Thursday, March 30, 2006
Oops...I forgot
What if you went to vote for yourself, and found out that you couldn't get a ballot with your name on it? The Oak Park Pioneer Press reports on just such a situation...effecting Greens no less! Hit the link for the full story, or peak behind the curtain and see more behind the "Read more!" link...
Green Party ballots spotty, new machines hit bumps
BY CHERI BENTRUP
STAFF WRITER
Tim Curtin was the only Green Party candidate on the primary ballot in Oak Park last week, but still he faced an uphill battle to win the township committeeman race.
Curtin, like many Oak Parkers, were unable to receive a Green Party ballot to vote in the primary election, March 21.
"They didn't have any," he said of the ballots when he went to his polling place at St. Giles Church early on election day. "It's fascinating to me there. The county's been called and I've been getting a dance all day," he said that afternoon.
Scott Burnham, spokesman at the Cook County Clerk's Office, acknowleged that Green Party ballots weren't available at every precinct.
"I think they were only eligible to appear in a certain number of precincts," Burnham said. "In order for a third party candidate to appear on the ballot, the party has to reach a certain threshold of votes in the previous election. It's my understanding they were not eligible to appear on the ballot in every precinct."
8th District only
Green Party candidate Julie Samuels ran unsuccessfully in 2004 against Calvin Giles for state representative of the 8th District. Burnham said Samuels did reach the threshold, receiving at least 5 percent of the total vote in that race, so Green Party ballots were available to voters in the 8th District.
"It's not like people don't know we're here," Curtin said of the Green Party.
The Green Party also ran committeeman candidates in Berwyn and Proviso townships. Curtin said those townships didn't have ballots for the Green Party either. He called for the county to impound the vote and have another primary election.
"It seems the only proper thing to do," Curtin said. "People have been denied the right to vote. . . . I don't think there's any other way to treat the candidates fairly.
This wasn't the first time this election season Curtin has run into problems. The county misspelled his name as "Tim Curtain" on initial early-voting ballots. After contacting the county, new ballots were distributed for early voters.
Missing Green Party ballots weren't the only problem voters encountered in Oak Park. Others cited delays related to the two new voting machines rolled out in suburban Cook County for the first time last week.
Confusion
"It was absolute incompetency," said Les Golden, who votes at Field Center.
Golden said he went to vote at 3 p.m., when the polls aren't generally busy. But on March 21, he said, there was a line of waiting voters.
"People literally were walking away," Golden said. "They didn't want to wait. There was mass confusion."
Golden said voters and election judges alike appeared confused by the new optical-scan paper ballots and the touch-screen voting.
"We sent out a mailing to every suburban household that detailed the changes. There was extensive media coverage," Burnham said. "We had some problems on election day. Most of them were isolated and scattered in terms of the equipment. Some machines weren't working. We need to look at that and determine if that was a malfunction or election judges didn't set them up right.
"The voters told us they did like the paper ballots and the touch screen when compared to the punch cards," Burnham added.
Golden said County Clerk David Orr, who oversees elections in suburban Cook, should resign.
"A man of integrity would resign. Let's see what David Orr does," Golden said.
Cheri Bentrup can be reached at cbentrup@pioneerlocal.com.
Green Party ballots spotty, new machines hit bumps
BY CHERI BENTRUP
STAFF WRITER
Tim Curtin was the only Green Party candidate on the primary ballot in Oak Park last week, but still he faced an uphill battle to win the township committeeman race.
Curtin, like many Oak Parkers, were unable to receive a Green Party ballot to vote in the primary election, March 21.
"They didn't have any," he said of the ballots when he went to his polling place at St. Giles Church early on election day. "It's fascinating to me there. The county's been called and I've been getting a dance all day," he said that afternoon.
Scott Burnham, spokesman at the Cook County Clerk's Office, acknowleged that Green Party ballots weren't available at every precinct.
"I think they were only eligible to appear in a certain number of precincts," Burnham said. "In order for a third party candidate to appear on the ballot, the party has to reach a certain threshold of votes in the previous election. It's my understanding they were not eligible to appear on the ballot in every precinct."
8th District only
Green Party candidate Julie Samuels ran unsuccessfully in 2004 against Calvin Giles for state representative of the 8th District. Burnham said Samuels did reach the threshold, receiving at least 5 percent of the total vote in that race, so Green Party ballots were available to voters in the 8th District.
"It's not like people don't know we're here," Curtin said of the Green Party.
The Green Party also ran committeeman candidates in Berwyn and Proviso townships. Curtin said those townships didn't have ballots for the Green Party either. He called for the county to impound the vote and have another primary election.
"It seems the only proper thing to do," Curtin said. "People have been denied the right to vote. . . . I don't think there's any other way to treat the candidates fairly.
This wasn't the first time this election season Curtin has run into problems. The county misspelled his name as "Tim Curtain" on initial early-voting ballots. After contacting the county, new ballots were distributed for early voters.
Missing Green Party ballots weren't the only problem voters encountered in Oak Park. Others cited delays related to the two new voting machines rolled out in suburban Cook County for the first time last week.
Confusion
"It was absolute incompetency," said Les Golden, who votes at Field Center.
Golden said he went to vote at 3 p.m., when the polls aren't generally busy. But on March 21, he said, there was a line of waiting voters.
"People literally were walking away," Golden said. "They didn't want to wait. There was mass confusion."
Golden said voters and election judges alike appeared confused by the new optical-scan paper ballots and the touch-screen voting.
"We sent out a mailing to every suburban household that detailed the changes. There was extensive media coverage," Burnham said. "We had some problems on election day. Most of them were isolated and scattered in terms of the equipment. Some machines weren't working. We need to look at that and determine if that was a malfunction or election judges didn't set them up right.
"The voters told us they did like the paper ballots and the touch screen when compared to the punch cards," Burnham added.
Golden said County Clerk David Orr, who oversees elections in suburban Cook, should resign.
"A man of integrity would resign. Let's see what David Orr does," Golden said.
Cheri Bentrup can be reached at cbentrup@pioneerlocal.com.
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 11:36 AM 
