To the editor:
County officials, voters need your help.
After hearing about horrendous waiting lines on past Election Days, my wife and I have voted early for several years. But that may change.
We went to vote on the first day available at Mt. Pleasant Christian Church. It was raining and the line was long. We went home as did some others. We returned later that day and were told by one poll worker that the line was at least two hours long. We again left, returning the third time the following day, and still waited in line for an hour.
With all the technology available, voters should not have to wait very long to vote. It’s time for some changes.
A friend and his wife went to vote; one in a wheelchair. Parking, rainy conditions, a wheelchair and getting into the building were their first challenges. They were told that the waiting time was 3 1/2 hours; that some of the voting machines were not operating and had to be reprogrammed. They left, went to the Trafalgar library, went in and voted. So all voting centers are not created equal. Voting machines should be operational when delivered to the voting site. Someone goofed.
Maybe each voting site needs an up-to-date message board at the entrance indicating the approximate waiting time, not only at that site but at other sites in the county. Give voters a chance to go elsewhere rather than leaving without voting.
With three visits to the voting site, we saw several people leave; mostly elderly and/or disabled. Are the voting sites discriminating against the older/disabled population by making it more difficult to vote than it is for the younger voter? Sure appears so. I’m older and I know I would have great difficulty standing or even waiting in line for three hours or more.
Could the officials be manipulating the voting process by making it more difficult to vote at some sites? Sure appears so.
If I were a candidate and the voters I know go to our closest voting site but have to wait several hours to vote, then some will go home without voting. But my opponent and the voters that know her/him live closer to another voting site that has a much shorter waiting line, then a greater percentage of those citizens are likely to vote than those in my neighborhood. Manipulation — on purpose or accidental? But still the appearance of manipulation.
At times, poll workers had more voters signed in than other workers could get voters to the machines. And when one worker took a break, that left machines empty because another worker could not get voters to all the machines quickly. Maybe all poll workers could be trained to handle various positions so that workers could be shifted to areas of greater need.
County officials will probably use finances as one excuse for long waiting lines. Not enough money to buy new and more machines and pay more poll workers.
But there appears to be enough money to spend on campaign ads — hundreds, thousands and millions of dollars on ads and not enough money for voters to vote in a more timely manner. The political parties and candidates are the winners and the voters are big losers, wasting so much time and effort to vote.
Maybe it is time for the candidates and political parties to contribute to a better voting process. Maybe a candidate’s fee or a percentage of their financial campaign fund could be collected to fund more equipment and more workers. Maybe a voter referendum allowing more funds available to the voting process?
To county officials and the election board — voters in Johnson County deserve equal, better and improved voting methods. Improve the voting process before the next election. We appreciate early voting and voting sites but there is plenty of room for improvement. Don’t pass the buck. Take some action soon.
Dick Huber
Greenwood
