Tag Archives: early voting

national news, political news

No way in the world I’m voting early

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Some of my friends and family are boasting about having voted early for president of the United States.

Good for them.

It’s not for me.

You know my feelings about early voting. I hate doing it. I’ve done so before, but only because I was going to be “absent” on Election Day from my polling place.

This election has demonstrated in stark terms the risk one takes in voting early, especially if you’re a fan of that scoundrel aka the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump.

Had you lived in one of those state that already had allowed early voting, you might have cast your vote for Trump — and then learned about that hideous “Access Hollywood” recording of Trump boasting about how he treats women.

Then again, even that might have rolled off your snout — as have so many other things that Trump has said and done while campaigning for the presidency.

My wife and I will be available to vote on Nov. 8. I’ll wait as long as I can on that day.

 

local news, national news, political news

Amarillo voters reporting, uh, fraud … seriously?

thmyadek02

Well, wouldn’t you know it’s happening in this election cycle — amid allegations from Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump about “rigged” elections.

An Amarillo radio station reports that at least two Amarillo voters are reporting incidents of “vote changing.”

As Popeye would say, “What a coinck-i-dinck.”

http://kissfm969.com/early-voters-from-amarillo-are-saying-their-votes-were-changed-on-the-ballot/

The issue reportedly occurred when voters hit the “straight Republican” option on their electronic ballots. They reported that their votes were recorded for the Clinton-Kaine presidential ticket. They supposedly asked election officials to correct the ballot, but that they couldn’t.

You’ll note on the link that there’s no reaction from Potter or Randall County election officials. Did it happen or didn’t it?

The radio station went with the story told it by the voters.

Hmmm. Imagine that this complaint would occur this year — for the first time since the introduction of the electronic balloting.

Whoever posted the item for the radio station’s link noted that it’s always wise to check your ballot if you vote for either party’s straight ticket.

Me? I hate straight-ticket voting. I prefer to make that call race by race, candidate by candidate, issue by issue.

But that’s just me.

Do I believe the stories being told in this first day of early voting?

No, not until I hear from the election officials in both counties who heretofore have operated first-cabin voting systems.

national news, political news

Early voting bites ’em in the rear

thmyadek02

This is going to so very Trumpian, so please forgive me.

I called it, man! I’ve been saying for years that early voting carries tremendous risk, that the candidate who gets one’s vote before Election Day could mess up royally and make the voter regret the ballot he or she has just cast.

Donald Trump, anyone?

Several states have begun allowing residents to vote early for president. Many thousands of Americans have done so. Many of those who have cast their ballots early did so for Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

Texans will commence early voting on Oct. 24.

Perhaps those who’ve voted early walked away from the polling booth feeling pretty darn good about the vote they cast.

D’oh! And then something happened! The Washington Post uncovered an 11-year-old video and audio recording of Trump saying some ghastly things about women.

You know what has happened in the 48 hours since then. The Republican Party is in full crisis mode. GOP members of Congress have pulled their endorsement of Trump back; many of them have called on him to quit the race; House Speaker Paul Ryan disinvited Trump to a political rally in Wisconsin; and in the Mother of All Political Insults, Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, cancelled an appearance with Trump.

Has there been a clearer demonstration than this — at the presidential election level — of what can happen to someone’s vote?

I posted this blog item four years ago.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2012/10/down-with-early-voting/

I am disgusted by what we’ve learned about the Republican presidential nominee.

However, the revelations that have come out about the candidate’s behavior fill me with a sense of validation.

Early voting? No thanks. When your candidate messes up, you can’t take it back.

local news, political news

Still prefer to stand in long line to vote

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We went to the polling place tonight.

We arrived at the place where we usually vote. The parking lot at Arden Road Baptist Church was full. We walked through the door and turned left down the hall, walking past a long, long line of Randall County residents.

We made another turn down another hall and took our place at the end of the line.

It took five minutes past an hour before we cast our ballots.

Man, it was fun!

I remain committed to voting on Election Day. I remain equally committed to the manner we do it in Texas. We have this open primary system. We all stand in the same line. We inch our way to the room with the voting booths. We declare which party we want to vote in. We cast our ballots. Then we leave.

We don’t register with political parties. We make our choice on Election Day — or least we declare our choice when we reach the end of the line.

