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II. Election News This Week
- The state of Washington has decided not to print a Voter’s Guide for the upcoming August primary. Instead, the information will be available online and individual counties publishing local information will decided whether or not to include state and federal information. This is not the first time the state hasn’t printed a Voter’s Guide.
- Now this is something you don’t read about every day. A Nebraska woman who wants to open an island-themed restaurant in Kimball can’t because she’s not registered to vote. What? Yes, Nebraska has a pre-Prohibition law on the books that requires anyone wishing to obtain a license to sell liquor be a registered voter. The problem is Veronica Brown is a Jehovah’s Witness and therefore doesn’t vote. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Brown is asking the state liquor board to waive the voter requirement. She has submitted a letter from a church elder to back up her stance on the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. Brown told the paper that she had no idea about the voter requirement when she began the process to open her tiki-themed restaurant.
- Two of my favorite things! Oklahoma elections officials are reassuring voters that should the NBA finals featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder, stretch to seven games that it won’t interfere with state’s primary scheduled for June 26. “I'm not worried about it either way, I think it will be over in five or six games,” state Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax told The Oklahoman. Ziriax said polls close at 7p.m., an hour before a potential tipoff. And if voters are still worried that the game might prevent them from doing their civic duty, Ziriax suggested requesting an absentee ballot.
- Any long-time electionline readers are familiar with our love of the “I Voted” stickers so of course we could not pass up the opportunity to highlight this story. Voters in South Carolina had mixed reactions to the new “I Voted” stickers they got following this week’s primary. The stickers, provided by a nonprofit called the Palmetto Project have shrunk in size from years past. “Oh yeah, we got a lot of complaints about those small stickers. That’s what most of the complaints were about,” Howard Jackson, director of Orangeburg County Voter Registration and Elections told The Times and Democrat. Jackson said what while he can’t complain too much because county doesn’t have to pay for the stickers that didn’t stop voters from expressing their anger with the new dime-sized stickers. “We got everything from laughter to infuriation. They were really mad. You wear the ‘I Voted’ sticker to remind people to kind of get out and vote,” Jim Johnson, chairman of the Orangeburg County Voter Registration and Election Commission told the paper.
- This next piece deserves more than just a mention in the Personnel News. Volusia County, Fla. Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall has done something most people dream of (or fear). This week she appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” According to the Daytona Beach News Journal, McFall taped the interview weeks ago but only found out this week when it would air. "I've seen the Daily Show. I know it's a comedy show, but I think it's done in good taste," McFall told the paper. "When I saw the script (before the interview), I knew it was going to be OK.” Since the segment aired on Tuesday McFall told electionline that she has only gotten one negative feedback.
- Personnel News: Pierce County, Ga. Elections Supervisor Kim Teabo was fired last week following an arrest on drug charges. The county board of elections appointed elections clerk Sandra Boatright to serve as the interim supervisor through January.