Control Over The Dollars Americans Spend On Healthcare

Video - MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Exposes How Conservative Protesters At Health Care Town Halls Are Being Manipulated And Used By The Insurance Industry And Ultra-Wealthy Money Men To Maintain Their Control Over The Dollars Americans Spend On Healthcare - 08/05/09.

In an email sent Wednesday morning, the Democratic National Committee labels recent town hall disruptions as "a sham," describing them as an orchestrated effort by the health care industry to "break the President and his agenda for change."

Jen O'Malley Dillon, Executive Director of the DNC, says the protests "are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform." She accuses them of using "lies" and "fear" to sustain the status quo.

"Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families -- we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way," writes O'Malley, before offering five facts about the protests:

1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.


2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.


3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.


4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.


5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds.Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

The DNC email concludes, "It's time to expose this charade, before it gets more dangerous. Now, more than ever, we need to stand strong together and defend the truth."

The DNC email is part of a larger effort by the DNC to combat angry disruptions in recent town hall meetings hosted by Democratic lawmakers.

Next Public Hearing On Implementing Voting Centers

Meeting Thursday, August 6th On Implementing Countywide Voting Centers for the Nov. 3, 2009 Election.
--
Thursday, August 6, 2009 – 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Collin County Community College.
Spring Creek Campus.
Conference Center Room AA135.
2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas - map.
--
Agenda:

• Site Selection Committee Report on Proposed Election Day Locations
• Research Presentation on Vote Centers by Dr. Robert M. Stein.
  
• Public Comment on Countywide Election Day Polling Place Program

Though the efforts of Shawn Stevens, the new chairperson of the Democratic Party of Collin County, Dr. Robert M. Stein of Rice University in Houston will attend the August 6th meeting to speak to the planning committee.

• Dr. Stein, a Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science at Rice University, is an expert on urban politics, elections, voting behavior and public policy. Dr. Stein has been researching how Voting Centers affect overall voter turnout behaviors and has recently addressed conferences and co-authored papers on this topic. (See paper Dr. Stein co-authored: pdf-Engaging the Unengaged Voter - Vote Centers and voter turnout | List of Dr. Stein's publications)


• Dr. Stein's presentation given in this meeting can be accessed at these links:
  MS PowerPoint Presentation 1 - Colorado Comm on Elect Reform 121608.ppt
  MS PowerPoint Presentation 2 - Lubbock Co. Commissioner 032309.ppt
  Audio Recording - Dr. Stein's presentation on Vote Centers 8-6-09.WMA (sorry no .mp3)
  

Related Post:

• Vote Centers Coming To Collin Co. For Election Day November 3, 2009?

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home Two Americans

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home U.S. Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

The two journalists were accompanied by President Clinton and CAP President and CEO John Podesta, arrived back home in California this morning after being held for five months in North Korea while reporting for Current TV. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for allegedly illegally entering North Korea. North Korea held the two captive for 140 days.

“I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones,” President Clinton said in a statement. “When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed. I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home.”

Shortly after landing in Los Angeles, Ling expressed her “deepest gratitude” for the rescue:

LING: Thirty hours ago Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea. We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now, we stand here, home and free. Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to President Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention, super-cool team.

Conservative GOP Violent Rhetoric Breeds Violence

DNC Web Ad: "Enough of the Mob"

President Obama faces an increase of 400% in death threats a day as lobbyist-run conservative special interest groups whip conservative activists into mounting mob mentality. Telegraph.co.uk:

Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.

Some threats to Mr Obama, whose Secret Service codename is Renegade, have been publicized, including an alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee late last year to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Most, however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts. Although most threats are not credible, each one has to be investigated meticulously.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the president of the freshman Democratic class has revealed that “at least one freshman Democrat” has already been “physically assaulted at a local event.” Connolly warned that conservative groups had taken things to a “dangerous level“:

“When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you’re crossing a line,’ Connolly said. ‘They’re inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts. They think we’re going to euthanize Grandma and the government is going to take over.”

The violent rhetoric from talk radio and FOX News continues to throw gasoline on the fire. Remember Dr. Tiller?

In fact, threatening phone calls escalate to a death threat for Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) over the health care bill. His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.

