It’s a bird, it’s a plane . . .

My latest column presents the ongoing adventures of . . . Bill Gale! Election Commissioner!
Gale has tried to single-handedly push through a sweeping election reform, without consulting or involving many of the local stakeholders, but he’s learning that it takes a village to run an election.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

6 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 12:07 am | Permalink

    I’m surprised they didn’t hire an outside consultant like $400,000 to try to find a way to comply with HAVA.

    *being sarcastic*

  2. Mrage
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 1:16 am | Permalink

    Did they fix the problem from last Mayor’s election? Bob Knight’s wife jumped in on a Friday, made Eagle and TV news appereance she didn’t pay for, got free advertising on the weekend, voted on that next Tuesday. Didn’t she get second over Bill Warren who spent money and campaigned in his weird way.

    People known shouldn’t be able to jump into political races that way. The recall election in California showed many candidates have to be registered by a certain date, so everyone is on the ballot properly. No extra costs adding people on ballots at the last minute.

    Anybody can run independently for office but all have to be signed up by the same date.

    The Bill Gale super savor of elections was funny in a bad way. Less voting places helps who politically? It doesn’t help voters.

  3. kelly
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 6:20 am | Permalink

    What is up with Bill Gale. He tells us repeatedly that his motives are purely to implement HAVA, yet he axes many ADA compliant school polling places, and then admits on Dale Goter’s show two Fridays ago that there are many ADA accessibility issues with the 62 remaining polling sites? Something doesn’t smell right about all this. This is what happens when the decision-making process is hidden from public view and input, and when the Secretary of State fails after 12 years in office to more carefully regulate the conduct of elections.

  4. J M Walker
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 6:42 am | Permalink

    Bill Gale: your election ballet stops here!

  5. BlueSkies
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 11:35 am | Permalink

    The simple question is this–does cutting polling places benefit incumbents or challengers?

    Does forcing people to drive across town when they used to cross the street benefit incumbents or challengers?

    Does changing the location of their old voting place to a new one which is confusing for a lot of people benefit the incumbents or the challengers?

    Answer for those who can’t see the nose on their face–it benefits the incumbents.

    Since the president’s approval rating is barely above 30 percent, there can be little doubt why a Republican election official would want to supress the turnout as much as possible.

  6. Tony
    Posted July 22, 2006 at 1:00 pm | Permalink

    I dont think a cut down in polling places is going to significantly effect voting turn out… People who are passionate about voting are going to vote no matter where they have to go.

    I do think though it should be free to ride the city bus on election day to allow anyone who wants to go vote but doesnt have the means to do so…

    I along with everyone in my office will vote early in any upcoming election just so i dont have to wait in line at my home prescient to vote.

    I do think that we should be able to vote in any voting place anywhere in the city. We slide our drivers license into a card reader on the voting machine and we get the ballet from our “home”. that way we can vote at lunch, or at break or at our kids school when picking them up after class.