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Show TheSaltLakeTribune OPINION WM READER ADVOCATE, AA-2 M PUBLIC FORUM, AA-2 ep0T0y SUNDAY, NOVEMBER25,2001 M ROLLY REPORT, AA-3 OUR VIEW TheSalt Lake Trib: une’s Editorial Position Provisional Voting In the aftermath of the 2000 election fiasco in Florida, county, state andfederal governments are taking a hard look at waysto improve the mechanics of voting. Utah is one of the few states that does not currently allow provisional voting.It is time to change that. Say,for example, a voter shows up at her neighborhood polling place to casta ballot on Election Day, but her nameis not on theroll. She swears she registered to vote weeks ago. The election judge tries to call the busy county clerk's office to find outif the voter is indeed registered, but can’t get through. Ultimately, the voter is turned away, angry and frustrated, withoutcastinga ballot. A bill being drafted for the 2002 Legislature would help to solve this problem.It would allow voters in this situation to cast a provisional ballot. In the daysfollowingtheelection, the county clerk’s office then would be able to check whether the voter indeed was properly registered. If the answeris yes, the provisional ballot would be counted as part ofthe official canvass andincluded in thefinal election results, In any information management system that involves hundreds of thousandsof names and addresses, a certain numberof clerical errors are bound to ocettr. For example,a voter's registration form might not be forwarded to the county clerk in time to place the nameontherolls. Provisional balloting would allow thatcitizen to vote, and it would give a county clerk'soffice a few extra days after Election Day to track down an error. Mostimportant, it would preserve the right of a citizen to vote who, throughnofault of her own, did not appear on the voterroll. At the sametime, the chance for vote fraud would notbe increased because the county clerk would have time to follow the usual procedures for verifying voterregistration before a provisional ballot was counted. If it turns outthat the voter’s registration cannot be confirmed, the ballot would not be tallied, but the voter still would benefit from the process, since the information she submitted with the provisional ballot would register her for the next election. “WHITE...FLUFPY.,.COLD,.WAIT A SEC— ITS COMING BACK ® ME." Preserving the right to vote is im- portant. This bill would further that end. House Should Boost Security Funds End Incumbe nt Protection The goal of redrawinglegislative district boundaries every-10 years is to ensure equal representation for each voter. Unfortunately,legislators havea different goal: ensuring their own re-election. Tnanutshell, that conflict explains gerrymandering. And that, in turn, explains why an increasing number of states are taking redistricting power away from their state legisla- tures and entrusting it to independent commissions. Given the blatant gerrymandering by Utah’s Legislature this year, it is time for the Beehive State to turn redistricting overto such a commission. Utahns do nothaveto look far for examples, Their neighbors in Arizona and Idaho both have takenthis path. Two Utah legislators have sketched proposals for such a commission. Rep. Karen Morgan of Cot- tonwood Heights would turn the job over to a seven-member body. The two major political parties each would appoint three members and the Utah Supreme Court would appoint the seventh. ‘There are two problems with this proposal.First, it is a bad idea to drag the SupremeCourt into this most political and partisan of matters, even as an appointing body. Second, Morgan is a Democrat, so the Republican-dominated Legislature will not give her bill the slightest consideration. Theother proposal is by Rep. Ron | Bigelow, a West Valley City Republican.He hastalked abouta 15-member commission that would recommend boundary proposals for the Legisla- ture’s consideration. Given the Republicanleadership's hostility toany commission plan, it is understandable that Bigelow would empowerhis commission to make recommendationsonly. There’slittle pointin that however. If you're going to ask a groupof citizensto bite off this difficult job, you should give them the whole enchilada. They should decide the boundaries, period. Keep the Legislature outofit. A 15member commission also would be unwieldy. By comparison, the Idaho commission has six members, the Arizona commission has five. Both have rules that bar legislators andlobbyists from serving. Arizona prohibits not only lawmakers,_ other public officials, candidates and lobbyists, but it bars any former commissioner from holding such a post for three years after he or she leaves the commission. So far, Bigelow has not said whether similar rules would apply to his proposal, but they should. There are commissions in other states besides Idahoand Arizonathat Utah can study for examples for what has worked and what has not. In the meantime, Morgan and Bigelow at least deserve credit