Posted: Thursday, October 5, 2006 12:00 am
Ballots arrive late in Platte County
General election ballots were delivered late to one Wyoming county and just barely made the deadline for absentee and early voting in four others, officials say.
The company printing many of the ballots, ES&S of Omaha, Neb., said changes around the country to comply with the Help America Vote Act that dictates updating voting systems has created problems. New equipment and new ballot requirements are often needed.
"This is an odd thing. It would be like Congress deciding that everyone in the United States should buy a new car this year. That's what it's like," said Peggy Nighswonger, Wyoming state election director. "Everyone in the United States had to buy new voting equipment this year and had to start using it this year, and there are only three major companies that provide this equipment, so you can imagine what it's like."
Platte County was the only county that didn't get ballots from ES&S by the Sept. 28 deadline. There, the clerk's office used a software program to print ballots to mail to people who'd requested absentee ballots; the ES&S ballots arrived on Sept. 29.
Former page saw no problems
GILLETTE - A former congressional page from Gillette said he never experienced any sort of harassment during his time in Washington, D.C.
Mike Trummel said he had little contact with former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, the Florida Republican accused of sending sexually explicit instant messages to pages.
Now a freshman studying international politics at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Trummel said he wants all the facts to get out before any conclusions are drawn and he hopes the page program will continue, saying it was an unforgettable experience.
Trummel said in a telephone interview with The (Gillette) News-Record that he was a congressional page during the 2004-2005 school year.
County rejects off-track betting
GILLETTE - The Campbell County Commission rejected a proposal to establish an off-track horse betting operation at a local hotel.
The operation at Clarion Hotel and Convention Center would have broadcast horse racing from across the country.
The commission voted unanimously Tuesday against the operation.
"I don't see any value - monetary value - to the county or the state," Commissioner Alan Weakly said.
Jobless insurance program wins honor
CHEYENNE - The U.S. Department of Labor ranks Wyoming's unemployment insurance program as the best in the nation for speed and accuracy.
Wyoming will be presented an award by the Labor Department on Nov. 1 at a national unemployment insurance conference in Denver.
"Teamwork, diligence and extra effort from all the staff of the division are the reasons our clientele have received exceptional service," Randy Hopper, administrator of the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Wyoming Department of Employment, said in a statement released through the governor's office Wednesday. "We will do our outright best to continue this service into the future."