Fewer precincts doesn't help voters
Opinion    The Daily Nonpareil     08/06/2005
OurPosition: Absentee ballots aren't the improvement system needs

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For some Cass County voters, it is, unfortunately, already too late. Voters in Pottawattamie County have at least one more opportunity - on Aug. 15 - to let elected officials know their feelings regarding a proposed reduction in the number of polling sites in the county.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, on a 3-2 vote, approved an ordinance reducing the number of voting precincts in our neighboring county from 17 to 13.

The Cass County measure was introduced to save the county money as it seeks to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in the wake of the 2000 presidential election, an election ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. The act requires that voting machines be available to handicapped voters, including the blind, and that the machines allow all voters the opportunity to review their ballot before its submission. The new machines are expected to add about $10,000 per precinct.

The rub is that in setting the rules and establishing a mandated time line for states and states' voting subdivisions to comply, Congress shortchanged American voters. Funding allocations to the states, which, in Iowa's case, dole out cash to counties, were inadequate to meet actual costs.

County boards of supervisors, faced with an unfunded mandate, have responded by reducing the number of voting sites.

On Aug. 15, Pottawattamie County supervisors will vote for the second - and possibly last - time on an ordinance that would combine a number of voting precincts to reduce the total number of voting machines that must be purchased. That will likely be the final opportunity for those who object to the mergers to voice their opinions.

The goal of the Help America Vote Act - enacting legislation that would ensure that every voter's choice counts - was clearly laudable, but the funding stream that accompanied it failed to account for the hardships that would be created in largely rural states with aging populations.

While voting by absentee ballot provides one alternative for those who will lose their polling places, we consider it a poor substitute for adequate funding.