Sioux Falls & Brandon Public Schools seem to be confused about the term ‘Public’

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”He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.” – Ben Franklin

Voting is the cornerstone of a free democracy, so where should this exercise take place? Well, probably in a public place, but Brandon & SF School District officials are saying “Not so Fast”;

Sioux Falls Schools officials have told county election managers that Hawthorne won’t be available for voting this election, citing security concerns.

Bob Bray, risk assessment manager for the Sioux Falls School District, said the building’s layout and scheduling make it hard to keep voters and students separate.

First off Mr. Bray, kids can be shot anywhere, parks, churches, walking down the street, and an election being held in your school is NOT going to increase that risk, and I almost question if you are using school shootings as an excuse.

Secondly, schools are publicly funded, and I almost question the legality of the districts denying access for an election, and would challenge Auditor Litz to dig up the laws on it.

Thirdly, the irony of all this couldn’t be more hypocritical. In a state where we scream and hollar about gun rights and being able to carry guns anywhere, we turn our backs on the very people who carry these guns and say, “Not in our facilities.” Well we can’t have it both ways. Until we change our culture about guns in South Dakota, there will still be shootings, whether they are accidental, intentional, or in a church or school setting, elections have little to do with when they occur.

Let’s end the paranoia, and stop the musical precincts;

Minnehaha County Commissioner Dick Kelly said he’s concerned the move will contribute to voter confusion during an important election.

“I think it is unfortunate you have to vote here one day, vote here another then vote here the next,” Kelly said

Litz agreed the search for polling places is a joint effort, requiring cooperation between the district and the county.

Never thought Bob and Dick would be the words of wisdom on this one, but they are right. Consistency helps with voter turnout.

Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz getting a lot of ‘assistance’

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personl

AGENDA

Okay, I know that Bob recently had to undergo some very painful surgery, and there are people in his office that are retiring and need replaced, but with a county that already has budget difficulties, doesn’t it seem odd that we are paying Bob $87K a year (to do his job) a new employee $76K a year to help Bob do his job, and a 10% differential to an existing employee to help train the person that will be helping Bob do his job.

Next time the County Commission gets into a debate over replacing a $300 lawnmower, maybe they need to take a look at the auditor’s office employee compensation.

Commissioner Barth’s questions to Auditor Litz

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These are the questions Jeff planned to ask Auditor Litz in the last County Commission meeting until the discussion got diverted;

Please consider giving specific and complete answers to these questions during the “election review” agenda item on November 18. My hope is that we can proceed in a calm, deliberative manner.

In the run up to the General Election two incorrect absentee ballots were discovered mailed to a relative and a friend of a Legislator. Rather than creating a potential political dustup I took those ballots to you quietly, asked you to fix them and to audit your ballot inventory to assure me that correct ballots were going to the correct voter.

When I asked you about incorrect absentee ballots during the Canvass on November 7 you responded that there “were only two of them” and that you “took care of them”. When pressed you ignored the issue.

Then on November 12 you told KELO TV that there were twenty incorrect absentee ballots.

1) Were there two or twenty incorrect absentee ballots?
2) Did you know election night that these wrong absentee ballots were coming in?
3) Is twenty the exact number or a general approximation?
4) If the issue was voters putting the ballot in a wrong ballot box how could that happen with absentee ballots?
5) The counting machines have a printer attachment that notes when it reads an error on a ballot. What do the machines say?

In the 2014 City Election wrong ballots were mailed out on absentee requests. When candidate Rebecca Dunn brought two of the erroneous ballots to your attention you threatened legal action against her. You then blamed the Secretary of State for corrupting your data base.

1) How many incorrect absentee ballots were counted in the City Election?
2) In a related matter, how many wrong ballots were handed out at the “Voting Centers”?

In the June “General Election Primary” wrong ballots were again mailed out. You accepted responsibility for printing wrong ballots and again pointed at data base issues. Going forward from there you tasked your staff with correcting the database before the November election.

1) How many incorrect absentee ballots were cast in the Primary?
2) Were you able to recall all the “printing error” ballots that were sent out?

These absentee ballot issues are 100% human error. Elections are a sacred responsibility given to our county. We must do better.

Thanks, Jeff Barth

 

There was some other confusion. Precinct 3-12 cast votes in Legislative District 9 and 11. It is not listed as a precinct in District 11 but if you go to the SDSOS website the results show Tom Cool won that precinct 6-5. Another reason folks are confused.

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Argus Leader ED Board asks for Auditor Bob Litz to resign

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While some of Litz’s and Gant’s missteps Tuesday Night (Wednesday morning) are solely their fault, there were other factors involved. Mostly the machines were not working properly, as promised by ESS&S. They are just too hyper sensitive, and the absentee votes should be counted last, not first. Also state law needs to change so that counties can count them in advance.

I also think the musical precincts are affecting the high number of absentee voters. I haven’t voted on election day at my precinct in years, I always absentee because I got sick of the stupid guessing game.

I will hopefully have an updated post about this later today from someone who assisted with the vote tabulation.