RNC Refuses To Accept Calls Generated By New DNC Web Ad On Conservative Mobs

Cherry Creek News: A BROAD STRATEGY: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has endorsed the strategy of staged protests, telling Politico the days of civil town halls are now "over." [Democrats launch a phone counter-offensive on Pete Sessions]

In a memo to House Republicans, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) promised "anger" during the August recess: "Americans' anger will be on full display in the weeks ahead as Members of Congress leave Washington and travel the nation listening to the voices of their constituents."

The published memos are similar to talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks that push an anti-health reform assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by AFP, is busing people all over the country to protest health care reform. America's Health Insurance Plans, the trade group and lobbying juggernaut representing the health insurance industry, is also sending staffers to monitor town halls in 30 states.

Meanwhile, Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), led bydisgraced hospital executive Rick Scott, is running a national campaign against a public health care option. Yesterday, the group took credit for "helping gin up the sometimes-rowdy outbursts targeting House Dems at town hall meetings around the country, raising questions about their spontaneity."

Earlier in the week, a representative of CPR "sent an email to a list serve (called the Tea Party Patriots Health Care Reform Committee) containing a spreadsheet that lists over one hundred congressional town halls from late July into September."

And last weekend, CPR announced it will send staff to "confront" lawmakers at town halls and then transition to negative ads.

Mental Illness Services in Collin County (Meeting)

The Healthcare Committee of Collin County (HCCC) will conduct a panel discussion on Mental Illness in Collin County on Tuesday, August 4, at 7:00 PM at the Collin College McKinney Campus Conference Center.

2200 West University Drive, McKinney, TX 75070 - Room D106 Section B - Look for the main entrance across from the Clock Tower on Campus - map

Most Texans don't realize that the State of Texas is ranked 49th in per capita funding for Mental Health while one out of every six adults will experience a serious Mental Illness throughout their life.

The HCCC has assembled a panel of local experts in the field of mental health care services who will share their thoughts and expertise on the subject. The committee is a nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to improving healthcare in Collin County. Please attend to find out what mental health care services are available in your Collin County community.

This meeting is open to the public, and the public is encouraged to ask questions of the panelists.

Sign up at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfz7l

Right-Wing Thuggery At Democratic Events

Tea party conservatives are organizing into a campaign of disruption and intimidation to disrupt health-care forums and other Democratic events. Politico reports that disruptions are becoming quite common and Think Progress reports that the disruptions are being carefully planned:

This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Missing from [corporate media] reporting of these stories is the fact that many of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.

The lobbyist-run groups 'Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks,' which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to Democratic iniyitives. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democrats.

Some of the advice being dispensed to disrupt Democratic events includes:

• Be Disruptive Early And Often
  
• Try To Rattle To Not Have An Intelligent Debate
  

Chris Good at The Atlantic reports that we can expect a long August with these kinds of events:

Over August recess, conservative activist groups will mount a renewed effort to kill the dreaded ObamaCare. August will be a melee of grassroots (or Astroturfed) activity on both sides: members of Congress will be home in their districts, holding town-halls, taking feedback from constituents--in other words, they'll be more open to pressure from activist campaigns than at any other time during the year.

Think Progress: Angry right harasses Rep. Lloyd Doggett with anti-health care chants. (Updated) - Today, House members are back home to begin their month-long recess. The far right has indicated that they plan to welcome many of their representatives with large, angry throngs (“town halls gone wild”). The corporate lobbyists engineering these “grassroots” efforts have indicated their harassment strategy is to “yell,” “stand up and shout,” and “rattle” the members. Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being confronted by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls.
This past weekend, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was the latest victim of the right’s strategy, where protesters followed him and chanted “just say no” to health care. Watch the video:

Congressman Doggett had this to say after being cornered by Teabaggers and Birthers this past Saturday

"This mob, sent by the local Republican and Libertarian parties, did not come just to be heard, but to deny others the right to be heard. And this appears to be part of a coordinated, nationwide effort. What could be more appropriate for the "party of no" than having its stalwarts drowning out the voices of their neighbors by screaming "just say no!" Their fanatical insistence on repealing Social Security and Medicare is not just about halting health care reform but rolling back 75 years of progress. I am more committed than ever to win approval of legislation to offer more individual choice to access affordable health care. An effective public plan is essential to achieve that goal."

