Re: questions about school district levy

[Bob Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

At 01:51 AM 11/11/2001 +0000, you wrote:
>I might be able to answer one of your questions.  I think the main reason the
>two elections can't (or shouldn't) be combined is because the school district
>is quite large and covers much more than the city.  Only those people who
>actually reside within the City limits can vote in the city election.  So 
>you'd
>have to have one section for city election only; and one section for school
>district only; and maybe one section for both.  Trust me when I say that 
>there
>is a great deal to running an election.

I agree with the mushroom guy.  It is SOP to have different ballots for 
people who live in different areas, and who are not voting for 100% of the 
same issues & candidates.

There is a more sinister explanation:

Special levy items are often run in the spring or apart from the regular 
election cycle because only people who know about them (and presumably 
support them) will go to the polls to vote.  School district employees will 
go to the polls, parents of kids in the public school system -- who also 
have a vested interest -- will also go to the polls.  Joe six-pack who 
works at the University or at a local store might not have heard, and even 
if he did, he might not care to go to vote for the second time in a 
week.  I did not even know about this ballot until someone on this list 
asked about the scheduling!  This means that I am now more likely to go to 
the polls.  The timing makes me more likely to vote NO.  Have the honesty 
and integrity to put it on the ballot with our other issues and candidates, 
and I can consider the levy according to its merits.

Bob Hoffmann
846 Mabelle St.
Moscow, ID  83843

Tel: 208 883-0642