There’s a certain pageantry to standing in long lines with other citizens seeking to exercise their rights as Americans. We chatted among ourselves, careful of course not to talk about partisan preferences. We joked with election judges who came out to remind us of the need to have our photo ID and voter registration cards handy.

Some states — such as my home state of Oregon — do all their voting by mail. That’s fine, too, I guess. It boosts turnout, which is the best outcome of that process.

However, I remain an old-fashioned kind of guy. There just remains a certain semblance of ceremony attached to going to the polling place, waiting in line, chatting up your neighbors and then doing your civic duty.

I love the process.

 

business news, local news, political news

Down to the wire with the MPEV

amarillo MPEV

This conversation occurred today between yours truly and someone I know who’s in the commercial real estate business.

I wasn’t taking notes. I did not tell the individual I would post this commentary on High Plains Blogger. So, with that I’ll protect his identity.

As has been the case with many folks I know who are involved at some level with the municipal election that’s coming up Tuesday, the question comes to me regarding the $32 million multipurpose event venue proposed for downtown Amarillo: How do you think the election is going to go?

I told my friend the same thing I’ve told others who’ve asked me the same question: I have no idea.

Then our conversation went something like this:

Me: I am not very good at predicting these things. I tend to speak more from the heart than from the head. My heart wants the MPEV to be endorsed. My head, well … it’s telling me something else might happen tomorrow.

Friend: Me, too. What do you think of the turnout for early voting?

Me: Again, I don’t know. My gut tells me that the big early vote turnout means those who otherwise might sit the election out have been motivated to vote. Who’s doing the motivating? My sense is that it’s the pro-MPEV side that’s getting the message out. They seem to have the momentum.

Aw, heck, I don’t even know what I’m talking about.

Friend: (Laughter). Yeah, you do. But you know what? I’ve learned over many years that no matter what the voters in Amarillo decide, we’re going to be all right. It’ll turn out the right way for us. We find a way to get through whatever issue of the moment is driving the discussion.

I’m not suggesting my head is predicting a defeat for the MPEV. My noggin instead is telling me to corral the heart talk, rein it in just a bit.

I’ll go with that … while still hoping that my heart has been telling me the truth all along.

 

local news, political news

Early vote totals: impressive

EARLY+VOTING_MGN

Let’s try this number on for size …

13,627.

That’s the number of Amarillo voters who cast ballots in advance of Tuesday’s election. We’re going to decide whether we want to build a $32 million multipurpose event venue that includes a ballpark in downtown Amarillo; we’re also going to vote on seven proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.

The early-vote number isn’t a record-breaker. It’s impressive nevertheless.

By my estimation, that number represents roughly 10 to 11 percent of all registered voters in the city. It’s not great in and of itself.

However, compared to the hideous turnout of many recent previous municipal elections, I believe that early-vote number represents a positive trend.

I’ll be frank. The constitutional amendments aren’t drawing voters out. It takes a citywide issue such as the MPEV to bring ’em to the polls.

I haven’t voted early. I’m waiting until Tuesday. I’ll probably go to my Randall County polling place first thing. I’ll be there by 7 a.m.

You know how I’ll vote on this deal. Oh, just in case you don’t know … I’m voting “for” the MPEV as a statement that the city is ready to keep marching forward.

I’m heartened that the early turnout has been so relatively brisk.

What does it mean for the final result? We’re going to find out early Tuesday evening when those early ballot results are released.

Here’s hoping for the best.

 

business news, local news

Early vote is over; now let’s await the MPEV verdict

ballpark

Early voting is not my thing.

I prefer to vote on Election Day. But I’m delighted at what I’ve read and heard so far about the early vote turnout for next Tuesday’s big municipal election, the one that decides the fate of the ballpark that’s included in the proposed multipurpose event venue planned for downtown Amarillo.

It’ll be interesting once all the ballots are counted to learn (a) whether the ballpark fails or passes and (b) whether the total number of ballots actually produces anything resembling a “mandate” one way or the other.

Years ago, Texas made it so very easy for voters to cast their ballots early. The idea then was to boost turnout in this state, which traditionally has been quite pitiful. From my catbird seat over many years, I’ve determined that the turnout really hasn’t increased; early voting, though, simply has meant that more voters cast their ballots early rather than waiting for Election Day.

