Culver: Reform elections to cut costs, gain voters


The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs



When
Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver went to the polls for Tuesday's
primary election, he was the ninth person in his large West Des Moines
precinct to vote.



It was 6 p.m.



Overall,
the state's turnout for the election was “disappointing,” Culver said.
This included a weak 6.25 percent turnout in Pottawattamie County when
10 percent was the predicted number. Another county had just a 2.3
percent turnout.



That's why it might be time for a change, Culver said Thursday.



“We need
to look for savings, we need to look for better voter turnout,” he
said. “I think the time is right to take a good hard look.”



One
idea, Culver suggests, is to allow people to vote by mail for primary
elections, instead of opening up all of Iowa's 1,980 precincts, which
costs a total of $1.5 million.



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