By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
During budget hearings, the Sioux City City Council asked the Woodbury County Auditor's Office to look into ways to cut down election costs. After all, the City pays for its own elections.
Monday night, the Council got its presentation.
To save Sioux City about $5,000 per election, the Woodbury County Auditor's Office wants to change the way you vote.
One idea is to merge precincts. County Auditor Pat Gill says that's really pretty restrictive.
So instead, he prefers a "voting center" model where there would only be a few locations and voters could cast their ballot in any of those spots.
"What about Riverside? What about Greenville? What about the near Northside? Think about the neighborhoods that are shut out if you start talking about the convenience of having just 3 or 4 voting centers," said Jim Rixner of Sioux City.
Something that can't be denied is absentee and early voting.
50% of Woodbury County voters voted early last November. Gill saw success with absentee voting just last month with a usually unpopular special election.
So, is that the voting method of the future?
"Absentee voting has become a convenience that it should not be. Absentee balloting should be done for people who are disabled, ill, out of town, pick something," said Rixner.
Mayor Bob Scott said, "I'm exercising my right. Just because I'm voting early doesn't make me any less of a citizen. Doesn't mean that my vote should count any more or less. My concern is that people vote."
City Council Member John Fitch said, "When you make absentee ballots available to everybody, people are solicited in mass to get behind one particular issue."
Sioux City voters have 3 elections ahead of them this year: a school board election, council primaries and council elections.
Gill wants the same format for all 3 so he's making the same pitch to the Sioux City School Board starting on Tuesday.
The final decision is up to the Board and the Council when it comes to their individual elections.
