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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Study says early voting leads to lower voter turnout
License fees for street vendors increase
By Alison Dirr
By Grace Urban
The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal
Early voting policies lead to lower voter turnout according to a new study conducted by UW-Madison political science professors in conjunction with the Government Accountability Board. The study examined voter turnout in states where citizens may either vote on Election Day or through an early voting option. If implemented in Wisconsin, early voting would allow citizens to cast their ballots as early as September or October, Barry Burden, UW-Madison political science professor, said. Although this alternative to Election Day voting is more convenient for some, the study found this option might not increase voter turnout, which is the desired effect. “It probably does help some people get to the polls that would not otherwise vote, but on net, we think it lowers turnout,” Burden said. “It certainly doesn’t increase it.” Burden said Election Day turnout decreases if the hype surrounding a singular Election Day disappears. “If you have everyone voting on Election Day, it is an exciting, stimulating event that brings everyone out to the polls,” he said. Burden estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of Wisconsin voters take advantage of the in-person absentee system, where residents can vote in the weeks before the election on an absentee ballot. Currently, clerks must collect and hold absentee ballots then retrieve them from their respective envelopes on Election Day. The clerks act like voters and wait in line with other voters to feed the ballots into the machines, Burden said. In-person absentee ballots may be replaced by early voting in some municipalities. Creating an early voting system would allow voters to feed their ballots into the tabulation machine directly, cutting down on administrative costs. Like absentee votes, these ballots would not be tabulated until Election Day. Although this system may seem to have many advantages, overall, Burden said it may only solve cost or convenience problems. “If you’re interested in maximizing voter participation, we would not say early voting is the way to do it,” he said.
Street vendors will need to pay a little extra for their operating licenses because of a proposal approved by Madison’s Common Council Tuesday night. The proposal, sponsored by Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, increases street license fees for mall and concourse food vendors, merchant vendors and licenses, as well as other fees for arts and crafts vendors. Not all alders, however, felt comfortable approving the item because of sympathies for small business owners. Ald. Thuy Pham-Remmele, District 20, said she received phone calls from concerned vendors and reminded the committee that fees have been raised “25 percent within the past six years.” “I feel very uncomfortable approving this,” she said in opposition. “I want to bring your attention to the plight of small business people.” The Council also discussed Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s submission of citizen committee appointments. Pham-Remmele said she was concerned regarding the transparency of appointments, especially the long tenure of appointees and the representation of each district on the committees. “Because these appointees make every decision in town … shouldn’t they be scrutinized a little bit?” she asked. “Let’s do it transparently, let’s do it fairly.”
danny marchewka/the daily cardinal
UW-Madison College Republicans held a panel Tuesday to address the possible impacts the recently passed health-care reform bill may have on students as well as the insurance industry.
Panel addresses concerns with health-care bills By Robert Taylor The Daily Cardinal
The UW Madison College Republicans hosted a health-care panel discussion Tuesday in response to the current bills moving forward at the federal level. The health-care reform bill, recently passed in the House, is currently in the Senate where Democrats are attempting to pass their own version of the bill. Tuesday’s panelists spoke to the potential impact such bills might have on students, the insurance industry and health-care delivery. Jon Sender, director of Federal Relations and Strategic Communications for UW Health,
speaking solely on his own behalf, said the current delivery system of health care was unsustainable and costs were growing at an unacceptable pace. Sender said the government must find a way to cut spending on health care in the future. Although some audience members said they worried such cuts may lead to rationing, Sender said the health-care system is not limitless and there are already restraints on who can receive certain services. “Rationing occurs every single day in our health-care system,” he said. Terri Courtney, who works with the Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters, defended the insur-
ance industry, saying they pay out 85 cents of every dollar they take in. She also questioned the claim that there are 47 million uninsured persons in America, citing that most of the uninsured choose to be that way. “The real number of uninsured is probably closer to 18 million people,” Courtney said. When asked about a mandate requiring all uninsured people obtain insurance, a provision included in several proposals, Courtney said that it would help spread costs and control prices. “Health insurance becomes affordable if everyone is in the pool,” she said. “The risk is spread across more bodies.”
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UW PACE project says alcohol crimes are down By Maggie DeGroot The Daily Cardinal
Alcohol-related crimes on campus and the surrounding community have steadily decreased over the past six years, according to UW-Madison’s PACE Project, whose members held a meeting Tuesday at Memorial Union to present their findings. Aaron Brower, the vice provost for teaching and learning, said the research was done using a geographical information system. The GIS data showed how crime moves around the city hour by hour. The four crimes specified in the GIS data included liquor violations, noise complaints, vandalism and the most severe assaults and batteries. In comparison to the data from 2003, the amount of these crimes, with the exception of liquor violations, has
gone down. Brower said he thought this occurred because police were able to ticket liquor violations early, before they turned into a more severe crime, such as assault. According to the project’s findings, the binge-drinking rate on campus has stayed relatively the same from 1993 to 2009. A male who has five or more drinks within two weeks is considered a binge drinker, and a female is considered to be a binge drinker if she has four or more drinks within two weeks. The data also showed an increase in detoxification admissions beginning in 2004. Brower said that this could have happened because the university sent advisory messages to students to call for help if needed. The average blood pace page 3
Isabel Álvarez/the daily cardinal
Members of the UW PACE Project discussed methods of controlling the binge drinking culture on the campus community Tuesday.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”