District 1 election politics entered the Chattanooga City Council chamber, Tuesday, as candidate Deborah Scott questioned the Council's decision to only use the Hamilton County Election Commission early voting site off Amnicola Hwy. for the April run-off election. Earlier in the meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to approve an Election Commission recommendation that would exclude both the Brainerd Recreation Center and the Northgate Mall sites for the early voting period between March 25th and April 8th. Run-off elections are set for Districts 1, 8, and 9.
The Election Commission's recommendation to the Council was prompted by a letter from the Chattanooga City Attorney addressing cost concerns. The cost to keep an early voting precinct open for 15 days is $30,000. During the time reserved for public comment, Ms. Scott challenged the Council decision, citing concerns about voting access for the elderly, "There is the potential for great confusion over all of those residents who typically vote in an early voting site at Northgate -- and did that only less than a week ago." She added, "It's likely to decrease participation in the site that already had low participation to begin with." Councilman Jack Benson responded by saying that it would cost the City $30,000 to keep the Northgate precinct open during the early voting period. He said, "We were just trying to be good custodians of your money. And being conservative with what we spend, and that was the point and purpose" of the decision. To which Scott replied, "I realize that you do have a difficult decision in balancing money and the ability, or the right, to vote." During her time on the Chamber floor, Ms. Scott also implied that the Council was trying to insulate Councilwoman Linda Bennett from a potential election defeat, quoting early voting numbers from both the Election Commission and Northgate sites, "You may have actually altered the outcome of the election itself," she said. For a political context of this debate, consider the early voting numbers for both the Election Commission and Northgate early voting sites:
Northgate Mall Early Voting Linda Bennett: 97 votes Deborah Scott: 221 votes Election Commission Early Voting Linda Bennett: 118 votes Deborah Scott: 47 votes
The Northgate Mall voting precinct had the highest early voting turnout for District 1, but the highest early voting precinct citywide was the Election Commission site. While the Northgate early voting site had fairly high participation last month, it was primarily used by voters for the District 2 and 3 races. Ms. Scott's implication, though, did not sit well with the Council or the City Attorney, all of which defended the decision as a means to save taxpayer money. Councilwoman Debbie Gaines: "It's my understanding that the decision for the location for this run-off was made by the Election Commission body." The City Attorney [Assistant City Attorney Phil Noblett] concurred, "The Election Commission was recommending that only one location be opened at this point and time, to handle all the early votes on any [district] election." Ms. Scott pressed the point, "I only have one question, and that would be whether anyone in this body actually approached [the Election Commission] to request anything of that nature?" The City Attorney denied the allegation, stating that it was his office that wrote the Election Commission a letter with the original recommendation. "I think Ms. Scott's argument would probably have some merit if we didn't have the precincts opened on election day. Just having one early voting site, I think, will not change the voting patterns at all," said Councilman Dan Page. He added that elderly voters can still go to the Northgate site on the election day, April 14. "The Council certainly wants it to be fair." Councilwoman Bennett presided over the discussion as Council Chair, but sat mostly quiet except to reiterate that the decision was made in order to save the City money. The Election Commission will certify March 3rd election results on Monday, March 16. It will formally announce the early voting schedule and locations, then. Joe Lance attended the Council meeting, and summarized the exchange on Tennessee Ticket. Download audio of the entire Council session from the Times Free Press.
3.16.09 UPDATE: The City Attorney mentioned in the first posting was identified as Assistant City Attorney Phil Noblett by the TFP. The newspaper covered this story yesterday under the Reporter's Notebook section of Sunday's Metro. Also, Gary Poole provided his own summary of the debate at the Chattanooga Pulse blog.
David Morton
Jeremy Clifton on March 13, 2009
I think both the Council and Ms. Scott have valid points re: leaving the early voting locations open.
I wonder though ... given the high cost of running the early voting locations ... do they really have any significant impact on voter turnout? Are there people who early vote who wouldn't vote by absentee ballot or on the election day?
David Morton on March 13, 2009
It's certainly a tough balance to strike. And I think in general, it's exactly the kind of problem that stems from poor voter turnout in the first place. Benson's breakdown that it would cost roughly $70/vote to keep Northgate open during early voting was fairly damning ($30,000/400 expected voters at that site).
To answer your question, yes, 400 votes could easily make/break the outcome of that District. But there's no hard proof backing up Scott's argument of the 'elderly using that EV site.' The argument was largely conjecture on her part.
The Election Commission does not release information about the age of voters at various EV precincts as far as I know.
gid on March 13, 2009
Okay I will jump in on this. Please understand that I am not claiming to be impartial in my response. That said, I believe that between data and experience the effect of the Council's decision will be what they hoped for.
There were 662 early voters in District 1. ~550 of the District 1 early voters were 50 and over. That leaves less than 120 early voters that were under 50. ~60 voters were in their 50s, so about 490 of the 662 early voters were 60 and over. That means that ~75% of early voters were over 60. The importance of the North Gate early voting station is common knowledge amongst those who have worked with campaigns. Those that have spent the time canvassing and talking to elderly voters during past election cycles have quickly picked up on the importance of the North Gate polling station in getting the Piccadilly crowd and Mall walkers to the polls. Conversely if you have spent any time at the election commission during early voting the age of the voters is not in question. By far the election commission crowd is made up of those that work downtown, those that live in Bush town, Avondale, and Highland Park.
What disturbs me most is that Linda Bennett did not see a conflict of interest in her vote to close the early voting stations. As well, the irony of the City Council closing these early voting stations based on financial concerns is not lost on me. The only good thing to come out of this is that if it were not for Scott and Graham campaigning on how unwise the City Council had been in spending our money, they would not have even thought twice about keeping the polling stations open.
If the council had really wanted to help the elderly get to the polls they could have considered abbreviated polling hours. In all fairness they might have considered it, but if they did it was not done in public.
That’s my $.02
doodle on March 14, 2009
So Gid , in the past, the North Gate location has never been closed for cost savings ? I thought that that was a primary focus of Deborah Scott's campaign (ie wasteful spending )? If it is gonna cost me $70 a vote, well close the station . Soliders die everyday for our right to vote, I think making it convient for the Piccadily crowd is asking too much. Yes, sounds harsh, but if they can drive to the Piccadily to eat and those that drive to walk in a mall....well, it is more than probably that they can get to the Hamilton County Election Commission to vote. My dad is a vet of WWII and is 84 so, sob stories need not apply.
gid on March 14, 2009
The North Gate polling location has, to my knowledge, never been closed for cost savings. I do agree that savings is a real issue here, I do not speak for Deborah, but from listening to her at the city council meeting she did acknowledged that the cost savings did have some merit. What I don’t understand is why the conflict of interest is not being spoken about. Linda Bennett should have never voted on this issue, she did without even flinching. Her actions should raise the eyebrow of any halfway impartial citizen.
I think there could be a good argument for not having early voting at all, but our current system does provide for it. This change in the middle of an election cycle is questionable at best.
doodle on March 15, 2009
Tongue in cheek . Thought that "change" was what Americans have voted for. If locally they want Scott to succeed then they can make it to the early poll station that is available. Good point on Bennett not abstaining , yet it appears not many care about it or voting for that matter. The general voting numbers were appalling.