This column is a conservative viewpoint of various government activities and issues of our times which are impacting our liberties, freedoms, rights, and personal incomes. I hope that at times reading this column will stimulate interest and action.
“The state has issued one of those infamous unfunded mandates. This mandate relates to an ill conceived and wasteful, bureaucratic approach to assure compliance with the Disabled Americans Act relating to voting.”
The State legislature in response to the HAVA Act (Helping Americans Vote Act) of 2002 has issued instructions to all state Supervisors of Elections that every Florida county must by the 2012 elections voting machines which enable every person with disabilities to vote on a voter interface device which meets voter accessibility requirements as defined in this Act., This has been interpreted by the bureaucracy to mean that at every polling location, a special voting machine which is designed to accommodate a variety of disabilities is required. These machines cost $7200 each.
Since Jackson County has historically utilized twenty- five polling locations in order to make voting as convenient as possible for our citizens, compliance with this new order would create an extra expenditure of $180,000 of our local tax dollars to purchase 25 of these machines, most of which would never be used. In conversation with Sylvia Stephens, Jackson County Supervisor of Elections, I learned that in our last election, only four handicapped voters were registered for the primary vote, and seven for the final general election.
Additionally, Mrs. Stephens states that due to the new process of enabling “early voting” and increased use of “absentee voting”, only 48% of those who voted actually came to the polling locations. In future elections, early voting is expected to increase since early voting sites are planned for Sneads and Graceville, as well as the existing one in Marianna. This new trend further reduces the need for installing these special machines for the handicapped at EVERY polling location, as some liberal, free spending Tallahassee bureaucrat has demanded.
In order to hold the cost of compliance with this edict to a minimum, our County Commission is evaluating various options developed by Mrs. Stephens which would reduce the number of county polling sites to eleven. Now, this reduction may be a good idea in light of the reduced voting activity actually occurring at polling sites, it still would involve unnecessarily spending approximately $60,000 on these special machines for our seven disabled voters.
It would be less costly for us to hire a limousine and a uniformed driver to go to the home of each of these disabled voters and take them to the polls in style. Another less costly approach would be to have Mrs. Stephens personally take the ballots to their homes and give them personalized attention on voting.
Seriously, there are other approaches which are much less costly and wasteful, that could be used and still provide the level of accommodation due these few unfortunate disabled voters. I would recommend the following approaches be considered by our Commissioners:
● Purchase three of these special machines, one for each early voting location. Then make arrangements with J-Tran to on a schedule desired by the disabled voter, go to their individual residence in one of their specially equipped vans, pick up the voter and transport them to the nearest of the three polling sites, and then return them to their residence.
● OR, …Have a certified poll worker take the ballot to their residence on a schedule determined by the disabled voter, and allow them to vote in the presence of the certified poll worker, in the convenience of their own home.
● OR,…Purchase a fourth of these $7200 special voting machines and design a method of placing the unit in a mobile utility trailer. On a schedule determined by the disabled voter, have the machine delivered to the voter’s residence and allow the voter to vote in his driveway, in the trailer, on the machine.
This costly edict creates an opportunity for us all to make a stand against foolish, unnecessary waste generated by State and Federal bureaucracies. To buy all of these machines for seven voters is a flagrant waste of funding at a time it should not be tolerated. The Division of Elections under the Secretary of State in Tallahassee has rendered this interpretation to the statutes. I do not believe causing this unnecessary, wasteful expenditure was the intent of the legislatures which created these laws. It is an example of CYA overkill created by inept bureaucrats.
I urge voters to use this as an example of unnecessary waste and to encourage our legislators to clarify the wording of the statutes so that adequate accommodation of the needs of disabled citizens is provided without creating unnecessary expenses in over-compliance. We should meet the needs of the seven disabled voters in Jackson County by purchasing three of these machines which will be placed at the three early voting polling sites, and the county will coordinate with these voters to provide transportation for them in a properly equipped vehicle.
If every county in the State, and perhaps in the country blindly complies with this bureaucratic interpretation of the statutes regarding voting for the disabled, millions of tax payer dollars will be thrown away unnecessarily. I say it is time for us to stop this kind of foolish behavior, and we can thus begin to “Get it Right”!
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● The group that organized the “Tea Party” on Tax Day in Marianna is going to hold another rally on the evening of May 14 at the Ag Center. You are encouraged to come and participate.
● Our Government, in its rush to spend money has gone “eco-crazy”. For every green job created, two other jobs are lost as a result of the extra expenditures and restrictions caused by the environmental regulations.
● The Administration is about to levy a HUGE new tax on electric utilities in the form of requiring government permits for emissions created by their plants. Of course these extra costs will eventually be passed on to every business and household in the nation, creating in effect a giant new tax. It is being done in the pretense of worry about the environment, when it is actually a funding measure for the out of control spending which is now underway.
● I commend the
Marianna City Commission on the manner in which they have approached evaluating the issue of providing electrical service to the citizens of the City.