The MPEV vote might change all of that next Tuesday. That’s my hope, at least.

***

At issue is that $32 million MPEV, which includes the ballpark.

I’ve been all-in on this project since the beginning. It’s a good deal for the city on more levels than I can remember at the moment. It’s an economic development tool; it would provide entertainment opportunities; it would spur further growth downtown; it would help — along with the downtown convention hotel that’s also planned — remake the appearance and personality of the downtown district.

The campaigns mounted by both sides of this issue have been vigorous. They have told the truth — most of the time.

There’s been a bit of demagoguery from the anti-MPEV side concerning the role the one-time master developer, Wallace-Bajjali, has played in all of this. The developer vanished into thin air this past year over a dispute between the principals who owned the outfit. They parted company and one of them, David Wallace, has filed bankruptcy.

This MPEV idea, though, was conceived long before Wallace-Bajjali entered the picture, but there’s been plenty of loose talk about nefarious motives relating to the company and its association with the downtown revival effort.

I get that David Wallace proved to be “all hat and no cattle” as he sought to sell his company’s track record when he and his partner arrived on the scene. The planning and execution of this project has involved a lot of other home-grown individuals and groups who are invested deeply in this community.

***

I want the MPEV to earn the voters’ endorsement. If it doesn’t, well, we’ll have to come up with another plan … quickly!

As the campaign comes to a close, though, I remain hopeful that a significant number of Amarillo voters are going to weigh in with their ballots. Do I expect a smashing, presidential-year election-scale kind of turnout? Hardly.

My hope is that all of this discussion — and even the occasional temper tantrums from both sides of the divide — will give us something that resembles a mandate.

And that, friends, is how a democracy is supposed to work.

local news, political news

Vote numbers are piling up … good!

EARLY+VOTING_MGN

I’ve blathered, bloviated and brow-beaten folks for years about the value of participating in this form of government of ours.

You know how it goes. If you don’t vote, then you can’t gripe. You can’t take ownership of the decisions that your elected representatives make on your behalf. You cede all of that responsibility to the guy next door … or to the idiot down the street or across town who disagrees with everything you hold dear about public policy.

The early vote on the upcoming Amarillo referendum on the multipurpose event venue continues to roll up some encouraging numbers, no matter how one feels about the $32 million MPEV that’s been proposed for the city’s downtown district.

According to the Amarillo Globe-News, which is doing a pretty good job of tracking the early-vote totals, 6,655 voters had cast ballots as of Friday. The raw number all by itself doesn’t say much … at least not yet.

After all, the city has about 100,000 individuals who are registered to vote. So, as of this week, we’ve seen fewer than 10 percent of the registered voters actually casting ballots.

Early voting continues through this coming Friday.

Then on Nov. 3, the polls open across the city and the rest of us — that would include me — get to vote.

I have no way of knowing what the final early vote total will be.

But based on comparative figures with other key municipal elections, this campaign has generated considerable interest on both sides of the political divide.

The early-vote totals so far are about 2,000 greater than those who voted early in the May municipal election that seated three new members to the Amarillo City Council; the MPEV early-vote number is about 1,000 fewer than the totals to date for the November 2014 general election; this year’s early voting is more than 3,000 votes greater than the early-vote totals year over year for the November 2013 constitutional amendment election.

This is all a very good thing for the future of participatory democracy.

Yes, I wish we could get every registered voter to actually cast a ballot. Better yet, I wish we could get every person who is eligible to vote to actually register and then go out and vote. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!

I’ll keep wishing for such an event, even though I know I’ll likely never see it.

Until then, I plan to keep hoping that Amarillo can turn the tide against the dismal participation we’ve exhibited when it concerns matters at City Hall.

local news

Heavy early interest in MPEV vote bodes well

early voting

I’m going to set aside my bias in favor of downtown Amarillo’s proposed multipurpose event venue for a moment … or maybe two.

Instead, I want to offer high praise for the apparently strong interest in the upcoming election.

The MPEV is on the citywide ballot Nov. 3. It’s a non-binding referendum that will ask voters if they want to proceed with an MPEV that includes a ballpark component.

