County clerk expects big turnout; advance voting begins today
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
If advance voter registration is any indication, advance voting this year should be a blockbuster.
“It’s leaps and bounds. It’s just unbelievable,” said Karen Hartenbower, Lyon County Clerk. “This is going to be the biggest election in my career, in 16 years.”
A total of 19,208 voters were registered in Lyon County as of Oct. 9, the last count available.
Advance voting began this morning and will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, including lunch hours, until noon on Monday, Nov. 3.
Hartenbower said that her office has received at least 10 to 15 requests for ballots each day.
“Like in the mail today, we got 31 requests for ballots,” she said, attributing part of the number to no mail delivery on Columbus Day.
The Secretary of State’s office has contacted county clerk’s to alert them to the massive number of voters they expect to turn out on Nov. 4.
“People aren’t used to waiting in line, and so they suggest that we get the information out that from 7 in the morning until 9, and 5 until 7 in the evening are the busiest times at the polling place,” Hartenbower said.
“We would encourage them to come in here and advance vote. They can also apply for a ballot. those are some options so they don’t have to wait in line” on election day.
She cautioned voters to make sure they have updated their addresses to save time at the polls.
“Because if they haven’t done that, it’ll be a provisional ballot and it’ll take more time,” she explained.
All of the polling places will have touch screens, which will have both English and Spanish language available.
“The paper ballots will not have that because we haven’t paid to do separate ballots on that yet,” she said. “I think when the next census comes, we’ll have to.”
Hartenbower said that when a certain percentage of the population is Spanish, translations into Spanish must be provided by law.
In the past, Hartenbower has brought in former Spanish teacher Tom Fowler to translate for people who needed help with the touch screens.
She predicted that Lyon County will turn out more than 80 percent of its voters for the presidential election. The last time the county hit the 80 percent mark was in 1992, also during a presidential election and at a time when interest in local issues also ran high. Hartenbower was elected county clerk in 1992.
“The highest that we’ve got recorded for a long time is 84 percent in 1988,” she said. “The national races, of course, have got everybody stirred up and we’ve got some local races that are going to bring out the voters also.”
The League of Women Voters will continue working in cooperation with the clerk’s office and will do an advance voting drive from Oct. 20 through 29.
The League will take advance voting materials to seven long-term care facilities and senior citizen housing — Emporia Rehabilitation Center, Broadview Towers, Horizon Plaza, Flint Hills Care Center, Presbyterian Manor, Holiday Resort and Sterling House.
Hartenbower served on a committee that brought about voting on-site in those centers, where residents often are not able to get out to vote.
“It’s not in effect until 2010, but I wanted to do it early,” she said.
Comments
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Posted by dale011 (anonymous) on October 15, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As ACORN says "vote early, vote often".
Posted by Bjnemp (anonymous) on October 15, 2008 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Close, dale011. ACORN actually says "vote early, vote often, vote Obama". I can't believe that with all the blatant voter fraud ACORN is involved in, they are still in business and being allowed to steal this election right under our noses.
Posted by create (anonymous) on October 15, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Be fair. ACORN is being investigated in several states. Just this morning Ohio answered complaints from the Republican party and is making election officials check all new registrants against current records for addresses, etc.
Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on October 15, 2008 at 7:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope that any possible voter fraud issues can be cleared up by November. Al Gore tried to get the courts to throw out military mail in ballots in 2000 as fraudulent. I was a Florida resident on active duty then and remember it well.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on October 15, 2008 at 11:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ACORN was also involved in voter fraud in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Don't hold your breath that they'll be out of business anytime soon. Sure, they've had some employees convicted of voter fraud, but the media seems to sweep in under the carpet every 2 years. What I can't believe is how they maintain their tax-exempt status as a bi-partisan organization.
USNretired, isn't is funny how those that still whine about Florida always fail to bring that point up? (Oh, pardon me, I forgot, only Republicans whine). I still wish Palin had asked Biden to agree to that during their debate, that they wouldn't try to throw any military votes out, since they both had sons on active duty.....
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on October 16, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"The American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund today released the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the facts surrounding allegations of vote fraud, intimidation and suppression made during the 2004 presidential election."
The ACVR Legislative Fund report, "Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election," finds that while Democrats routinely accuse Republicans of voter intimidation and suppression, neither party has a clean record on the issue. The report finds that paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression activities than were their Republican counterparts during the 2004 presidential election.
Or you can read about what actually went on in Ohio behind the scenes at
http://www.yuricareport.com/Strategies_P...
Report: More Democrat than Republican Operatives Involved in Voter Fraud
CNS News
By: Melanie Hunter
08/02/05
A report by a voting rights group regarding allegations of voter fraud, intimidation and suppression during the 2004 presidential election has found that "paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression activities than were their Republican counterparts during the 2004 presidential election."
The report by the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund found that thousands "were disenfranchised by illegal votes cast and a coordinated effort by members of certain 'nonpartisan' organizations to rig the election system through voter registration fraud in more than a dozen states."
For example, the report noted, paid Democrat operatives were charged with slashing tires on Republican get-out-the-vote vans in Milwaukee, and an Ohio court order stopped Democrat operatives from calling voters and telling them the incorrect date for election and polling place information.
The report also found that a law enforcement task force found "clear evidence of fraud in the Nov. 2 election in Milwaukee" that included hundreds of felons, voters that voted twice, and even thousands more ballots that were cast than actual voters recorded as having voted in the city.
The task force also found multiple indictments and convictions of ACORN workers for voter registration fraud in several states......
"Until political parties and candidates are willing to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards election fraud, the American public will have little confidence in other reforms," Brian Lunde, ACVR Legislative Fund board member, said in a statement. "There is no room for politics when it comes to the right to vote."
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