Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1981)
Page 3 Local THE BATTALION THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1981 State officials cite flaws in Texas voting procedures Photo by Steve Kennedy ■ Texas Secretary of State George Strake was address the 9th Annual County and District I in College Station Wednesday along with as- Clerks’ Seminar, fjsistant Secretary of State David Herdon to Speech to focus on I space war weapons Dr. Robert S. Cooper, former assistant director of the Defense | ‘Department’s Space and Advanced Systems Program, will speak at 8 p.m. in Rudder Theater on “The Weapons of Space Warfare.” I His speech, sponsored by MSC Great Issues, will focus on the use of | lasers in space warfare. Cooper recently served as director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he was involved in programs including the Landsat photographic satellite, the space telescope and the Tiros and Nimbus weather satellites. Prior to his service in the Defense Department, Cooper was head of the optics division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was an assistant professor of electrical engineering at MIT. He currently serves as a member of the Defense Science Board and ds a Defense Department consultant. Admission to the speech is 50 cents for students and $1 for others. By NANCY FLOECK Battalion Reporter Inadequate Texas voting proce dures should be corrected to pro vide citizens with an efficient elec toral system, two Texas officials told about 300 county clerks Wednesday morning. County clerks and state officials are responsible for correcting them, said George Strake, secret ary of state. And David Herdon, assistant secretary of state, agreed. “We have a goal in common — protecting the rights of each and every individual in the state of Texas,” Strake said at the 9th annual County and District Clerks’ Seminar. Speaking at the Ramada Inn in College Station, Strake said sever al areas of the electoral process in Texas are under attack for being inefficient and delaying the voting process. He said the accuracy of voter registration lists is a major factor in the state’s electoral efficiency. Herdon agreed and said that so cial security numbers or driver license numbers on voter registra tion cards would help reduce reg istration duplications and frauds. He said about 75 percent of vo ters voluntarily put their social security numbers on their cards. Federal law prohibits requiring voters to record their social secur ity numbers. Driver license numbers or De partment of Public Safety identifi cation numbers could be used for the other 25 percent of voters, Herdon said. “It would be a pretty simple means of catching duplicate reg istration,” he said. The allocation of voting machines in Texas precincts is also under attack, the two men said. Sixteen counties, about 50 per cent of the voting population, use these machines, Strake said. He said a formula for allocating the machines is being considered in the legislature. Herdon said the formula is de signed to provide a flexible, objec tive guideline for allocating machines among precincts. “It should do a lot to eliminate the criticism and pressure on you clerks to allocate machines,” he said. Strake also said opposition to the punch-card voting system has grown since the November elec tion, but two bills to ban them are being revised in the Texas legisla ture. “I had nothing to do with any legislation to ban that,” he said. “I will not be a party to such a move. ” The punch-cards are a financial burden to some precincts and must be carefully accounted for, but when used properly, Strake said, the system is highly effec tive. Strake said it is important that state officials and county clerks work together to devise long- range solutions, not “simplistic, quick fixes” to voting problems. “We must not allow ourselves to band-aid every little problem that surfaces,” he said. The clerks’ co-operation and in put is necessary to create the most perfect system man can construct, he said. Turns You Around! EASIAS PIZZA SPAGHETTI LASAGNA Everv Res. Priced LP In Stock s OnTale! It’s Plain As Day & Night or Black & White! 3 DAYS ONLY: THURS., MARCH 5 THRU SAT., MARCH 6 OIT.N 1010 725-B UNIVERSITY DRIVE ' Beliinil Skagiis N McDonalds S16-1741