Category: Political

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Voting

Voting in Missouri

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Missouri does not have early voting, so we’re expecting a busy day at the polls tomorrow. Make sure you’re all set with what you need to vote in Missouri, which is one of the identifications listed in this page. The Missouri Secretary of State’s office also provides a handy poll place and sample ballot lookup. The sample ballot is especially important to making sure you’re prepared to vote before you head to the polls.

You probably already know who you’re going to vote for when it comes to President and Governor and so on, but you may not be sure of how to vote when it comes to that long list of judges that always seem to fill up these ballots. The Missouri Bar Association puts out a list of judges by region and how well the judge did with surveys given to both lawyers and jurors. Based on the surveys the MoBar then gives a retain or not recommendation. For St. Louis County, most of the judges were highly rated. One was given a do not retain ranking, and a couple of others were given a more qualified retain recommendation. I ended up retaining all but three judges on my sample ballot.

Most of the ballot issues are not as straight forward as they seem, and it pays to put some time into reviewing what’s up for a vote. I’ve found that the national Ballotopedia to be a helpful place to start, though just searching on each measure or amendment brings up opposition and support arguments. As an example of a Ballotopedia page is one for Proposition A, which has to do with removing loss limits. The issue has been tied to school funding, but when you scratch the surface, you find that the issue is really being paid for by the existing casinos who want to encourage more people to lose money, while preventing other casinos from being built. At the same time, proponents point to the implication with Proposition A that schools will get more money. It’s an important ballot item, like all of the other ballot items, and you need to spend time with each.

For what it’s worth, my own voting recommendations are:

  • Vote No on Constitutional Amendment 1, about English being the ‘official language’ in government meetings. English is already the official language in Missouri. It’s a silly bill put out by those wanting to cater to the paranoid and the xenophobic.
  • Vote Yes on Constitutional Amendment 4, regarding how financing of storm water control projects are funded. This is a difficult to read bill, and I resorted to Google searches to find opinions on the bill. Eventually, the fact that this bill had such broad bipartisan support in the state senate won me over, though I still think about just letting this one slide on the ballot with a non-vote.
  • Vote No on Proposition A, to remove casino loss limits. Too often corporate interests tie political initiatives to school funding as a way of getting a controversial bill passed. Removing loss limits is only going to add to a growing gambling problem afflicting this state, as well as encourage people to lose too much in the heat of the moment. In addition, the Proposition also prohibits any new casinos, which I believe should be controlled by community planning boards, not the Casino Queen, the main sponsor of this bill. Both Republican and Democratic candidates for governor are against this bill, which demonstrates broad bipartisan opposition to the bill, because I don’t believe the two agree on anything else.
  • Vote No on Proposition B, on creating a new home care council. The concept is good, but the wording in the proposal is vague. What exactly are the powers attributed to this council? What will they do that isn’t handled by other agencies? I like the idea of a watch dog for in-home care professionals, but a badly done proposition isn’t going to help anyone.
  • Vote Yes on Proposition C, which would mandate that energy providers use clean energy sources, up to 15% over time. The organizations in favor of the bill are many, with Ameren being about the sole opposition to the bill. Ameren would prefer “market forces” dictate the use of clean energy. I would assume these are the same market forces that have kept our banks healthy. No, we can’t depend on business to do the right thing.
  • Within St. Louis county, my main interest is on Proposition M, which would provide Metro funding. Gas prices may be cheap now, but they’re not going to last. A forward thinking community is one that plans for, and supports, mass transit, including light rail. Some people are unhappy at the cost overruns the Shrewsbury line cost the tax payers, but punishing a facility that is good for the community for the past actions of people no longer associated with the facility, is penny wise, and pound foolish.
  • As regards to the other St. Louis County initiatives: I’m voting Yes on Proposition C , 1, I, and H. In fact, I’m voting Yes across the board for St. Louis county initiatives. Most of the issues are related to taxes, and include support for our wonderful parks, children services, and necessary capital improvements.
Categories
Voting

The voting threat

The greatest threat this country currently faces, are stories like the one found today in the New York Times. The headline reads, Voting Experts Say High Turnout May Add to Problems at the Polls, and it joins many others spreading doom and gloom about what to expect at the polls tomorrow.

