Voting Turnout Here

Here's hoping Raleigh is not an anomaly

We voted mid-morning and discovered that over 400 people had already voted in our precinct. In mid-term elections, we sometimes don't have much more than that all day.

What makes this even more spectacular is that our progessive representative (David Price) is a shoe-in and there is only one controversial vote on the ballot. That is a referendum on a school bond. Such referendums are usually not greatly opposed.

However, some parents don't like the county turning some schools into year-round schools and have launched a campaign to vote 'no' in protest. Talk about stupid! The reason for year-round schools is that we can't keep up with our rapidly expanding student population (thousands each year) and have to make fuller use of the facilities we have. Thus a 'no' vote actually makes it more likely that what they are protesting will happen.

Another bone of contention is busing, which is used both to utilize vacant seats in under-enrolled schools and to fight income segregation in order to make educational opportunities more equal.

The irony is that polls show the "old Raleigh" is overwhelmingly Democratic and in favor of school bonds. It is the newcomers (mostly from the north) residing in what is called "North Raleigh" who vote more conservatively. That makes our other Raleigh representative, Brad Miller, somewhat more vunerable. I wish I could have voted in his precinct!

GO VOTE!