for getting the discussion started. Kids Are Expensive ‘The advocacy group Utah Children $17,600 to get by, the figure leaps to 900 with a preschool-age child. has released a useful report on how an infant and a school-age child much families must earn to meet Sadan their basic needs. While it will un- to the mix, and the required doubtedly spark a lively debate on “soars to $52,310. how heavily taxpayers should sane The report doesn’t just focus on dize those whoare struggling, th port clarifies one important sentt singles, however. Two Salt Lake County adults with an infant and a take a lot ofmoneyto raise children, and people dig themselves a deep hole preschooler need to earn $47,617 to whenthey have kids before they are meet their expenses, which explains how so many Utah kids (176,000 in financially prepared. 1998, according to the group) are in This isn’t a new concept. Sociolo- working-poorfamilies. gists long ago identified three simple steps young peoplecan take to avoid Utah Children plans to visit the poverty: (1) finish high school, (2) ture soon in hopes ofsecuring produce no child before marrying, more subsidies for poorfamilies, and and (8) produce no child before age 20. the group's report makes a strong The vast majority ofpeople who avoid case that a need exists. But subsidies these mistakes never have to worry alone won't solve this perpetual about winding up onthe dole. problem. The report should be reWhatis new in the Utah Children quired reading in Utah schools, and ae is a detailed breakdown of the teachers should hammer home the associated with various idea that the surest way to mess up treethouseholds. types While a single your life is to have children you can’t person in Salt Lake County needs afford. = The SaltLakeTribune UTANH’SINDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PAST PUBLISHERS PUBLISHER SRE John F. Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) "i Dominic Welch EDITOR James E, Shelledy _ WASHINGTON — Asa rule,procedural votes in the Houseof Representatives are about as important to the citizenry as yesterday’stide table. David BRODER as is actually needed.” The usually well-informed Rice . Was wrong. The administration’s budget request cut the Department of Energy part of the Nunn-Lugarprogramfrom But one scheduled to come upthis week could affect the lives of you and millions of other Americans. The quesfion is whether the Republican leadership of the Housewill allow a floor vote on an amendment $872 million to $774 million and the Department of Defense portion by. another $40 million, The “materials protection and accounting” program that safeguards and monitors Rus- that would increase spending on anti-terrorism programs by $6.5 billion. A-key part of the proposal would boost funding for joint U.S.-Russian efforts to keep Russian nuclear materials from fallinginto terrorist hands. modernize by next spring its com- puter system ‘for tracking suspects, insteadof waiting until 2004. It would give the Postal Service fundsfor de- sian nuclear materials was cut $35 million; the program to subsidizeresearchfacilities for jobless Russian nuclear scientists and keep them from working for terrorists, another ‘The amendmentwas rejected by a narrow 34-31 margin in the Appropriations Committee, with two Re- tection equipment to prevent anthrax-laden envelopes from going $10 million, * Norisit true, as Rice claimed, that through the mail. It would increase publicans joining all the Democrats coverage at 64 Canadian-U.S. border points that now are not manned 24 no more money could usefully be spent. Veteran professionalstaff people in Congress and the administra- on the losing side. Chairman Bill Young of Florida, wholed his fellow Republicans in scuttling it, madeit clear that he did notdisagree with its substance but felt constrained by President Bush’s threat’to veto any appropriation larger than the admin-istration had requested. Still to be decided is whether the Rules Committee, which takes its guidance from the Republican leadership,will allow a floor vote on the amendmentor, alternatively, if the _ House will insist onit. Here’s whyit matters to you.In the wakeof the Sept. 11 attacks, federal agencies asked the White House for $127 billion more to recoverfrom that assault and beef up security. The White House Office of Management and Budget cut that back by more than two-thirds. Mostof the extra $6.5 billion proposed by Wisconsin Rep. David Obey andthe other Democrats would be spenton security measures here at home. Amongother things, their amendment would enable the FBI to hours a day, andboost port security, where currently only 2 percentof entering cargo containers are searched. But “the major deficiency” that Obey says his amendmentwould rectify is the scant $18 million add-on the Bush-imposed ceiling allows for se- tion tell me the Russians have never been more receptive to American help in locking up or disposing of thesematerials. On Sept. 26, the Russians agreed to give U.S. inspectors. for atomic weapons. The