I remember voting in elections where officials voiced how discouraged they were at how few people turned out. Now, we’re actually having an election, a real one, where most of the people who can vote, are voting. Except today, we’re inundated with stories about how long the lines will be; how badly the polls will be managed; how impossible the process.

If you’re a McCain supporter, you might think what’s the use? Your candidate is going to lose. If you’re an Obama supporter, you might think what’s the use? Obama is going to win. Yet, this election can be won, or lost, not by the people who show up at the polls, but by those who stay home.

Aside from this critical national election for President, you’ll be voting for other people and other offices, as well as important initiatives. In my state, several of the state and Congressional seats are under hot contention, and there are a couple of propositions that I support and that are at risk for failing. The same is most likely true for you.

If you’ve already voted early, thank you. If you haven’t though, and you’re tempted to just “skip” the election tomorrow because of all the election stories, think on this: you’ve probably stood in line longer for tickets to a favorite concert, to get into a hot sports game, or to buy that “it” gift for Christmas. You were definitely in line longer if you were one of the first to buy an iPhone. Bring that iPhone, loaded with games, a book, magazine, or newspaper—they do still print paper ones—that long report or story you’ve been wanting to find the time to read, and do the right thing. Think of tomorrow as a chance to get away from the computer and the hectic pace of your life, and to have a time to contemplate the meaning of the universe, ways to combat global warming…or that hot new guy you just met.

I’m not going to link the Hollywood videos about vote, don’t vote, because we really don’t need actors to tell us what we already know: the candidate you want may lose based on one vote; just think if that vote was yours?

Forget the polls and their percentages, forget the stories. Do the right thing tomorrow. Vote.

Categories
Voting

Tragedy and voting

Another big story in our area this weekend was the cold blooded shooting of a popular police officer, Michael King, in University City. A senseless killing, because he was in his marked car and the man who shot him just walked up and shot him, for no known reason. Incredibly sad, and difficult for the community because the officer was white, the alleged shooter is black, and this has led to some strongly racist comments associated with the story.

U City is only a couple of miles from where I live. As has happened with other official funerals there will be a police procession after the services, escorting the coffin to the cemetery. When these processions happen, the street where I live is closed off, which is fair and right. However, and I’m not sure anyone was thinking of this when they planned the funeral for tomorrow, that street is also the only way to get our local community’s polling place, the Cure of Ars Church.

This is one of the more popular polling places, especially in the middle of the day because of the number of retired people in the area. To close the street, and access to this polling place right in the middle of what is expected to be a record voter turn out…Well, this is not going to be a good thing.

I called the county election officials and they’re aware of the conflict. They’re not sure what to do, just yet. I believe though that by law, access to the polling place has to be kept open. I have a huge sympathy for the Officer’s family, but I have to wonder at the funeral home not being aware that this was going to cause a conflict, and recommend the funeral be held on Wednesday.

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Political

The plot

Incredibly discouraging and disturbing, but unfortunately not surprising considering the state of the country: ATF has foiled a skinhead plot to assassinate Obama and 102 others in the black community.

Categories
Political

In support of ACORN

The current Republican hand waving is now focused on ACORN, the organization’s perennial punching bag whenever a state or national election could be close. You see, it’s not in the Republicans interest to have everyone who is qualified to vote, to actually vote. If it were up to the Republicans, they would filter out anyone who isn’t conservative, middle class or above, and especially white.

ACORN is an organization focused on getting people to vote, ensuring that people equal access to housing and education, supportive of unions, and decent working conditions. Really, how awful—what do these people think this country is?

