Vote Early, Vote Pro-Life

I just got done voting at 1 of the sattelite voting sites here in DBQ a few minutes ago. For those of you who don't know whatsatellite voting sites are, it is simple. they are sites set up arround town at various locations on various days, usually for 6 hrs. They are really a way to vote absentee without having to write for the ballot & mail it back. The idea is to increase voter turnout.

As I said, the sites are normally set up for 6 hours. Some are set up specifically as a result of a signed petition requesting 1 at that place. However the 1 I voted at was a little different.

I voted at Loras College in the ACC at a site that was set up for 2 hours. I intentionally did so for the reason I am about to explain.

As I said, 1 of the ways you can get a site set up is via a petition. A couple of Loras students decided to do so to make it easier for Loras students to vote given the location of the 3 polling places for the various parts of the campus. When they turned the petition in to County Auditor Denise Dolan, she refused to accept the petition & turned it down out of hand. Here reason was the poor turnout of previous times here.

Well the students weren't happy & they filed a complaint with the state. the article also made the Loras newspaper. & I even passed it on so that the Iowa Republican Party started looking into things.

Well apparently the pressure was enough that Dolan agreed to a reduced time site & set it up for today for 11 am to 1 pm.

The students then got the word out & the turn out was so good that they actually ran out of ballots for 1 of the Loras precincts. If you haven't guessed by now, the reason I showed up was to give them support & up the turnout.

I talked a bit to kevin O'Brien, 1 of those leading the charge & he told me they might do a 2nd 1 next week. Given the way they promoed this 1 & how the others weren't, I suspect the real reason was not lack of interest as Dolan said, but lack of awareness.

Now, I know that many of these students won't be voting Pro-life, but what is heartening is that they are voting. & hopefully as they grow older they will become more aware of what is really at stake & see that Pro-life must be the prime issue.