Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Election Day

As usual I have my Election Day obligations so don't expect much till very late. Don't expect much on Battle of Marion either; I'll be covering the Johnson County local beat.

During the day watch the turnout. Also mid-day check the early voting numbers. Through end of yesterday there were 951 mailed ballots not back; vast majority of them from student precincts in Iowa City. Raj Patel's chances depend largely on that 951 number getting smaller.

If you still have a ballot DO NOT MAIL IT. Bring it to the auditor's office. If you lost it, go to the polls and vote a provisional. Polls open till 8.

Looking ahead: Tomorrow the U is hosting a two day conference on "Conflict and Civility in Political Discourse: Where Is the Line?" at the Sheraton. All sessions are free and open to the public. It's a largely distinguished panel* of academics, politicos and journalists, including a Wednesday night keynote from Jim Leach and a Thursday morning address from some former political science prof named Loebsack. If you look up "civility in political discourse" in the dictionary there's a picture of those two guys from 2006.

The * in "largely distinguished panel" is for the 10:45 Wednesday discussion on Social media and political discourse which includes... me. I've been revisiting the early September flame war with CCI in preparation. I promise to be very civil and if you don't like what I say, well, bite me.

3 comments:

  1. I have been around and around trying to find a sample ballot for today's election. My daughter is voting for the first time and I would like to have some information for her, could they make it any harder? I live in Wright County or as I have come to know it, the CAVE. No news out, no news in. I have searched all morning long, went to the state website and followed the SAMPLE BALLOT LINK. nothing. nada. zip. goose egg. Really Iowa?

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  2. What language does one have to speak or what rock do I look under to find a sample ballot for my 18 year old who is voting for the first time in her life. 3 hours now searching on the state websites. I live in Wright County, apparently a barracaded cave has nothing on this place, I can't find a thing. I navigated to sample ballots: http://elections.mytimetovote.com/iowa.html and nothing. Really Iowa?

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  3. That's up to each county to get that done. Johnson County's are here http://www.johnson-county.com/auditor/voter/1111sample.htm

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