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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 9, 2004 Voting problems need resolution The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization whose purpose is to encourage citizens to participate actively in government and politics. The league is deeply concerned about voting irregularities in the 2004 election. The election was fraught with problems, including voter registration issues, such as failure to fully process registration applications in time causing blocked voter registrations and very long lines for voters in many states, to name a few. Thousands of voting irregularities have been reported. Were voters unfairly disenfranchised because of bureaucratic requirements? Were there not enough voting machines? Were the lines especially long in minority and student precincts? The reasons for the very long lines must be fully examined. Was every provisional ballot counted? Every voter who cast a provisional ballot should find out whether her/his ballot was counted. The provisional ballot counting process is still ongoing and must be monitored. Under the Help America Vote Act, every voter has the right to know whether their vote is counted, and, if it is not counted, why it is not counted. The league urges you to contact your Congressional representatives and request an investigation into these concerns through open and public processes. These important voting concerns must be addressed in order to strengthen voter confidence and improve our electoral system. No American citizen should be denied the right to vote due to negligence or bureaucratic error. It is important to ensure that every properly cast ballot is counted and to make improvements for future elections. The league's network of state and local leagues will continue to work closely with election officials to identify and correct all voting problems. Let's all help keep democracy strong in America. Vanya Sloan League of Women Voters of Ashland Ukraine puts U.S. to shame I hope progressive America is paying close attention to the lesson presented by the people of Ukraine. We complain about how little progress we make in this country, succumbing to the hopelessness and cynicism that our establishment tries so dutifully to instill. The people in Ukraine saw a gross injustice (hardly a surprise from any government) and have decided to do something about it - even threatening secession. Imagine that - the Common Free People taking control of their own lives, something we in the U.S. have virtually forgotten how to do. Do we have the courage to suffer the consequences of sustaining a serious challenge to authoritarian elements? Power never cedes anything without the threat of revolution. We've had two blatantly fraudulent elections and the best we can do is march for a few hours, collect signatures, and hold out for the next election. Voting in this country is dead. Obviously, preparing the ground for change is important, but rarely, if ever, do we take it to the next and most crucial level. We only think we are demanding justice - Ukraine is. Our schools should be empty. Industry should shut down. The economy should come to a virtual halt. We should threaten secession. We should be setting up tent cities in the streets and lighting bon-fires and refusing to leave the White House grounds until regime change happens here. We've done the debating and fact checking and networking. It's time to take it to the streets and put ourselves on the line for our own liberation. If we don't do this soon, then we have no business talking about democracy and freedom. If we don't do this soon, then we have failed to live up to our global reputation as the "brightest beacon for freedom," which has always been a kind of morbid joke anyway. Organize, resist, and sustain. Jason Hoopes Ashland A surprise on the history page The Archives section of the Tidings of Dec. 6 reprinted an article from November 21, 1984 which reported Ev Elerath had beaten me for City Council by just one vote. I'm still trying to grasp the concept of reading about myself in Archives rather than in a current news story. The people of Ashland were right in electing my good friend Ev Elerath, now deceased, to a term on the City Council. He brought independence of thought and integrity to the job. As it turned out after the 1984 election I soon had the opportunity to serve with Ev through the remainder of his term on the City Council. We remained good friends until his death. The "holes in the four ballots" you reported in 1984 are known as hanging chads today. Back then we thought analyzing such chads was a common election problem. I'm glad Oregon is beyond that issue today. Although the 1984 Ashland City Council election was between two people who respected each other, we should never forget that one vote can make a difference. Now about that problem of reading my name in Archives... Phil Arnold Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Proud past member of the Ashland City Council, current Ashland resident Eds. note: The history archives is a feature that provides readers a random look at Ashland history. 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