VOTER SUPRESSION?

I’m recommending the city council reverses their decision on using super precincts like they have in the past two elections. They do not work or for that matter encourage voting.

 The cornerstone of a democracy and representational government is elections and voting. Though we have little say in who runs for office, or whether they are even qualified, we still have a say if we want to elect them.

 The city needs to do more to get people to vote. Just do the math, in the last election Vernon Brown, the at large city councilor was chosen by only 8% of registered voters in Sioux Falls. If you crunch the numbers further it comes to about .04% of the total population of Sioux Falls residents. I’m not blaming Mr. Brown for those stats, but you will have to admit, it is a pretty pathetic example of a democratic process. What is even more disheartening is that none of the councilors have said anything publicly about changing the system. Sure they have said things like ‘I’m disappointed’ But words do not change anything and they have the power to change it, ironically by voting. It reads likes a chapter on voter suppression straight out of Karl Rove’s playbook. Voter suppression has been used throughout history to slowly crumble democracies. Do we really want to go down that slippery slope in Sioux Falls?

How can we fix something that wasn’t broken to begin with?

• First we need to ditch the super precincts and return to the regular precincts, well in advance of the June election.

• We need to educate voters on voter registration and precinct location, not only in our water bills but through a city wide/multi-media marketing campaign.

• We also need to encourage absentee voting (something I took advantage of this last time, because the super precinct maps were confusing).

I know this will cost us more then just the $12,000 we saved by using the super precincts. But can we really pinch pennies and put a price tag on the democratic process especially when this same council voted for $500,000 windows on building that didn’t need them, $250,000 amentities to the new library, and the construction of a $3 million dollar street to Falls Park that went $1.5 million over budget? How about cutting some of that fat to help support the democratic process?

I would be embarrassed to tell an Iraqi who has to dodge bombs and bullets to vote, what our voter turnout was. Sure, some people are apathetic and would prefer to watch reality TV then vote (trust me, I wouldn’t want them voting anyway) but apathy in no way explains a 14% voter turnout.

I suggest changes be made ASAP.