LocalCommentary.com
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Thursday, August 20, 2009Another Quick American Fork Election UpdateThis update isn't exactly breaking news, but it answers a question you might have when you arrive at the polls on September 15 or November 3. When American Forkers go to the polls on September 15 and November 3, we'll be using optically scanned punch cards, not the computerized touchscreen voting machines we used last November. There are two reasons for this. First, we don't have to use the touchscreen machines for local elections. Second, not using them saves a fair amount of money. Quotes from Premier Election Solutions (a Texas company) for using the touchscreen machines were $20,050 for the primary and $19,550 for the general election, for a total of $39,600. (In case you're curious, the slight difference between the two was in the category of travel expenses for two personnel.) Their quotes for the optical-scan approach were $13,650 for the primary and $13,250 for the general election, for a total of $26,900. (Again, the difference between the two is in travel expenses.) Additional expenses differ between the two methods, mostly because the optical scan approach requires ballots to be printed. Overall, City staff projects the combined savings of trusting us not to dangle, dimple, or impregnate chads (as Florida voters did in 2000) as $9,068. The City Council made this economical choice at their August 11 meeting. If there's a moral to this story, maybe it is this: competent, conscientious citizens save their governments money, which is to say, they save themselves money. So please don't disappoint us all by voting (accidently or otherwise) for Pat Buchanan for mayor of American Fork, okay? Copyright 2009 by David Rodeback. |
