Election problems serious, council told (Ann Arbor)

Ann Arbor is unprepared for the November general election and would face "another serious disaster" if it were to hold an election anytime soon, the City Council was told Tuesday night.

Winifred Northcross, the retired city clerk brought in by the city to examine the city's election readiness, said the clerk's office is in turmoil and there aren't enough qualified, experienced poll workers at the city's 48 polling precincts.

The city recently fired the previous city clerk, Kathy Root, in part due to an elections blunder last fall. The city ran out of ballots and many voters had to wait 45 minutes for photocopied ballots to arrive.

Mayor John Hieftje, who was not at Tuesday's council meeting, has said that Northcross and another retired city clerk, Yvonne Carl, had agreed to come back and help run the November elections.

But Northcross said Tuesday there is only a "60 percent chance" she'd take on the consultant job because the city's election problems are so serious.

"We haven't signed on yet," Northcross said about herself and Carl. "We came in very tentatively knowing there are all kinds of problems. ... We are concerned about staff. If there aren't enough people to hold an election, we don't want to be in the middle of that disaster."

Northcross said she and Carl spoke with every employee in the city clerk's office recently to size up the situation. "It was not pleasant. ... Anger, tears, in-fighting," she said.

Northcross served the city for 19 years as city clerk and has been an election observer in several countries, including Russia and Bosnia.

City Council Member Leigh Greden, R-3rd Ward, who served as a poll worker in the 1990s under Northcross, said he was shocked to hear Northcross's assessment.

City Council Member Joan Lowenstein, R-2nd Ward, said elections have been a concern after last fall.

"The November election is going to be huge. We don't want to go down on record as Dade County," Lowenstein said, referring to a 2000 national election ballot debacle in Florida.

Northcross said the city must start recruiting experienced poll workers to prepare for a big-time election.

"I've always described the presidential election as an avalanche that is on the way," Northcross said. "It is going to hit you very hard."

I think we better have a lot of poll watchers in Ann Arbor. Here's another reason.

Bush 13473 - 25.48%
Gore 36597 - 69.22%
Nader 2441 - 4.62%

1 posted on 04/08/2004 8:41:27 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan

What I did on my summer vacation

Now that's worth five bucks...click the pic

2 posted on 04/08/2004 8:44:19 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (I'd rather be sleeping. Let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep!)

The solution to this problem is obvious: Get some of those super-reliable touchscreen electronic voting machines. Presto! All problems solved.

3 posted on 04/08/2004 9:38:56 PM PDT by upchuck (Pay attention!! This tagline changes on an irregular schedule and without prior warning.)

Why is it that in Democrat run counties it is always Democrat strongholds that, despite 4 years and billions of dollars, still cannot get their act together? Could it be because the Democrat establishment isn't WILLING to have clean fair election in their rotten bourghs?

4 posted on 04/08/2004 10:24:27 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (Vote Bush 2004-We have the solutions, Kerry Democrats? Nothing but slogans.)

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