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation and stands to be among the most to gain from Obama’s health care plan. “Nearly 6 million Texans, including the one in six U.S. uninsured children who live there, could get health insurance for the first time if the plan is enacted.”

MSNBC's Countdown talks about these disruptions in the following video:

Latest Republican Scare Tactic Against Healthcare Reform

In the most recent multi-million dollar PR campaign to kill off health care reform, insurance companies, special interest groups and Republicans are lying to and scaring the daylights out of senior citizens in the most appalling manner.

They are telling seniors that health care reform will literally kill them; That government agents will be sent to senior's homes to ask them how they want to die or they will be required to have five-year medical reviews that could result in death sentences, if Pres. Obama's health care reform is enacted.

Republicans in Congress are completely on board with this beyond this campaign of terror against senior citizens.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews talk about this so called "deather" campaign in the video below.

Where Did All the Republicans Go?

Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from the first six months of 2009 continues to show only four states with a sizable Republican advantage in party identification. As was the case in Gallup's analysis of 2008 yearly data, most states are currently Democratic in their party orientation, with the greatest number (30, including the District of Columbia) classified as solidly Democratic, with an additional 8 states leaning Democratic. Meanwhile, only four states can be considered solidly Republican -- Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska, with Alabama falling into the leaning Republican category.

While the size of the Democratic advantage at the national level has shrunk in the first six months of 2009, this has been due to an increase in independent identification rather than an increase in Republican support. While the Republican Party is still able to compete in elections if they enjoy greater turnout from their supporters or greater support for its candidates from independent voters, the deck is clearly stacked in the Democratic Party's favor for now.

The mid-2009 Gallup state-by-state data continues to show a 42% to 40% Democratic Party identification to Republican Party identification in Texas.


New York Times The January 2009 Gallup poll showed Texas and large swathes of the U.S. to be competitive for Democrats.

Gallup released a report on its survey of political party affiliation by voters at the state level. The results, depicted in the map above, show that only five states have a statistically significant majority of voters who identify themselves as Republicans. The data come from interviews last year with “more than 350,000 U.S. adults as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking.”

The survey shows that Texas is no longer a solid red state and lists Texas as among the “most balanced political states” in party identification. The surveys show that Democrats in Texas now have a slight advantage in party identification, 43% to 41%, a clear reversal from the recent past.

The advance by Democrats is not accidental. Under one party Republican control, Texas ranks last or near last on virtually every issue that affects quality of life for Texas families.

Graphic: LoneStarProject.net

Republicans like Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison and David Dewhurst have failed as leaders. At the same time, Democrats have reorganized politically, targeted resources carefully and nominated mainstream candidates who put ideology aside to solve problems.

Related Posts and Links:

• Papers Around The Globe Rate Bush 'Unmitigated Disaster'
  
• GOP Survey: Voters Unhappy with GOP by Republican firm Hill Research
• Center for the Study of the American Electorate final report
• Republican Brand Growing Weak In Texas
• Texas voters increasingly unhappy with GOP - DMN
• Poll's shocking SOS for Texas GOP - DMN

Scrap Obama Care For Perry Care Plan, Says Gov. Perry

Obama said last week at an AARP-hosted town hall on health care, "I got a letter the other day from a woman. She said, 'I don't want government-run health care. I don't want socialized medicine. And don't touch my Medicare.'" The woman should send that letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The Texas Observer:

This afternoon, Rick Perry’s office released a letter the governor has sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In the letter, Perry once again threatens to invoke the “state’s rights” protections in the 10th Amendment to resist any health care reform passed by Democrats in Washington. (see Gov. Perry Threatens 10th Amendment Again To Reject Health Care Reform)

Instead of Obama-care, Perry wants the feds to approve a free-market-based plan that Texas officials pitched about 18 months ago.

Under the Perry plan, Texas would divert Medicaid money to allow uninsured Texans to shop for, and buy, health coverage from private insurers.

[...]

Perry writes in his letter to Sebelius that his plan “presents a strategic alternative to continued reliance on government-run health care programs and our already overburdened safety net systems of care.”

