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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1992)
Monday, March 9, 1992 The Battalion Special Section ate Select Cj avi ly censtj st year. It is to, US. A, OW-MIA reported eafromW ightingofi ’y on gyang, 'rds deletec tar y pilots t ought to Nt 'S of as n rican prise; essor of hi eh said VC 'ducation r i eators with -free to list s, please ce to have so oo." ;ng the wh ut its bias it is what )ma ' do now pensive [ s. "We ha time enjoi njoy 'thii nd timed \nd that with pet pleasure.’ ith food: oung Koi his deep: o pickup gh teen hi rg ment Their j md their j I spend] pe withh m\ ce compE on for ins L‘ support ciation of: 133 millioJ Twelfth' to the Urt npaignin ; outright or prop d gifts sw ■ life estate d by thet »ce state ft des about ing. money ra ill not red d or eligih .i nding. :lges and; policies- ■ o the Uid i ce exect 1 icitionald i. j 3rd ofD a i chief eti 5RCH,h! > mmittee - SAL D S id) — LENSES *uear) ent! =.C. > Primaries put nominations in public’s hands, lack big turnout By Karen Praslicka The Battalion Voters turning out for Super Tuesday tomorrow are participating in the most widely used system in the 20th century for nominating candidates for elective of fice. The primaries are elections held by each party to determine which candidates will be on the ballot for the presidential election in November. The primaries have come a long way since the 1800s, when nominations for public office were made by congressional and legislative caucuses or delegate con ventions. There was no public voting to decide who would run for office. Robert M. LaFollette's Progressive movement in Wisconsin during the 1800s encouraged the nomination of candidates by party members' direct vote. Democrats in Crawford County, Pennsyl vania first used this kind of nomination system on September 9, 1842. Republi cans first used the system in 1860. Eventually the system was enacted into state election laws, and presently each state has some form of primary elec tion. Karen McQueen, election deputy for the Brazos County clerk's office said she is not expecting a large showing for the Texas primaries this month. "There's a bigger turnout in Novem ber," she said. McQueen said registered voters can vote for any party they choose in the pri maries. However, they can only vote in one party's primary. Texas voters are not required to regis ter with a specific party, but if there is a run-off in the primaries, persons voting again in the run-off must vote with the same party they voted with in the original primary. Bill McGuire, Democratic Party chair man for Brazos County, said normally the presidential candidate who gets the ma jority vote from the public gets the party nomination from state delegates, but it is not definite. He said delegates who vote for the presidential candidates at the party's na tional conventions can change their minds about who they vote for, even if the candi date received a majority vote from the public. "But they're supposed to vote the way people send them up there to vote," McGuire said. McGuire said voters often support a candidate based on his or her popularity, without actually knowing the candidate's stand on the issues. He said the best way to get candidate information is to call local party offices and talk to the area coordinator for that candidate. "They'll always have information," he said. "If there's no coordinator, there's al ways a state party office coordinator. They'll send you information." Another way to learn a candidate's stance on an issue is to watch television debates between candidates or news pro grams featuring candidates, McGuire said. "Get somebody you're comfortable with and believes in most of what you be lieve in," he said. "We won't find some body who has 100 percent the same be liefs we do." McGuire said many people consider voting for a candidate that is "electable," and then consider who the best candidate would be. "I don't believe that's the right way to go about it," he said. Redistricting shifts many polling sites Brazos County voting places change, increase after '90 Census evaluated Brazos County voting simplified for ’92 vote By Jayme Blaschke The Battalion A wording problem on voterV registration cards, which kept many Texas A&M students from voting during the last presidential election, has been corrected this year. A deputy from the Brazos County Tax Office, which is in charge of voter registration for Brazos County, said anyone wish ing to vote must register at least 30 days in advance of that elec tion. "Any American citizen at least 18 years old can register to vote," the deputy said. "They can send for an application from our office through the mail or pick one up in person. It only takes a few min utes to fill out." On previous cards, the space for the voter's address was marked as "permanent address." Since most University applica tions ask for "permanent address" as the student's parents' address, many students wrote down their parent's address instead of their local residence. This registered them to vote in their home town instead of Bryan- College Station. "The wording 'permanent ad dress' has been changed to 'resi dent address,'" the deputy said. "This should cut down a lot on confusion." It is too late for unregistered voters to get registered in time to vote in the March 10 "Super Tues day" primaries, but there still plenty of time to get registered be fore the Nov. 3 general election. Once the card is filled out, it is returned to the tax office, and the voter will receive a voter registra tion certificate, confirming that the voter is registered. Voter registration cards are available this year from several places besides the tax office. Sterling C. Evans Library on the Texas A&M University cam pus, the Democratic and Republi can party headquarters and the United States Secretary of State's T here m y W u, ecin i ct l ▼ ▼ Where do I go to vote in my precinct? These are questions facing Brazos County residents after a 10-month redistricting pro cess expanded the voting dis tricts from 40 to 76. A list of the new district's polling sites is listed on the back of this page. If you are unsure about what precinct you live in call either party's head quarters or the Brazos Coun ty Tax Office. Brazos County Tax Office 361-4490 Democratic Party Headquarters 846-1725 Republican Party Headquarters 764-1988 office will all supply registration cards. To find out where to vote, a registered voter can either call the local political party headquarters or the tax office. Voters must vote in their precinct polling place, and with the recently redrawn voting lines, many people will find them selves in new precincts. "A person doesn't need to take their voter registration certificate to vote at the polls," the deputy