You know my feelings on it. I’m all in on the proposed $32 million project. I have favored it from the beginning.

But the point here is that the early portion of the early vote seems to suggest a greater-than-normal interest in this issue.

On one hand, that’s not saying much, given the pitiful, abysmal and disgraceful turnout percentages that usually greet municipal elections in Amarillo.

We elected a City Council this past May with a turnout that barely cracked double-digits. And yet the winners all declared some kind of mandate for change. I don’t buy the mandate part.

Yes, I honor and respect the results, as they reflected a majority of those who turned out. The reality, though, is that it was a majority of a tiny minority of those who not only were registered to vote, but who were eligible to vote. When you factor in the voter eligibility number, the percentage of turnout plummets even further.

The early turnout for the MPEV vote appears to be bucking the norm in Amarillo, where folks traditionally have let others decide these issues.

This morning I happened to ask Paul Matney, the retired Amarillo College president who’s now co-chairing the Vote FOR Amarillo effort to win an MPEV endorsement at the polls about the early surge in turnout.

He offered a couple of ideas. One is that it might be a backlash against some of the negativity that’s been occurring at City Hall. He wonders whether voters might be saying they’ve had enough of the back-biting that has accompanied the three newest council members’ involvement in public policy discussions. Voter might not be necessarily in favor of the MPEV, but they want to send a message to City Hall that they’re sick and tired of the negative commentary, Matney wondered.

He also wonders whether there’s an actual positive turnout in favor of the MPEV … or if there’s the reverse taking place, that voters are expressing genuine anger.

He shrugged today and said, “I just don’t know” what’s driving the turnout.

Whatever the case, both sides of the divide have said the same thing: Be sure to vote. Make your voice heard. Speak out with your ballot.

That’s wise advice, no matter how you feel about the MPEV.

 

 

local news

Early vote numbers for MPEV election … way up!

early voting

The early indications from both sides of the line dividing Randall and Potter counties in Amarillo are encouraging … I hope.

Early voting for the Nov. 3 election is way up over what it was for the municipal elections this past May. I’m quite sure the Texas constitutional amendment proposals aren’t pulling voters to the polls in the early balloting.

What’s more, the 3,063 voters who cast ballots during the first two days is just a shade less than the 3,151 who voted in the first two days of early voting in the 2014 general election — when we were voting for governor.

The multipurpose event venue is pulling voters to the polls.

Is that a good thing? Well, I hope it is.

And by “good,” I hope that means that those who support the MPEV as it’s been presented are turning out. Do I know who’s turning out? Of course not.

Me? I ain’t voting until Nov. 3, which is Election Day. I hate early voting. I prefer to wait until the last minute.

Back to issue at hand.

The early vote totals should bode well for the pro-MPEV side. I count myself among them. Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking. Then again, when I say “should,” I am not necessarily predicting that’s what happening, but instead hoping for what I want to happen.

I’ve been trying to parse through all the arguments for and against the MPEV. I’ve heard the skeptics, the naysayers, the conspiracy theorists. I have sought to examine the issue inside, outside, forward and back.

I keep coming back to this conclusion:

We’re hoping to build a $32 million venue that includes a ballpark in downtown Amarillo; the money will be paid back with hotel/motel tax revenue generated by out-of-town visitors; a hotel developing is plunking down $45 million of investors’ money to build a four-diamond hotel; we’re hoping to build a parking garage with revenue bonds that also will be repaid with hotel/motel tax money.

Property taxes will not increase.

This is a classic public-private partnership that’s seen success throughout the nation. Amarillo’s civic and political leadership has not reinvented the wheel with this project. It’s merely done something new … for Amarillo!

I see virtually no downside to this project. I’ve been on board since the beginning and I have grown weary of the cynics who just know it isn’t going to work.

How do they know it? They just do.

I am going to put my faith in the hard work that’s been done to date.

Furthermore, I am going to continue to hope that the pro-MPEV political action groups have done their spade work and have mounted a massive get-out-the-vote effort that well might be showing itself in these impressive early-vote totals.

As Paul Matney, co-chair of Vote FOR Amarillo, said the other day, the early vote will set the trend. When the city spits out those first early-vote numbers on Election Day after the polls close, we’ll know where the MPEV is headed.

I’m hoping for the best.