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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - Some takes on Tuesday's primary election

Lesley Stedman Weidenbener writes in her Sunday Louisville Courier Journal column, under the headline "Officials feel a loss of control as elections near," that:

[A]fter problems nationally in the 2000 presidential election, new emphasis has been placed on voting accuracy.

Under state and federal laws, governments have spent millions to upgrade equipment, eliminating punch-card ballots and lever machines in favor of systems including optical scans, which electronically read ballots marked by voters, and direct-record electronic devices in which voters hit buttons on a machine that tallies their votes.

Those machines are high-tech and need knowledgeable operators to manage them. Counties using Election Systems & Software equipment are spending thousands on contracts to ensure that company employees are available 24 hours a day leading up to and on Election Day.

That means the accuracy of an election lies largely in the hands of a few companies, not so much the elected officials that the public has chosen to run them.

The Indianapolis Star's Mary Beth Schneider writes today:
Dissatisfaction with the status quo has spurred challenges this year to seemingly entrenched incumbents in Tuesday's election.

For instance, Senate President Pro Tempore Robert D. Garton, R-Columbus, is facing his first-ever primary challenge -- and he's been in office since 1970.

In the Indiana Senate, where half of the 50 seats are up for election, Garton's race is one of only five with more than one Republican candidate on the ballot; Democrats have only four contested races.

In the Indiana House, where all 100 seats are up for election this year, there are 15 contested races on the Democratic side and 17 on the Republican side. The numbers may be small, but the intensity and competitiveness of some races -- particularly against GOP incumbents in the House -- have insiders in both parties watching for upsets. * * *

In the Indiana House, where Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority, the GOP is worried that even if the challenged incumbents win, the tough primary races could leave them vulnerable to Democratic attacks in November.

"Absolutely, that's my fear. No question about it," said Indiana Republican Party Chairman Murray Clark, a former state senator.

Some of the races he's watching closely are House incumbents who are being challenged by Republicans angry about their votes for daylight-saving time, the Indiana Toll Road lease, or both.

However, as a story by the AP's Mike Smith makes clear, opportunities for voters to express their dissatisfaction are limited:
Garton is one of only five incumbents among 25 Senate seats on this year's ballot to face a primary challenge. * * *

Many in the Senate, which Republicans control 33-17, don't yet have a major-party general election opponent. The parties have until June 30 to get someone on the November ballot. But those who fill vacancies after the primary rarely win in the fall.

In the House, where Republicans have a 52-48 advantage, only nine Democratic and 12 Republican incumbents face primaries, and most are expected to win. Seventeen Republicans and 17 Democrats face no primary contest or major-party opponent for the general election as of yet.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 30, 2006 08:00 AM
Posted to Indiana Government