I have just one question: Does Perry not realize that Medicaid is a “government-run health care program”? Or that using Medicaid money to fund his plan isn’t reducing our reliance on government-funded health care at all?

(Here’s a pdf of Perry’s letter to Sebelius. And, for all the policy geeks out there, here’s a pdf of the original Texas proposal from December 2007.)

Read Insurance Industry Pushing For "Private, For Profit" Health Care Reform

Vote Centers Coming To Collin Co. For Election Day This November?

Updated Saturday Aug. 1, 2009 4:55AM
Over the last few years several states have already or are seriously considering implementing consolidated Vote Centers on Election Day - and now, after taking a pass on it in 2006, the idea has again come to Collin Co. In mid-July Collin Co. notified the Texas Secretary of State that the county wants to be selected to join Texas' ongoing Vote Center trial program. (also see previous post 'Consolidated Polling Centers Coming To Collin Co. Next Election Day?')

Late in the 2009 legislative session the Texas legislature passed HB719, which amends Section 43.007 of the Texas Election Code to require the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) to implement a program that allows Commissioner's Courts in selected counties to eliminate election precinct polling places and establish county-wide Vote Centers for certain elections.

These Election Day Vote Centers work almost exactly like Early Voting Vote Centers. During the early voting period for each election cycle, a number of polling places appear through out the county and any registered voter in the county can vote in any of those places throughout the early voting period.

The change from precinct voting places to Vote Centers won't happen immediately or throughout the state. First, the SOS is going to expand the Vote Center pilot program by selecting a few more counties to join the two counties already in the pilot program.

HB 719 states that the SOS can only select three counties with a population more than 100,000 people and two with populations less than 100,000. Additionally, those counties who want to be added to the trial program must also have converted to electronic voting and have electronic poll book systems networked via the Internet to qualify voters at the Vote Centers.

Lubbock will be one of the three larger population counties and Erath County will be one of smaller population counties in the program, as both counties have already participated in the initial pilot project testing the concept of consolidating polling locations into vote centers.

Once in the Vote Center program HB 719 allows counties to incremental decrease in the total number polling places by up to 35 percent of the polling places in the first year and up to 50 percent of the polling places in the second year of the plan.

Bottom line, by August 28th the SOS will select two additional larger counties and one smaller county to expand the experimental Vote Center trial program.

In mid-July the Collin County Elections Administrator applied to be one of those larger counties selected by the SOS to join the program. The Elections Administrator notified the SOS that Collin County intends to submit a plan, by the August 15th application deadline date, to implement countywide Election Day Vote Centers this coming November. (see SOS scheduled and plan requirements at end of this blog post)

Erath and Brewster counties in the smaller county category and Collin, Galveston, Grayson, Lubbock and Midland in the larger county category have applied to the SOS to join the program. All of the counties applying to join the program must submit their complete vote center plan to the SOS no later than August 15th to be considered during the selection process. A maximum of five counties total will be selected to participate in the expanded trial Vote Center program, no matter how many counties apply. (Galveston County is likely to be one of the larger counties selected by the SOS, because so many of their regular precinct polling locations were wiped out by Hurricane Ike. Galveston County would seem to have a very practical need to utilize Vote Centers in the coming election.)

The SOS will, by August 28th, select the two additional larger counties and one smaller county to join the Vote Center Program. The selected counties must then forward their Vote Center plans to the U.S. Dept. of Justice for pre-clearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 for their approval to proceed with the program expansion.

After the Collin County Commissioners Court held a brief public hearing on July 20, 2009 to take public comment on the Elections Administrator's Vote Center proposal, the Commissioners authorized the Administrator to proceed with the Vote Center planning process.

Due to the concern expressed by the public during the public hearing and a request that community input be allowed during the planning process from Shawn Stevens, the newly elected Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Collin County, the Commissioners instructed the County Elections Administrator to form a community planning committee.

