We confess we got all caught up in the "Superbowl Phenomenon" yesterday, and thus left at least one of yesterday's notable flurry of Standard-Examiner articles stranded on the back burner. To begin clearing out at least out some of our built up article queue, we'll thus call our readers' attention to yesterday's most excellent Representative Neil Hansen (D-Ogden) guest commentary, which is laden with encouraging news:
• Game plans and strategies are part of the LegislatureRep. Hansen provides plenty of interesting state government information, including the tantalizing news that Democrats and Republicans are talking across the aisle and actually "beginning to listen to each other," which is highly newsworthy "man bites dog" information in and of itself.
But let's cut to the chase. Here's the aspect of yesterday's Neil Hansen piece which really caught our eye, on a topic which is necessarily of great interest to Emerald City lumpencitizens:
Referring back to the Government Operations standing committee I serve on, I'm embracing Gov. Huntsman's recommendation to propose specific legislation that will help increase voter turnout by allowing election-day voter registration so people can register and vote on the same day.Kudos to House Representative Neil Hanson for his percipient efforts to add these reforms to Utah election law. Had such legislation already been in place in November of 2007, the lumpencitizens of Emerald City would have been spared major municipal election headaches.
Additionally, I'm proposing legislation that I believe will increase voter turnout and has bipartisan support is HB 49 Voter Challenge Amendments. This bill requires that written challenges to a person's right to vote in an election be filed in advance of the election and provides procedures for filing and resolving the challenges before the date of the election; requires the election officer to notify each person whose right to vote in the election has been challenged in writing and permits the person who has been challenged to provide information in response to the challenge; requires that written challenges be submitted under oath and be subject to criminal penalties for false statements; provides that an election officer's determination regarding a challenge to a person's right to vote is subject to judicial appeal; requires all documents filed in relation to a written challenge to be public records; clarifies language relating to challenges to a person's right to vote at the polling place.
We'll keep our fingers crossed in the hope that Rep. Hansen and his Republican colleagues continue to cooperate cross-aisle. Reforms such as these serve the interests of all Utahns, of all political stripes. If our legislators can't agree on issues so elementary and fundamental as these... what the hell CAN they ever agree about?
Let's have some reader comments on this.
It's time to clear away those Super Sunday cobwebs, folks.
9 comments:
Although I totally agree with every aspect of this piece of legislation, I fear it could have detrimental consequences for the good citizens of Ogden.
Left with no other recourse, shortdeck, cavendish, g-train, the mayors brother and other kool-aid inebriated lift ogden sorts will have to turn to the most dirty, time tested means, like slashing tires and other methods to discourage voter turnout.
I have not read Rep. Hansen's legislation but I am for the requirement that written challenges must be made to voters prior to election day.
I have read newspaper articles regarding voter registration online. I am very opposed to that.
I believe that any new voter should provide proper credentials, such as proof of citizenship,to the proper election official and sign in person that they are elegible to become a registered voter.
Online registration will be abused.
The biggest change we need to make to our Utah election laws is to put teeth in the requirement that the Lt. Governor's office is responsible for enforcement of the election laws which that office consistently refuses to do at this time.
That office is a waste of taxpayer funds as it is presently being run.
Tell us please, Dorothy, why you're opposed to online registation. So long that it's tied up with the Driver's license division, and it can be tied with verified signatures, what's your specific objection?
Coupled with Reprentative Hansen's proposed legislation to permit voter registration at the polling places on the election date, how does any of this create problems for truth and honesty in our currently-corrupted Utah elections process?
As I see it, Hansen's proposed legislation, allowing you to have re-registered at your assigned polling place after a challenge, would have allowed your vote to have been routinely counted... which I'm STILL NOT SURE actually happened in 2007.
Dorthy,
The only party that can't be trusted with online voter regrestration is the Republican Party.
Remeber the Law Suits you've filed. Well those are Republicans that are abusing the system, not Democrats.
Rudi, we all support and appreciate Neil but is a reason you made no mention of your party's well worded piece offered by the most untrustworthy Brad Dee?
It was very well done, all the hot button issues got mention and if you didn't read carefully enough and think about, you'd think ethics wiil be covered.
The truth is, and Dee establishes it, though well disguised, nothing is going to happen on ethics. That right folks, nothing. They will create a new, standing committee, with the soul purpose of ethics, that will be charged with producing a code for our legislators to follow. It'll be at least a year before this committee could actually produce a working document. In the meantime any of these ethical issues that singularly have bills pending will be tabled under the guise of a more comprehensive bill and code, down the road. Delay, stall, who'da thunk. Time has the greatest ability to foster public amnesia. Meanwhile it business as usual.
Bill C.
It is just like the Great Brad Dee who once was a democrat and when the winds shifted so did Brad Dee. He is the biggest phoney in the state and not much of a leader. He is such a follower and suck up of the speaker... who ever that is. Weather it is Curtis Or Clark he will not stop at just brown nosing but will push his head so far up.... that is why we in our interest group call him a shit head.
We love to read the comparison pieces between the two and Hansen just out classes them all. Way to go Hansen.
Rudi, I am coming late to the party.
I object to online registration because --
Do not forget that we issue drivers' licenses to illegal aliens.
These licenses are issued by another number in the Driver's License Bureau other than a Social Security number but the signatures are all on file whether you are a legal voter or an illegal.
I am just paranoid enough about our Utah system of government to believe that the signatures can be used for registration by illegals.
I hope some one can point out to me why this would be impossible to be accomplished.
After my experience with the Lt. Governor's Office re elections and Ogden City government re elections why should I not be paranoid?
My sense is that everyone in government wants to welcome the illegals with open arms. I miss my former State Representative as he was the only one trying to keep the system clean pertaining to illegals.
Dorthy,
An illegal imigrant is a child of God, a human, a brother, a sister.
Wake up lady. Get a life and do unto others as you would have them do to you.
DL:
I don't think Utah issues drivers licenses to illegals anymore. Used to, but not any more.
As for on line registration: is it in place in any other state already? And if it is, has it worked with no greater percentage of fraudulent registrations than our present system yields? If so, we ought to adopt it, since it would probably open voting registration [by being more convenient] to more people without increasing registration fraud. I don't know if it's in place anywhere else yet. Anyone know?
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