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Last-minute preparation on for election
Published Friday, August 22, 2008
City officials have geared up for election day with at least one surprise for some incumbents seeking re-election or election to a new office.
City Clerk Lois Williams presented a timeline Thursday evening to members of the Selma City Council, who met in a work session.
During her presentation, she said Election Software & Systems representative Mark Kelley will have two teams at City Hall on Tuesday at 4 a.m. to begin delivering voting machines to precincts. Owners of the buildings will open them up for Kelley's teams.
Williams has asked 16 city employees to secure the machines at all precincts until election workers show up at the polls around 6:30 a.m. Voters can't cast ballots until 7 a.m. Polls will remain open until 7 p.m.
Cecil Williamson of Ward 1 cringed at the announcement of city employees providing security until poll workers arrive. "One of them could slip one of those missing black boxes into those machines, and it will be all over," he said.
Williamson referred to 17 black memory packs missing from a prior municipal election in Selma. Some candidates, including Williamson, who seeks re-election to Ward 1, have raised concerns about other candidates using the memory packs to skew the elections.
Kelley said it's nearly impossible for that to occur. Someone would have to have access to proprietary information and special equipment used by ES&S.
Council President George Evans asked Williams to bring a list of the 16 city employees to Monday's meeting of the city council.
Councilman Johnnie Leashore of Ward 6 offered to pay minimum wage for 16 people of Williamson's choosing to ride with the machines.
"I need two," Williamson answered.
Two police sergeants will guard the boxes the night before in the basement at City Hall.
In another security move, the technology department of the city took up pass cards from department heads and others, including Mayor James Perkins Jr. and Evans, to audit who had access to the building.
"Everybody in the building doesn't have access cards," the mayor said.
Evans and the mayor received their new access cards Thursday.
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Comments
Posted by eyeonyou (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here we go again with last minute changes on the effort of Perkins to botch this election. The city clerk, an advocate for Perkins, is making the decision on who the 16 "CITY EMPLOYEES" are to be with these voting machines for 3 hours before the precincts open. Wonder if she will be distributing the "missing black boxes" as well. As a concerned citizen, looks like I will be right there at 4am to watch after the machines myself. I have never seen a group of individuals more vindictive, biased, race based and willing to sell their soul for their own double standard agendas.
Posted by allmylife (anonymous) on August 22, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Candidates must insist on pole watchers being allowed in the poling places with the machines. If not, the city employee accompaning each machine and anyone entering the poling site prior to legal voting hours should be video taped(with time/date stamp) coming and going. If perk steals the election and it is challenged and the hand counted ballots don't match the machine totals they could well be charged in what will be the largest voter fraud in history. Prison
I believe the council meets Monday Night. Every candidate needs to be there and insist the pole watchers be admitted. If they won't allow it disrupt and shutdown the meeting (Rose) to draw statewide media attention to perk's plan.
Desperate times call for desperate measures!
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