[Mpls] Insight from a former chair election judge

[fmarkus]

I'm only 66, not 75, but I got out of the chair election judge role because
I found in the rigors of the 2002 experience that I couldn't sustain the
role - stamina diminishes to the point that I can't function cognitively (no
doubt there are times when other befuddlements obtain, but this is an
inexorable part of my aging process).

It's true enough that chair judge trainings have a lot of white hair in the
room and I admire those who can "cut the mustard". But really, folks, this
is getting serious. Chair judges have a myriad of responsibilities and it's
not good when the attorneys themselves are in doubt about the 100-foot rule.

I suggested well in advance of this fall's elections that maps of the
individual precincts could easily be inserted in the individual precinct
finder booklets that election judges use to direct voters. Nothing came of
that and once again, judges and voters had to trek - sometimes through
crowds - over to the ward and city maps posted on a wall or a door to get
their visual bearings. Time-consuming and needless. Not a problem in a
primary, but when you're knee-deep in alligators in a busy general election
you don't want to spend a lot of time wading through the swamp.

Why not use the GIS technology that the City has already paid for to make
life in the polling station a little easier on everyone concerned? And print
that 100-foot string statute in the chair judge manuals so we can all know
what we're doing.

Fred Markus, West Phillips, Ward Six  



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