Ruby Sinreich's blog

Turn-out, Turn-off

I just voted at Hargraves and then walked down Franklin Street from the Post Office to the Carrboro town line shortly after lunchtime. I didn't see a single person with an "I Voted" sticker. I did have a number of people speak to me because of my sticker: a few friends asked who to vote for, one woman in a minivan asked me for directions to her pollsite, and I was interviewed for WCHL's "On The Street" program. (Listen for that on 1360AM tomorrow at 7:39am, 12:39pm, 4:39pm, or 5:39pm.)

The papers all say they expect low turnout. I don't get why they think it would be lower this year than others. If anything, I would think Big Merger Madness (thanks Jay) and the deluge of Town Council candidates would bring more voters out this year. The poll workers said I was voter number 78 so far. According to the Board of Elections, there are 1,479 in my precinct (Northside) - so they may be right. Time will tell...

Vote Early, Vote Often

Polls are open from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm today. Here are some links to resources at the Orange County Board of Elections.

It's good to see the Board of Elections has partially gotten their website together. In the past, the process of getting the returns was clumsy at best. Now, presumably, you can go to this page and watch things happen after the polls close.

Find your precinct. (That page isn't nearly as helpful as it should be.)

This is neat, they also have voter registration statistics for each precinct. That should make post-election analysis even more fun.

Attack Ads

This seems to be an unfortunate first in Chapel Hill elections. The Daily Tarheel reports that Dianne Bachman, that paragon of moral purity, has run ads attacking Cam Hill for insinuating that she might not be totally fair when it comes to decisions about UNC development.

A few ridiculous things about this:

Now Play Nice, Y'all

Hi folks. The amount of participation and dialogue on the site lately has been amazing! It's really exciting to see so many ideas being exchanged, and to hear voices that aren't often reflected in the local media and government chambers. A lot of people have contacted me to say so - including candidates, reporters, and elected officials!

While I understand that some folks have compelling reasons for posting anonymously or under pseudonyms, I also am concerned that by not standing behind the words, writers really lessen their credibility in the conversation. I've also seen that such anonymity tends to lower the level of discourse. Speaking to strangers on the Internet is very different than speaking to folks you run into around town. Please try to write as if you were talking to your neighbor, ie: someone you have to get along with, even if you disagree or dislike her.

Do Endorsements Matter?

A few weeks ago we started talking about and comparing endorsements in the local races. Since then, a few more endorsements have come out, including the supposedly-influential Independent Weekly's picks.

A reader recently asked: "Please have a story about least helpful/most harmful personal endorsements. My vote is Moses Carey endorsing Jim Ward."

So what do YOU think, readers? Do endorsements matter? Which ones? Personal or organizational? How many of us bring the Indy voter guides into the booth each November? Whose recommendations do you trust?

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