The planning committee will participate in the planning process to properly locate, equip and staff Election Day Vote Centers for the November 3, 2009 election. The eight person Community Planning Committee formed by the Elections Administrator includes the following voting members:

1. The GOP County Chair - Fred Moses
   
2. The Democratic County Chair - Shawn Stevens
   
3. The Libertarian Party Chair -
   
4. Early Voting Ballot Board Judge - Neal Katz
   
5. Central Count Station Alt. Judge - Bill Baumbach
   
6. Advocacy, Inc. representative - Staff Attorney Dustin Rynders of Austin
   
7. LULAC Representative - Rick Gonzalez
   
8. NAACP Representative -
   

The first community planning committee meeting was held on Monday July 27, 2009. The next planning meeting is scheduled Monday, August 3, 2009, at 7:00 pm in the Commissioner’s Courtroom in the Jack Hatchell Administration Building in McKinney.

The following meeting will be on Thursday August 6, 2009 - time and place TBD.

Though the efforts of Shawn Stevens, the new chairperson of the Democratic Party of Collin County, Dr. Robert M. Stein of Rice University in Houston will attend the August 6th meeting to speak to the planning committee.

• Dr. Stein is an expert on urban politics and public policy and teaches political science at Rice University. Dr. Stein has been researching how Voting Centers affect overall voter turnout behaviors and has recently addressed conferences and co-authored papers on this topic. (See pdf-Engaging the Unengaged Voter - Vote Centers and voter turnout | List of Dr. Stein's publications)

Under the provisions of a Voting Center program there are many fewer than usual Election Day polling places, but each Election Day Vote Center acts like the Early Voting Vote Center, now familiar to many Collin County voters, where any county resident can vote at any Vote Center polling place.

Two key arguments are made in support of Vote Centers:

Pros and Cons

Convenience PRO: Voters have more choices about where to vote. CON: If the sites are not distributed evenly, problems may arise for voters who cannot travel longer distances due to lack of access to transportation. Efficiency PRO: Staffing and equipment needs are reduced if counties use a smaller number of voting locations. CON: Long lines could be a problem if too few poll workers are scheduled or too many voters arrive at one vote center simultaneously. Planning & Administration PRO: Fewer people showing up at the wrong polling places means fewer headaches & fewer provisional ballots for voters and elections officials alike. CON: Vote Centers can make it harder to plan for individual Vote Center traffic. Too few voting booths or electronic check-in computers or technical problems with either can cause long delays for voters.

1. First, historically, voters are assigned to vote at precinct polling places according to their residence address on Election Day. This is often inconvenient for voters, especially those who work some distance way from where they live, to return to their home precinct on Election Day. Holding elections at countywide polling locations would not only ease the burden on voters.
   
   It is argued that Vote Centers will increase turnout by freeing voters to cast their ballots at a number of locations convenient to where they work and shop instead of limiting them to one precinct polling place in their neighborhoods.


2. Second, there are assertions that Vote Centers will reduce the governmental costs of administering elections because fewer poll workers will be required to staff Vote Centers than the more numerous neighborhood-polling places.

Vote Centers were first tested in Larimer County, Colorado in 2003 when 143 precinct polling places were converted into just 22 Vote Centers. The center locations, mostly in urban settings, were chosen for their convenience to work and shopping, the availability of large parking facilities, and accessibility for the disabled.

To "qualify" voters entering the Vote Center election clerks used an electronic poll book application running on laptop computers which were linked, via the Internet, to a central election office computer poll book database of all registered county voters.

As Vote Center election clerks verified each voter as "qualified to vote," the electronic poll book software updated that person's central poll book database record to show that person had voted in the election. This electronic poll book voter qualification and check-in process prevents voters from casting ballots at multiple Vote Center locations.

The electronic poll book software also specified what "ballot style" to give to each voter. Since Larimer County voters could go to any of the county's 22 Vote Center locations each voter had to receive a ballot that included the correct list of candidates for their particular residential location.

For example, in the November 2008 election Collin County, Texas had over fifty unique ballot styles to cover the various combination of U.S. Congressional Districts, State House and Senate Districts, Judicial Districts, County Commissioner Districts, and so forth for each resident of the county.

