oh, well. An aside: challengers are not supposed to talk with voters without going through an election judge. But what do you do when your brother is voting and he hugs you? Andy Driscoll Crocus Hill/Ward 2 ------ > > Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 07:45:58 -0800 (PST) > From: Steve Boland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [StPaul] Turnout > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > I dropped the kids off at the bus and went to vote for the first time in my > new > neighborhood, Ward 1 precinct 12 (Selby/Dale and Cathedral Hill). I arrived > at the > polls about 8:20 and was voter number 353 out at 8:55 this morning. > > Oddly enough, we too had a huge number of people in the A-L line, while > pre-registered voters M-Z could pretty much just walk in and vote. I'm > pleased to > note there were about a dozen people registering while I was there, from all > ages > and backgrounds. It would have been faster to register on-site than to wait > in line > with the A-L last names! > > I have to say I was really moved by the feeling of everyone there. It was so > hopeful and empowering to see dozens of neighbors peacefully lined up waiting > for > their chance to vote, and each feeling really good about the lines. I went > and > looked up a bit of history at the Secretary of State web site. In 2002, my > precinct > had 1,560 voters registered at the start of voting, and an overall turnout of > 1,281 > for a 82% turnout among registered voters. So as I left the polls this > morning my > precinct was closing in on a third of the total votes from last time just two > hours > into the day. > > Maybe my new neighborhood all votes early, but I'm really feeling positive > about how > this day is starting out! > > Steve Boland > Selby/Dale _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
