Authorities say: get out and vote
NDAC looks to encourage students and citizens to vote in upcoming election.
Ryan Johnson
Issue date: 9/16/08 Section: News
With the November elections less than two months away, many agencies and organizations are making an effort to spur U.S. citizens to get out and vote.
The North Dakota Association of Counties is attempting to help voters understand the widely-varying processes of casting a ballot and how to register if required before the elections.
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Coordinator Danette Odenback said that there are some simple ways to make sense of a sometimes complicated election process.
Voting on campus
The 2004 elections led to complaints of long wait times to vote at the polling site on campus. Odenback said that there have been changes since then that should help to alleviate the situation as much as possible.
Part of the problem in 2004, she said, was that it was Tax and Finance Director Debbie Nelson's first time managing an election. Even though things went smoothly for the most part, she did take some lessons from the issues that did arise.
"She was so disappointed that things turned out that way so she's done a lot of things to change that situation," Odenback said.
The polling site on campus this time around will have more than one poll book station, where people need to register before being given a ballot. This should speed the check-in process considerably.
Despite this and some other changes, she said that it's sometimes hard for people to realize the amount of work that really goes into planning an election.
"A lot of people think elections are just putting together a ballot and giving people a ballot and that's it," she said.
Absentee voting is one way that people can avoid potentially long lines at polling sites on Nov. 4, and the process is pretty easy in North Dakota since voters don't need a reason to file by absentee in the state.
People that opt for this method can print off an application for absentee voting at the Secretary of State's website or pick up an application in person. Once it is processed, a ballot is mailed to the voter that can be returned anytime before the election.
The North Dakota Association of Counties is attempting to help voters understand the widely-varying processes of casting a ballot and how to register if required before the elections.
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Coordinator Danette Odenback said that there are some simple ways to make sense of a sometimes complicated election process.
Voting on campus
The 2004 elections led to complaints of long wait times to vote at the polling site on campus. Odenback said that there have been changes since then that should help to alleviate the situation as much as possible.
Part of the problem in 2004, she said, was that it was Tax and Finance Director Debbie Nelson's first time managing an election. Even though things went smoothly for the most part, she did take some lessons from the issues that did arise.
"She was so disappointed that things turned out that way so she's done a lot of things to change that situation," Odenback said.
The polling site on campus this time around will have more than one poll book station, where people need to register before being given a ballot. This should speed the check-in process considerably.
Despite this and some other changes, she said that it's sometimes hard for people to realize the amount of work that really goes into planning an election.
"A lot of people think elections are just putting together a ballot and giving people a ballot and that's it," she said.
Absentee voting is one way that people can avoid potentially long lines at polling sites on Nov. 4, and the process is pretty easy in North Dakota since voters don't need a reason to file by absentee in the state.
People that opt for this method can print off an application for absentee voting at the Secretary of State's website or pick up an application in person. Once it is processed, a ballot is mailed to the voter that can be returned anytime before the election.
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