Well,  finals are over so I can take myself off writer’s block.

I’ve been working on this for a week or so, but for those of you who have no idea what’s going on, let’s catch up:

The Gist:

The County Commission will be “deciding” in the next month or so on a proposal from the County Election Clerk, to include the consolidation of precincts from 102 to 42 and the closing and condensing of 13 polling places, including the polling place on campus and at the courthouse.  Other than the proposed closings and consolidation, there is no plan to research the affect of how the closings will affect voters, or a plan to mitigate any negative effects.

The proposal came to light about 2 1/2 weeks ago.    The only meeting for public comment will be held tomorrow, December 16th 1:30 – right in the middle of finals week – a time when 25% of the voting population will be unavailable.

Just Citizens and Forward Montana teamed up for an OpEd in the Missoulian yesterday and the County officials responded with what sounds like a decision.

We think closing the polling place on  campus is particularly egregious.  It services over 1200 new voters to Missoula,  most of whom are new to the area, let alone the University.  Forcing them to go to a polling place in the city could dissuade them from voting.

Most importantly, this entire process is messed up.  With only two months for people to understand this drastic change to democracy in Missoula, it seems that very little process has been considered for the breadth and depth of the overhaul.

Ultimately, if changes must be shoved down our throats right this very second (never let a serious crisis go to waste, right?) we should be condensing the precincts – which will eliminate a number of costly poll judges, and scrap the part about closing the polling places until enough research, thought and public input is included.