THE VOTERA Publication of The League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham
Published November 2004
President's Message
Ah! It’s over! Because Alabama is a very red state, we weren’t bombarded with as much campaign garbage as the “Swing States.” So we simply have to deal with all the media soul-searching.
This year the League worked harder than I’ve ever seen here registering voters and helping out at the Board of Registrars. Several thoughts after that experience:
How gratifying it was to help elderly voters find their way to the correct polling place. Many people were confused because polling places are adjusted after redistricting. That happened after the 2000 election. Change is not easy for older citizens and I hope we helped by calmly explaining how it all worked.
I was amazed how a number of younger people seemed unfazed when told they were not registered, the deadline had passed and they couldn’t vote. No big deal to them. There’s work to be done there.
There’s work to be done on the whole voting process. HAVA seems to be creating as many problems as it solves. After Anne Marie Adams spoke at our October meeting, many of us had many questions about the absentee voting situation.
League members worked the phones in the JeffCo Board of Registrars, with about 15 phone lines, computers and a large room. I’m told that Shelby County (the fastest growing county in Alabama) had four phones in a very small room.
Perhaps the Birmingham League might want to do a study on voting systems in Jefferson and Shelby counties, relative to HAVA, Alabama statute and available resources. If adopted at our Annual Business Meeting in May, the study and possible consensus might be completed in a year. That would leave time for advocacy at the state and local levels and plenty of citizen education before the Midterm Elections. Food for thought.
Because we will probably not publish in December, I would like to wish all of you a peaceful holiday season.
Sarah McDonald
Click here
to print
or
click the browser "print" button
call 205 968-9186 or visit on-line at www.bham.net/lwvgb.