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Show BEAUTIFUL TIMES - NOVEMBER 15, 1995 - 7 LETTERS TO THE TIMES CV TIMES FOLKS: instructions even though we were asked many questions by people who were write-in candidates. When the ballots time for visiting & catching up on arch other’s news, especially in the confused about the writein prooeedure. write—in candidates. Next election, the write-in candidate lines need to be season of Porcupine Rim’s Big Shade. These days I am liklier to meet my CV Friends in City Mark-up, so I really the Town clerk. I was new and learning the proceedures, Eleanor had only done Seems like we used to have more appreciate the CV Times. I know a lot of time, attention & hard work go into producing it each month, not to mention research on local issues like geology. zoning, roads, Atlas’s shennanigans, etc.... It allows me to feel connected to my neighbors even if I don’t see them as frequently as I’d like. Thanks! Alice Drogin The choice ofjudges was made by it a few times before. Our 2 experienced judges are Wilma Welch and Jack Campbell. Wilma broke her foot and could not do it and Jack was a great help in getting us through the maze of instructions. The decision of what to tell each voter was made by all three of us who worked 14 1/2 hours to provide a service to our Town. Maria Loe HELLO: DEAR EDITOR, I have heard some rumors about our recent election which are untrue, and as an election judge wish to lay them to rest—— Rumor #1: “Jack Campbell, in his role as an election judge, explained to a voter where he could write in Dave Wagstaff ’s name." Not being a lawyer, I don’t know if such a statement is libel, slander or defamation of character, but I do know it is not true. I sat next This month my wife, Paula, and I took the first step towards a life long dream by purchasing five acres in Castle valley. We are looking forward to the day when we can re-adopt the life style of south—eastem Utah and leave the madness of California far, far behind. With this in mind could you please begin our subscription to the Castle Valley Times. We plan to do our part to maintain the quality of life that we all truly love in this part of the country. from Jack..no such statement was made. Rumor #2: ”There were many election improprieties." In my mind as an election judge it was the 4 pages of instructions given to us that were you soon. “improper,” as there were NO parties did not send a poll watcher at 7am. when the polls open seemed not a “proper” concern about election procwdures. We did the best we could to assist voters with instruction. Had the zealous citizen brought it to our attention that we should not give instructions on the 2 blank spaces, we could have called the County office, gotten our new instructions then and there. Instead of being civic minded and helpful this voter called the County lodged a complaint. When we were contacted, we ceased giving any clearly labeled on the ballot. In an early attempt to determine the fairness of the voter instructions,I asked both Jeff Whitney and Merrill Brady (who were among the first couple of people to vote) if they thought the instructions were OK. Neither gave any objections. It was also suprising to find the number of people who had trouble just seeing the ballots. “I wish I had brought my reading glasses,” was heard probably half adozen times during the day. The ballot instructions about how many candidates to vote for in each category were in very fine print above the candidate check off boxes. The day after the election, a suprising number of people said they didn’t know there were tw_o 4yr seats to vote for. The confusion in this election indicates that it would be appropriate to do some kind of non-partisan mailing just before the next election letting registered voters know such simple things as the number of seats open, how to make a write—in vote, etc. to Jack from 6:30 am until 9 pm, Eleanor Heddcn sat next to me, 4 ft. instructions on how to handle a writein candidate. The ballots were also “improper” as the two blanks provided for write-in candidates were not labeled, even though the ballots in the Moab election were. That the concerned were printed, there were no announced Looking forward to hearing from (particularly if the election judges can’t help in this manner). Again, it was apparent throughout Regards, Dale Hogg the day that voters knew how they wanted to vote, i.e. whom they wanted to vote for, but did not always know ELECTION APOLOGIES Apologies to those CV voters who how to use the ballots to vote their preferences. It would be sad if election judges were not allowed to help in this received terse, minimal answers to their questions at the polls. The election judges were instructed to give the least possible information about the mechanics of voting. With two separate ballots and elections, and with write—in candidates, there was obvious confusion. (Note the number of votes for both Merrill (5) and Dave (4) for the 2yr position --they were running for the 4yr seats!) Election officials upstate told us it was the responsibility of the voters to understand the process, and the election judges were only to answer very specific questions such as “how do I make a write-in vote?” (In this case the judges could point out the blank lines provided.) It was particulariy difficult because the ballot used did not specifically identify the lines to be used for the way. (This is entirely different from trying to influence a voter’s preferen -— if anyone felt that Q! attempt was made to influence whom Ell. wanted to vote for, you have grounds for a serious complaint-call the Town Clerk, Lois Oliver, 259-9108.) Or: the lighter side: In a small town, where people know each other on a first name basis, several people told amusing stories after the election about the mental gymnastics they went through to remember the last name of the candidate they wanted to write in. Jack Campbell |