ACORN and Missouri have a long history together because my state is always held up as the poster child for voter registration fraud. Governor Blunt, a man so despised after his one and only term as governor that he didn’t even run again, says it’s all the fault of ACORN and that the organization is committing deliberate fraud in order to register Democratic voters.

What he doesn’t say is that ACORN is typically the first to actually flag suspicious voters. That the organization has turned in to the authorities voter registrars it believes are deliberately creating fraudulent registrations. That it cannot, by law, not turn in any registration it receives. So even if you register as Mickey Mouse, all that the ACORN registrar can do is flag the registration for the election committee, who then has to determine if the registration is fake or not.

You read that correctly: ACORN, any voter registration organization, cannot discard any voter registration card. By law. This is so that organizations can’t “pretend” to register folks, and then discard the registrations in an attempt to rig the vote.

We had a group of six ACORN registration workers convicted of fraud in St. Louis because they used the phone book to create duplicate registrations in order to get paid by ACORN without doing any actual work. There was no universal attempt to “rig” an election. There has never been any attempt to fraudulently rig an election–it’s all about money. It would be nice if ACORN didn’t have to pay people, but another purpose behind the organization is to provide jobs whenever possible. Among those who take these jobs, you’re always going to have the bad apples.

Plus, it’s not easy getting volunteers nowadays. We can’t even fill all poll worker positions in the state, and they’re paid, too.

How big is this problem? ACORN registered 53,000 people in the state of Missouri. How many registrations forms are being questioned? According to what the ACORN staff here in this state were told: 135 questionable cards, 89 considered duplicate. Wow, we can really take over the state and the country with this huge effort to commit fraud.

The purpose of the ACORN effort, all voter registration efforts, though, is noble, and I won’t hear anything against it. To me, I can’t think of any higher purpose than to ensure that everyone qualified to vote is registered to vote, and then encouraged to vote. The biggest problem we’ve been having with our elections in the last couple of decades is fewer people actually voting. It’s a sad state when your elected representatives are elected by a minority of people.

I am tired that an organization whose sole purpose is to help people like you and me, become the Republican fall guy every election, because the Republicans can’t focus on the issues. Why not focus on the issues? Because the Republican platform basically sucks. It asks people to give up their right to health care, to being treated decently in their job, to access to good home loans regardless of country of origin or race; that we don’t start three more wars before the two we have going are at least finished; the party that doesn’t want people to remember that the current Republican president entered office with a budget surplus and a healthy economy, and has dug a financial hole so deep, we may never get out. In other words the Republican party deplores any organization, or candidate, who works to ensure this country is the “great” country we claim it to be. To put into deed that which the Republicans can only put into words. Angry, divisive words, too—full of fear and hate of “others”.

Governor Matt Blunt is desperately trying to “earn” his way into the McCain White House, and is using ACORN as his key. That’s what is happening in my state, in a nut shell. And if you think Sarah Palin would be the worst disaster in the White House, you haven’t met Matt Blunt.

Does Senator Obama have a history with voter registration? With working to ensure that all people have equal access to the polls? Yes, but then so did James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. And if those names don’t ring a bell, I suggest you look them up in Google while you think on what’s really at stake, and what the Republicans are really trying to do with this election.

Update:

Rogers Cadenhead:

Powers’ entry generated more than 100 comments on the Drudge Retort, where I was surprised to hear from people who think that more people voting is a bad idea. “Why weren’t the founders of our country concerned with ‘everyone’s right’ to vote in a presidential election?” one asked.

The founding fathers didn’t think women should vote, treated blacks as property, and were divided on whether Americans should be required to own property to vote. In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter asserting that women were “too wise to wrinkle their foreheads with politics.”

Mad props to those white male 18th century landowners for the American Revolution, First Amendment, powdered wigs and Samuel Adams Pale Ale, but the idea we should defer to their views on voting is obscene.