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Editorial: Fix School Votes Now |
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by Dan Veaner
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Friday, 11 January 2008 |
 Despite all the confusion and disagreement on last month's library vote there is one thing everyone seems to agree on: the voting procedure is flawed and needs to be fixed. The problem is that anyone can vote, whether they can legally vote or not. All you have to do is sign a log with your name and address and you get to vote. There is no voter registration or certification. That may not invite fraud, but it certainly leaves a big hole in the system to allow it.
That is the basis on which the library vote is being challenged, but there is no question that those challenging it are against the library having the authority to tax residents. The problem with challenging the process now is that if the library vote was illegal, why weren't the past several years of school district votes also illegal? Are the budgets we approved for those years invalid? What about school board members? Are they legally on the school board? School bus funding? Capital projects?
Evidently there was some fraud in the library election, but it is not clear whether it was committed on behalf of the library or those who oppose it. There don't seem to be enough problem votes to affect the outcome. So the library being established is probably not ultimately an issue. The system is apparently legal, and it should be noted that Ithaca is the only school district in the county that requires voter registration. So Lansing is not unique.
But a system that doesn't do everything it can to try to guarantee that votes are fair and legal isn't right, especially when the lives and wallets of voters are at stake. Those opposing the library may say that if voter registration and certification were required the library would not have passed. But those for the library can equally assert that if a better process were in place they wouldn't have to be distracted by a challenge now, when they need to concentrate on preparing for a charter.
This issue came up in a school board meeting last year, and all the members seemed agreeable to reviewing the school vote process with an eye toward improving it. They became distracted by important issues ranging from replacing the district's top administrators to budget and spending woes to crumbling buildings.
But I can't think of anything more important than preserving the integrity of our democracy, and I applaud school board member David Dittman's push last Monday to get this on the board's agenda as soon as possible so that another election won't go by in May using the old system.
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