Cast a vote for centers

Opinion

Discussion

February 19, 2013

Cast a vote for centers

Anonymous The Kokomo Tribune Tue Feb 19, 2013, 12:02 AM EST

— THE ISSUE: Adoption of the vote center concept by Howard County.

OUR VIEW: We urge the county election board to approve vote centers for the 2014 primary. They’re less expensive to operate than traditional polling precincts and more people-friendly to the average voter.

There’ll be no primary election this coming May. Howard County Clerk Kim Wilson likely is relieved.

For the past several years, she’s ensured voting machines were ready to take ballots by cannibalizing some broken models to keep the others operational.

Howard County just can’t find parts for its aging machines.

State certification for the county’s voting machines expires this year. They all must be replaced.

Wilson and other county officials have been studying the possibility of adopting the vote center concept, which was expanded two years ago by the state Legislature. We’re confident county leaders have discovered vote centers to be less expensive to operate than traditional polling precincts and more people-friendly for the average voter.

The county election board will hold a public meeting on vote centers in room 338 of the administration center, 220 N. Main St., at 2 p.m. Wednesday. After the public session, board members are expected to vote to implement vote centers in Howard County.

We urge them to vote unanimously in favor of the concept.

Vote centers give residents a chance to cast ballots at the time and place they find most convenient. Using electronic poll books, each voter’s unique ballot – whether from Honey Creek or Jackson townships – can be produced at any vote center. The poll books update immediately, ensuring a voter casts only one ballot.

Cass County residents have cast ballots at vote centers since 2008, and voter turnout in the countywide 2010 general election suggests they encourage higher participation. Voter turnout in Cass was 51 percent that year; it was 43.9 percent in Howard County.

Vote centers also are cheaper to operate. In Cass, the county clerk consolidated 40 precincts to seven vote centers in 2008, reducing the number of voting machines and poll workers required to conduct the election.

Every Indiana county would realize a savings by using vote centers, the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute says. Three years ago, the non-partisan organization estimated Howard County could save $35,000 a year.

Switching from polling precincts to vote centers requires a unanimous vote of the county election board, and that’s the way it should be. This is a bipartisan process, and neither political party should be able to make such a change without the support of the other.

But we’re confident that after chatting with folks in Cass, Tippecanoe and Wayne counties, Howard County officials will adopt the concept before the 2014 primary election.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Opinion

Move over, Ind. drivers
Keep highway and utility workers safe; remember to pull over for utility vehicles.

May 19, 2013
May 18, 2013: Cheers & Jeers
Commissioner earns respect of inmates

Kyle Stacy sends this Cheer for Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman:

May 18, 2013
House of Burgess: The revolution will be printed
Another major milestone in the history of 3D printing was reached earlier this month when Cody Wilson, director of the nonprofit Defense Distributed, announced he had conducted the first-ever successful test firing of a completely 3D-printed gun in (where else?) Texas. Wilson then uploaded the plans online. These files were then downloaded over 100,000 times over the next 48 hours. That was, until the State Department intervened.

May 15, 2013 1 Photo
Hayden: From good to great in education
On the campaign trail last year and early into his administration, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said repeatedly that his goal as governor would be to take Indiana from “good to great.”

May 14, 2013
Mom’s simple advice still presents a valuable challenge
Most moms don’t base their advice on scientific research. Instead, their words of wisdom come from a greater source — the heart, where they store and process life experiences. Unfortunately, some folks don’t receive the gift of maternal guidance, for various reasons.

May 14, 2013
Wolfsie: Making bird calls
One afternoon in 2011, my friend Eric spent a couple of hours over lunch explaining Twitter to me and I thought I understood it all, but as you’ll see from my first few tweets, I wasn’t very confident: “Is anyone getting this?”

May 13, 2013
Letter to the Editor: May 13, 2013
Good people wouldn’t do this to their neighbors. This common refrain is being heard over eastern Howard County where industrial development is planned for our farmland in the form of massive wind turbines.

May 13, 2013
Vasicek: Mother’s Day stresses
For two hours, the lady sitting next to another airplane passenger boasted about her grandchildren, producing a barrage of photographs. She finally realized that she had been talking the whole time, so she tried to make amends:
“Oh, I am sorry! I have monopolized the conversation. I will listen to you now. So please tell me: what do you think of my grandchildren?”

May 12, 2013
Letters to the Editor: May 12, 2013
How fortunate, that after years of trying to bring top-notch wind energy companies to Tipton County, this great choice is here for us — just at the right time. Tipton County badly needs the revenue from clean wind farm companies.

May 12, 2013
Cheers & Jeers: May 12, 2013
“A big cheer goes out to Kokomo for those who parked along the route to cheer on the bikes and to the riders who participated in the 11th Annual Ride For The Troops on Sunday, April 28. Despite the rain, we had a excellent turnout of 457 bikes!"

May 11, 2013
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

Discussion

Cast a vote for centers

Site Map

Contact Us