● “When the citizens fear their government, it is tyranny, When government fears its citizens, it is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessrily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
“The state has issued one of those infamous unfunded mandates. This mandate relates to an ill conceived and wasteful, bureaucratic approach to assure compliance with the Disabled Americans Act relating to voting.”
The State legislature in response to the HAVA Act (Helping Americans Vote Act) of 2002 has issued instructions to all state Supervisors of Elections that every Florida county must by the 2012 elections voting machines which enable every person with disabilities to vote on a voter interface device which meets voter accessibility requirements as defined in this Act., This has been interpreted by the bureaucracy to mean that at every polling location, a special voting machine which is designed to accommodate a variety of disabilities is required. These machines cost $7200 each.
Since Jackson County has historically utilized twenty- five polling locations in order to make voting as convenient as possible for our citizens, compliance with this new order would create an extra expenditure of $180,000 of our local tax dollars to purchase 25 of these machines, most of which would never be used. In conversation with Sylvia Stephens, Jackson County Supervisor of Elections, I learned that in our last election, only four handicapped voters were registered for the primary vote, and seven for the final general election.
Additionally, Mrs. Stephens states that due to the new process of enabling “early voting” and increased use of “absentee voting”, only 48% of those who voted actually came to the polling locations. In future elections, early voting is expected to increase since early voting sites are planned for Sneads and Graceville, as well as the existing one in Marianna. This new trend further reduces the need for installing these special machines for the handicapped at EVERY polling location, as some liberal, free spending Tallahassee bureaucrat has demanded.
In order to hold the cost of compliance with this edict to a minimum, our County Commission is evaluating various options developed by Mrs. Stephens which would reduce the number of county polling sites to eleven. Now, this reduction may be a good idea in light of the reduced voting activity actually occurring at polling sites, it still would involve unnecessarily spending approximately $60,000 on these special machines for our seven disabled voters.
It would be less costly for us to hire a limousine and a uniformed driver to go to the home of each of these disabled voters and take them to the polls in style. Another less costly approach would be to have Mrs. Stephens personally take the ballots to their homes and give them personalized attention on voting.
Seriously, there are other approaches which are much less costly and wasteful, that could be used and still provide the level of accommodation due these few unfortunate disabled voters. I would recommend the following approaches be considered by our Commissioners:
● Purchase three of these special machines, one for each early voting location. Then make arrangements with J-Tran to on a schedule desired by the disabled voter, go to their individual residence in one of their specially equipped vans, pick up the voter and transport them to the nearest of the three polling sites, and then return them to their residence.
● OR, …Have a certified poll worker take the ballot to their residence on a schedule determined by the disabled voter, and allow them to vote in the presence of the certified poll worker, in the convenience of their own home.
● OR,…Purchase a fourth of these $7200 special voting machines and design a method of placing the unit in a mobile utility trailer. On a schedule determined by the disabled voter, have the machine delivered to the voter’s residence and allow the voter to vote in his driveway, in the trailer, on the machine.
This costly edict creates an opportunity for us all to make a stand against foolish, unnecessary waste generated by State and Federal bureaucracies. To buy all of these machines for seven voters is a flagrant waste of funding at a time it should not be tolerated. The Division of Elections under the Secretary of State in Tallahassee has rendered this interpretation to the statutes. I do not believe causing this unnecessary, wasteful expenditure was the intent of the legislatures which created these laws. It is an example of CYA overkill created by inept bureaucrats.
I urge voters to use this as an example of unnecessary waste and to encourage our legislators to clarify the wording of the statutes so that adequate accommodation of the needs of disabled citizens is provided without creating unnecessary expenses in over-compliance. We should meet the needs of the seven disabled voters in Jackson County by purchasing three of these machines which will be placed at the three early voting polling sites, and the county will coordinate with these voters to provide transportation for them in a properly equipped vehicle.
If every county in the State, and perhaps in the country blindly complies with this bureaucratic interpretation of the statutes regarding voting for the disabled, millions of tax payer dollars will be thrown away unnecessarily. I say it is time for us to stop this kind of foolish behavior, and we can thus begin to “Get it Right”!
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● The group that organized the “Tea Party” on Tax Day in Marianna is going to hold another rally on the evening of May 14 at the Ag Center. You are encouraged to come and participate.
● Our Government, in its rush to spend money has gone “eco-crazy”. For every green job created, two other jobs are lost as a result of the extra expenditures and restrictions caused by the environmental regulations.
● The Administration is about to levy a HUGE new tax on electric utilities in the form of requiring government permits for emissions created by their plants. Of course these extra costs will eventually be passed on to every business and household in the nation, creating in effect a giant new tax. It is being done in the pretense of worry about the environment, when it is actually a funding measure for the out of control spending which is now underway.
● I commend the
Marianna City Commission on the manner in which they have approached evaluating the issue of providing electrical service to the citizens of the City.
● “When the citizens fear their government, it is tyranny, When government fears its citizens, it is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessrily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
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