said. "Their name should be print ed on a list of the registered voters in that precinct, although they need to take some kind of I.D." The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. By Alysia Woods The Battalion V~ f ers this year should be awa? c new Brazos County re- disb ,.ig that nearly doubled the number of precincts in the county. Ruth McLoud, executive assis tant to the Brazos County Com missioner's Court, said because of the 1990 U.S. Census figures, the county has increased its precincts from 40 to 76 and now has two U.S. Congressional districts, in stead of one. Brazos County also has two Texas House of Represen tatives districts. "Because of the population shift, we've had to realign the precincts to ensure minority rep resentation," McLoud said . The realignment has resulted in smaller precincts with fewer people in them. Redistricting is a process in which county officials realign county precincts to ensure appro priate representation within each precinct. Redistricting is conducted ev ery 10 years following the census and is a result of the Federal Vot ing Rights Act of 1965. McLoud said Brazos County began redistricting in March 1991 and finished Jan. 1. "It actually took that long," McLoud said . "We were glad it was over." A consultant from Austin was hired to help in the process, which included computerized maps and statistical information from the census. McLoud said the redis tricting affected almost all the precincts. "Some were cut by more than 50 percent," she said. "The north ern part of the county was affect ed the most." McLoud said students who in tend to vote this year should be aware of the new precincts. She said the first thing stu dents should do is check and make sure their voter registration card has not expired. A new card is issued every year. The next step, said McLoud, is to check the precinct listed on the card because, more than likely, it has changed since last year. "For example, if you previous ly voted in the 15th Precinct, it's now been divided into two or four districts," said McLoud. Next, voters need to determine where their precinct's polling place is located and, finally, McLoud said students should call their respective party to clarify the location. Many precincts have been combined into one location. "It's extremely difficult to un derstand, but we can't deviate from it," she said. FREEDOM OF CHOICE Smaller parties offer alternative to big party politics with small budgets, high aspirations — ; money and time," Feldman said. By Ursula J. Burrell The Battalion Democrats and Republicans dominate the electoral spotlight, but other political parties, howev er, do exist, including diverse or ganizations such as the Prohibi tion, Peace and Freedom, Socialist, and Libertarian Parties. Unlike the Democratic and Re publican Parties - that hold pri maries to select candidates for upcoming nominating conven tions - minor political parties hold one nominating convention dur ing August and September to se lect their nominee for president. Minor political parties may not participate in primaries due to the expenses that incur. Libertarian Party office staffer Steve Feldman said the Democrat ic and Republican parties can af ford primaries because they are forcibly funded through taxes. Money that supports their pri maries is taken from everyone's income taxes whether they like it or not. "Primaries also require a lot of "These are things that small par ties do not have much of." The Socialist Party is another organization with limited re sources. "We do not participate in pri maries because we are a small party and we are not going to fight to among ourselves like the Democrats and the Republicans," said Ann Rosenhaft, national sec retary for the Socialist party. The Socialist party nominated retired school teacher J. Quinn Brisben for president and William D. Edwards for vice president. The party seeks radical and fun damental change in the structure and quality of economic, political, and social relationships in Ameri ca. Their platform includes restor ing high tax rates on the wealthy, socializing banks and creating a publicly funded and administered health care system for all. Commercial real estate broker Andre Marrou and Dr. Nancy Lord are the Libertarian president- See Smaller /On Back Presidential race draws interest of Democrats, bores Republicans Sheriff’s office, other local contests attract students’ attention By Reagon Clamon The Battalion Students at Texas A&M are rushing to find out more about the Democratic presidential candidates as the March 10 primary approaches, while debate among the Republican voters seems to be reticent. Joe Trimble, president of A&M College Republi cans, said the national race isn't a topic of much ex citement to student Republicans. Trimble blamed the lack of Republican interest on the fact that there's no real contest between the presi dential candidates. "There is less interest in this race than, say, two years ago when Clayton Williams was running against Ann Richards," Trimble said. "I don't think anybody doubts that Bush will get the nomination eventually. You might explain the lack of excitement by saying there's no knock-down drag-out in the Re publican race." Unlike the Republicans, the attention of most stu dent Democrats is focused on the presidential prima ry- David Lesmes, a graduate student with Aggie Democrats, said local issues do not seem to interest the students he has talked to. "They don't know who's running," Lesmes said. "They mainly know about the national election." Lesmes said the Democratic race, at least among students, has narrowed to two. "Clinton and Tsongas are the big guys that we're getting inquiries about," he said. Trimble said the economy is foremost among stu dents who have talked to him about the presidential primary,. "Obviously, the first question that comes up is about the economy," Trimble said. "There was a dip in the economy, and people are concerned. Now the economy is recovering, so it's a moot point." Trimble felt that most of the speculation among student Republicans was over the local elections. He said the Brazos County Sheriff's race, pitting incumbent Republican Ronny Miller against Repub lican Howard Hill, will turn out to be the attention getter. " As much as students deal with law enforce ment, I think the sheriff's race should be the most im portant," Trimble said. "Students pay taxes and go to jail in this county, so they should be concerned with who is sheriff." Lesmes said although students are ignorant of lo cal issues, the excitement of a national presidential race has opened a few students eyes to what is hap pening in their own back yard "Most of the people working on this election are having their first political experience," Lesmes said. "I think that's a good indicator."