Touch Screen voting for Minnesota?

[dflprincess]

On this morning's Wendy Wilde show she said Minnesota is suppose to start using touch screens next year. Is this true? And, how did I miss it if it is?

I'm hoping she was wrong. She was doing a show this morning on obstacles to voting and one of the things she and her guest were complaining about was that utility bills may be used for proof of address if you've recently moved. Their complaint was that renters don't get utility bills. I've never rented anywhere where I didn't get an electric bill, plus I get a phone and cable bill (though I know not everyone gets those two.) I'm hoping as they were wrong about the bills, they're wrong about the machines.

[ISUGRADIA]

1. Not in Minneapolis and not from what I understood in my election

judge meeting. Minneapolis will be getting some kind of ballot marking device for use by the handicapped in 2006. It may include a touch screen or audio prompts but we were told it will mark a paper ballot that is scannable, no ether ballot.

And I thought I was told that this (a paper ballot) was required under state law but I may have misheard.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. If so, let's keep it that way!

n/t

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Same here, and there would be lots of press if that paper ballot

law was overturned.

[mduffy31]

4. We use optical scan in Duluth

...and things are working out just fine.

[Love Bug]

5. Renters get phone and cable bills

and those are only used if you recently moved and haven't updated your ID yet. If you don't have those you can get a neighbor in the same precinct to vouch for you, so she's making a big deal out of nothing.

[Nobody]

6. Last year in election judge training

I asked the question about how homeless people can register to vote.

Answer: They can fill out a registration card to pre-register but it won't be deliverable. No problem. There will be a challenge in the voter book. All they have to do is affirm that they do indeed live in that district, even if they sleep under a bridge in that district.

Also, if they know another registered voter in the same district, the other voter can vouch for them. This past year, a person can now only vouch for 15 people and no more, previously it was unlimited.

I asked why and the chair judge in my precinct said that it was because of all the GOTV people vouching for busloads of people.

(I never saw anyone vouch for more than one, but now we have to keep track. Great, more paperwork.)

However, the acceptable ID list is the list, and the reason for it is that it's keyed to an address. The goal is to prove that you live in the precinct in which you are voting.

[ISUGRADIA]

7. I find Wendy Wilde to be off a bit in her facts

A fair amount of renters came into the precinct I was at and had utility bills to prove residence. I really don't think that is too much to ask and there are a wide amount of acceptable types. Plus one can always get a voucher if one doesn't have a utility bill. Rule of thumb, always re register when moving and it saves everybody time.

And it did disturb me to hear her one day promoting a blog that was attacking a city council candidate, Scott Persons, without disclosing she was the one behind it (as I heard later).