[Winona Online Democracy] I wanted to add on to the points Anne Morse made about the new voting locations for the Fall school referendum.
I am not a fan of the City's annexation plans. I am not a fan of the School Board and Superintendent's recent building plans. Still, with that being said, I believe there is no hidden angle or agenda when it comes to the School Board's intent with the new voting locations. The School District is merely doing what the State and Federal grant funds for "voting improvements" will eventually force all local governments in Minnesota to do. That includes school districts, cities, townships, and the counties that administer the elections. This is NOT about disenfranchising rural residents. This has nothing to do with the Wilson/Phillips annexation and the debate about what level of services rural and city residents should be expected to pay for and recieve. Those are interesting discussions but they do not apply to this decision. There has been a large committee of township, county, city's, and others meeting over the last couple of months to look at the new voting grants and requirements that are coming down from the federal and state levels. The short version is this... A. The machines will help eliminate the problem of spoiled ballots and provide for quicker counting but they are expensive, darn expensive. B. The federal government has created requirements for local governments but has not provided enough money to pay for the mandate (sound familiar?). The state has helped a little but not enough. The machines would be too expensive for townships to purchase, store, and maintain at all the current voting locations. C. In order to pay for the expensive machines, it would be helpful to combine voting locations. Some voting locations only have 80-100 voters for some elections, even less in other elections. The voting locations were designed for the days of horse and buggy. With today's cars and roads, it's relatively simple to drive 5 -10 more minutes to vote. Like Anne Morse, I have sent the County Auditor, Cherie MacLennan, a copy of this message. (Cheri, please correct me if I'm off in any of my summaries.) Dwayne Voegeli July 26, 2005 ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