Because Larimer County officials properly planned their Election Day Vote Center strategy they were able to report that their 2003 experimentation with Vote Centers yielded an increase in voter turnout, a reduction in the number of poll workers needed to manage the election and satisfied voters:

The centers have been a huge success, said Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle. Voters can cast ballots at any Vote Center in the county, as long as they can prove they are a registered voter. Doyle said each center has up to eight [electronic poll book voter qualification] registration computers when the doors open and that more are immediately brought in if there is a crush of voters [at a particular Vote Center location.] "We try and move people through like a checkout line at Albertsons," Doyle said.

Accessible voting places with ample parking and sufficient poll workers quickly check-in and help voters had a significant and positive effect on voter’s rating Larimer County's Vote Center experiment.

The 2003 Larimer County Vote Center pilot project was such a success that Colorado expanded the Vote Center program statewide for the 2006 general election. Unfortunately, many Colorado counties did not plan their 2006 Election Day Vote Center strategy as well as Larimer County planned for the 2003 election:

The Denver Post newspaper carried the headline, Vote Centers "A Total Fiasco": Vote Centers were designed to make casting ballots easier and more convenient, but on Tuesday, they produced jangled nerves, technological gaffes and long lines across Colorado.
. . .From urban Denver to suburban Douglas County to rural Routt County, there were long lines at Vote Centers. . . .Douglas County voters may have been hit the hardest, as some lined up more than four hours for a chance to cast a ballot.
. . .Denver voters faced two to three hour waits at the city's 55 Vote Centers. . . .Among the problems [causing the delays] were having only four or five [electronic poll book check-in] computers at a Vote Center to check-in hundreds of voters.

Rocky Mountain News carried a headline Ballot Bedlam: Voters at many of the city’s new 55 voting centers have been encountering long lines, computer problems and an inadequate number of computers to check proof of voter registration. . . .there were not enough workers to check identification cards.
. . .Denver election officials rebooted the whole computer system shortly after 1 p.m. in hopes of keeping the servers from crashing throughout the afternoon.
. . .At about 2 p.m., election officials sent 30 more [electronic poll book check-in] laptop computers to some of the most heavily used polling centers.
. . .By 3 p.m., election officials had sworn in 85 to 100 new election worhers; some city employees, others, private citizens. Those with election experience were working polling machines. Those who had no experience were asked to greet voters and hand out sample ballots.

Clearly, studied advanced planning to properly locate, equip and staff Election Day Vote Centers has tremendous impact on how well they serve voters on Election Day. However, little academic research has been conducted to explore the full effects of Vote Centers on overall voter turnout or voter turnout from specific segments of the electorate.

The few studies so far conducted indicate that accessibility to Vote Centers does have an impact on turnout among various segments of the population. Vote Center utilization has a modest positive impact on turnout among younger voters, infrequent voters and those who have not yet developed the voting habit. There are also some indications that Vote Centers, at least initially, may have a negative impact on turnout among older voters, voters who have historically strong voting habits of always returning to the same polling location, minority voters and lower income voters. As yet the full extent and causes for these voter turnout observations are not understood.

Because the Collin County Elections Administrator waited until mid-July to announce an intention to implement Vote Centers for the election this November, many people associated with the Democratic Party of Collin County are concerned there is not enough time to prepare a studied plan to properly locate, equip and staff Election Day Vote Centers by November 3rd. Neither is there enough time to adequately inform voters that they must go someplace different than their usual home precinct polling place to vote on November 3rd.

The Collin County Elections Administrator states her believe that the 2009 November general election presents a good opportunity to test Vote Centers because the election will be a very low turnout election with only Texas Constitutional Amendments on the ballot. That may or may not be the case depending on exactly when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns her senate seat this fall, to focus on her gubernatorial campaign against Gov. Perry for the March 2010 primary election, and what Gov. Perry decides to do in calling either a special or emergency election to fill the senate seat.

Gov. Perry has said he might expedite the date of the special election to replace Sen. Hutchison as soon as possible after her senate resignation because too many important things are going on in Washington, D.C. [StarTelegram blog, July 29]

Related Posts:

• Sen. Hutchison Says Will Resign Senate Seat In Oct or Nov.
• Consolidated Polling Centers Coming To Collin Co.

