St. Louis Jewish Light: Disparity in polling place waits could have been prevented, critics say

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.stljewishlight.com/topstories/372858040397348.php

LOCAL | ELECTION DAY PROBLEMS
Disparity in polling place waits could have been prevented, critics say

ELECTION DAY PROBLEMS

BY VICTORIA SIEGEL, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

Even as the Democrats revel in the election results, accusations of discrimination and inequality were leveled at many polling places in the region. On Election Day in St. Louis County, while most of the predominantly white precincts had minimal waits to vote, it was a different story in North County in the predominantly black precincts.

In St. Ann, for instance, the wait was four hours long and voters were not being told by judges they could complete paper ballots in order to speed up the lines. At Keeven Elementary School in North County, voters were waiting four to five hours; at Jury School down the street on Old Halls Ferry the wait was six hours. And in Velda City, the story most covered by local media outlets, the wait was up to seven hours.

In predominantly white precincts, however, the wait to vote was significantly less.

"I couldn't answer for sure why it was quicker to vote in white precincts," said Richard Bauer, Republican, assistant director of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners. "I will say that we found anti-electronic voting predominantly on the North Side. I went by the library on Natural Bridge Road and there were signs out there that said 'Don't vote on the touch screens.'" There were orange and white signs at the Natural Bridge site, and the other voting stations mentioned in this article, telling people to ask for a paper ballot in order to have a paper trail of their vote. Likewise, voters standing in line at Jury and Keeven expressed distrust as to whether the electronic, or touch screen, machines will accurately record their selections.

Burton Boxerman, Democratic committeeman in Creve Coeur Township, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said he knew about the push to ask for a paper ballot. "I know is there is an organization that put up an orange and white sign at each polling place saying take a paper ballot."

While various organizations were urging voters to ask for a paper ballot Judge Joseph Goeke, III, Republican, director of the Board of Elections, said he had told voters not to do so. Boxerman said, "But just because Goeke told people to vote using the electronic machines doesn't mean they will." Even Boxerman tried voting with a paper ballot when he went to do in-person absentee voting. "I was told there was no paper ballot available for in-person absentee voting."

Apparently, members of the Board of Elections knew there was a movement to encourage voters to use the paper ballot yet there weren't enough machines at certain precincts to handle the large number of paper ballots. "I used to work at the board and I know they were preparing long in advance for this election," Boxerman, a member of Shaare Zedek, said. "They've been at this long enough to anticipate having enough machines."

FULL story at link.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. People are still being denied their right to vote!!!

[Sherman A1]

3. I don't think so

based upon my experience in St. Louis.

[Sherman A1]

2. A lot depended upon the time of day you went

If you went early chances are that you waited for a goodly period of time. My co-workers in the South Part of The City of St. Louis that went when the polls opened did wait a considerable time. A co-worker who went after getting off work at 2pm went in voted right away and went home. I had a similar experience in North St. Louis County which is racially mixed and or predominately black. I arrived at the polls at 2:15pm, checked in to sign the book, got my ballot, voted and was done in about 10 minutes with the bulk of that time taken up voting against all the judges up for retention. The process was smooth and easy from my point of view. I think the Jewish Light is perhaps looking for a problem than a solution. Even the Interstate gets crowded at rush hour, perhaps this is a similar situation?