amendment would add $316 million to the Nunn- access to nuclear sites never before opened. The window is open, but moneyis short. ‘Theprogram for disposing of plutonium — basic ingredient of nuclear weapons — is essentially bankrupt. Some in the Bush administra- Lugar program, which began 10 years. tion ago underthe bipartisan sponsorship ofthen-Sen. Sam NunnofGeorgia and powerreactors orstoring it in glassi- curing Russian nuclear materials from terrorists, who have made repeated efforts to acquire ingredients Sen. Richard Lugarof Indiana Those who watched NBC’s “Meet the Press” Nov.18 heard National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice say argue that current disposal methods — ‘burning it in nuclear fied form i not judge, But last week, 20 sel f wrote Bush “strongly urging” him to give “full and adequate funding” to that President Bush has been “very the plutonium disposal program. supportive of the Nunn-Lugar program.” She said, “The funding was Amongthesigners were 10 Republicans, including the party’s senior defense and budget spokesmen, Sens. not cut. . . . All the way back in the campaign,the president talked about perhaps even increasing funding for programs of this kind.” Rice said Bushhasasked for as “much money John Warnerand Pete Domeniici. Thi stupidplace to try to save he House deserves a chance to reversethe error. Bush Embodies America’s Goodness Famously gay (and funny) Ellen DeGeneres posed this rhetorical question regarding herrole as emcee for the Fmmy Awards: Whatcould be more annoying to the Taliban than a gay woman dressed in a suit surrounded by Jews? Possible answer: U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin cuttin’ wheelies in Dubya’s white Ford F250 pickup truck? There they were, George and Vlad in the front seat, Laura and Lyudmila in the back, riding around the Bushes’ 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford, ‘Texas — population 700-ish, “Howdy ya'll” on a banner in the center of town.All they needed was a cooler of Buschin the console, pimento cheese sandwiches in a hamper and beach tunes onthe radio. To those of us who grew up under the jowly shadow of Nikita Khrushchev and the imminentthreat of nuclear holocaust, the sight of Viadimir Putin wearing that pie-eating grin, riding shotgun next to the world’s most powerful cowboy, was an Ozinspired moment. You had the feeling that Putin had never had so much fun, His expression seemed to say: “Do I really get to dothis? Here I am, a guy whose name John W. Gallivan (1960-1983) |eFTORIAL PAGE EDITOR Jerry O’Brien (1983-1994) Randy C.Frisch alana ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 143S, MAIN ST. SALT LAKE CITY , #4111 The ranch meeting, as knows, was to help Bush and Put Patin has been Viadimir Putin all his life, KATHLEEN PARKER Oh,andnot to be a pest, but do you suppose | might have aspin in that F250?" George and Vlad have pooled so muchgood will during their mobile summits, they can't seem to dump RIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES continue bonding so that they could rid the world of someof those nasty nuclear missiles. Just a coupla guys sitting aroundthefire, stoking coals, talkin’trash, admiring theirlittle fillies as they rustle up some grub. Hooeee, it don’t git no better'nis, We're havin’ so much fun, why, we're droppin’entire syllables and hatin’ grammar outloud. Whenthe twosauntered up to the microphone for a news conference, they looked like Will § nith and Jeff Goldblum in Indepen: »nce Day after they'd aced the alier invaders, The good guys hadjust kicked some Taliban Tail and now Bush and Putin were turning in their own sixshooters for good measure. I kept waiting for George to pull out a couple of ee and handone to Vlad. I also half-expected to see Tony Blair in a cloud of Texas dust,oe ing up on a polo pony. “Hey-ho, George, Viad, hold up just a sec, will you chaps?I'm a bit winded just now, but really hate to miss a good time, their nuclear stockpilesfast enough. GB: OK, mitgive upa third of mineif you'll give up a third of yours. VP:I'll see your third, George, and raise you anotherthird. Such interesting times. If Stephen King were rewriting The Stand, where Good andEvil comeface to face in a final confrontation, he could do little better than to embody their spirits in the persons of George Bush and Osamabin Laden. Bin Laden, the dark, brooding, bearded serpent-man, lives beneath the earth and plots mass murder, While Bush the happy-go-lucky, golly-gee guy in a baseball cap — shows Putin and the world a good time in a bright-white pickup truck. Watching CNNfrom his bat cave, bin Laden must havefelt like one of the Addams Family children whose punishment when bad was being forced to watch Disney movies. Someone — I can't remember who — said upon visiting the United States that America’s greatness was ‘owing to her goodness, and that once America ceased to be good, she would cease to be great. Say what you will ae yprsidoeton! suffused America once again wi Evil doesn’t stand a deneee |