Related Links:

• Countywide polling places back for consideration.
• Public hearing scheduled for Countwide Vote Center plan
• Analysis of Consolidated Voting Precincts
• The Debate over Polling Places
• Election Day Vote Centers and Voter Turnout pdf
• Polling Places and Vote Centers pdf (eac.gov)
• A Study of Vote Centers pdf (State of Indiana VC Study)
• Vote Centers History (larimer.co.us/elections)
• The effects of Election Day vote centers on voter experiences pdf
• Lubbock County Steps To Develop Vote Centers Slide Presentation pdf
• Texas Politics - Voting, Campaigns and Elections
• Location, Knowledge and Time Pressures in the Spatial Structure of
  Convenience Voting pdf

Proposed SOS schedule for implementing HB 719 for November 3, 2009 election: July 15, 2009-Deadline to provide notice of intent to participate to the Secretary of State. August 15, 2009-Selected counties must submit plan (items 1-3 above) for the program to Secretary of State by this date. August 25, 2009-Deadline for SOS to approve proposed local plans for the program and provide detailed guidance on the information that will be requested from the Secretary of State and that will be included in the final report after each election held under the program. The counties will be required to submit this information to the Secretary of State no later than 30 days after the election. September 4, 2009-Deadline for selected counties to submit local countywide program for pre-clearance with DOJ if countywide election precincts will be used at November 3, 2009 constitutional amendment election. December 3, 2009-Deadline for county clerk/elections administrator to submit report on local countywide program to Secretary of State. January 1, 2010-Deadline for Secretary of State to submit report on countywide program to Legislature.

The written implementation plan submitted to the SOS by August 15th must include how the county will comply with the following requirements: Statement of Minimum Eligibility Requirements. The county plan must state that the county uses only DRE voting equipment, has access to a computerized voter registration list at each polling place to immediately record voting history, and has conducted the applicable public hearing. Public Hearing Transcript. A transcript or electronic recording of the public hearing(s) in which voters were informed to the plan and opinions were solicited from voters, minority organizations, and other interested parties as described above, must be submitted. Methodology for Selecting Countywide Locations. A county that wishes to participate in the program must adopt a methodology to determine the placement of the countywide polling places. For an election held in the first year in which the county holds an election under the program, the total number of countywide polling places may not be less than 65% of the number of precinct polling places that would otherwise have been used in that election. For subsequent elections, this number drops to 50%. (We believe that the legislative intent is that a county must establish locations in 65%of the existing county election precincts.) Notice and Outreach Plan. The county must develop a plan for providing notice and informing voters of the program and of the changes made to the locations of election day polling places that will occur. The county must solicit input from organizations that represent minority voters. At a minimum, an election day notice must be posted at each precinct polling place that was used in the last general election for state and county officers but will not be used in the election under this program which indicates the location of the nearest countywide polling place. Submission to the U.S. Department of Justice. Participation in the program represents a change in voting that must be precleared with the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") under Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act. DOJ will probably review the proposed number and locations of the countywide polling places to determine whether they could have any discriminatory effect on the basis of race or language group. Joint Elections. Local political subdivisions may hold a joint election with a participating county. Remember that state law requires local political subdivisions using the November uniform election date (excluding certain water districts and other districts created pursuant to Section 52, Article III or Section 59, Article XVI of the Texas Constitution located within Harris County or counties bordering Harris County) to use the regular county polling places in the county election precincts that contain territory from their elections. Political subdivisions in participating counties would need to have a presence at each of the countywide polling places at which its voters would be eligible to appear, either through a joint election with the county or conducting its own polling place at each of the locations. Counties that wish to participate in the program will need to demonstrate that the details of local joint elections have been resolved or at least that the governing bodies have agreed that they will resolve such issues. Polling Place Officials. While Section 43.007 does not explicitly address the question, we believe that the election officials at each of the countywide polling places would need to be appointed according to the same list procedure as Election Day judges and clerks to the extent possible. Again, counties that wish to participate in the program will need to demonstrate that the county commissioners court and the county chairs have resolved how polling place officials will be appointed. Written Report. Section 43.007(j) requires the Office of the Secretary of State to me a report with the Legislature concerning the program, including a recommendation on the future use of countywide polling places on January 1 of each odd-numbered year. All counties that participate in the program will be expected to contribute their specific findings after each election held with countywide precincts, which will be included in the report.