Town meeting is special, a chance to discuss and decide on issues. The camaraderie is cathartic after intense pre-election debating.
However, when it comes time to vote, i think emotion should not play a role and therefore I prefer electronic voting. I trust my fellow residents to do their homework and come prepared to cast a ballot. Rob Ahlert 185 Lincoln Road *Robert Ahlert* | *781.738.1069* | robahl...@gmail.com On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 9:00 PM Laura Crosby <lauracros...@comcast.net> wrote: > I’m 100% in agreement in purchasing > electronic voting devices. Valerie > Fox is also in agreement. > We lost close to two hours > at the recent Special Town > Meeting waiting for votes to be > counted. > Many left after first vote due > to timing issues. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Dec 12, 2023, at 6:47 PM, Scott Clary <scottclar...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Peter and Andy, > > Thank you for detailing a plan for revampment of our voting system that > makes so much sense. It really is a no-brainer. And the percentages broken > down by age that Peter provided are quite telling. > > Kind Regards, > > Scott Clary > 617-968-5769 > > Sent from a mobile device - please excuse typos and errors > > On Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 6:17 PM Peter Buchthal <pbucht...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> A town meeting is an all day plus affair which disenfranchises many >> younger voters with families and other voters who are unable to attend all >> day meetings. >> >> At our last special town meeting in early December we had 878 voters >> check-in with the following distribution of voters by age. >> 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ >> 2% 5% 14% 16% 23% 24% 16% >> >> With only 640ish cast ballots for preference votes for the Community >> Center and HCA rezoning, we lost 16/% of our checked-in voters as many >> didn't stay to participate in both important votes. Please note that only >> 21% of the vote is 49 or under. >> >> >> With a poor representation of our younger residents, We need to revamp >> our Town Meetings to better engage our 4876 registered voters. Certain >> votes require 2/3 of a town meeting and with such poor voter turnout, the >> power of a few well organized groups can dominate the decisions of the town >> unjustly. >> >> I propose >> 1) The town should purchase electronic voting devices to speed up all >> town meetings. At least 60 towns in the commonwealth already successfully >> use these devices. I bet we could save at least a couple of hours at each >> town meeting by using this proven technology. List of Mass Towns >> <https://www.meridiaars.com/electronic-voting-system-in-massachusetts-towns/> >> >> >> 2) We should explore Andy Wang's earlier suggestion of separating the >> debate/amend parts of a Town Meeting from the voting part. The town should >> create a working group to explore the many different ways to increase voter >> participation at Town Meetings. Maybe we can even get this new style of >> Town Meeting ready for our March meeting. >> >> Many towns like Concord have town meetings that last several days and >> have even poorer voter participation than ours Concord Town Meeting >> Participation >> <https://concordma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/43398/TOWN-MEETING-VOTER-PARTICIPATION-1997-2023>. >> The working group should explore separating the time consuming parts of a >> Town Meeting from the voting part. The first day of the Town Meeting >> could work through, amend and debate all contentious warrants up to an >> actual vote. At a certain point when a warrant is ready to vote, the >> moderator should table the vote until the continuation of the 2nd day of >> the town meeting. Information about the 1st day's work will be posted >> online with a video that voters would be able to review. The 2nd day of >> only voting would be a couple of days after the first and begin at a set >> time and be finished hopefully after only spending a couple of minutes per >> vote if the Town purchases electronic voting devices. >> >> Peter Buchthal >> Weston Rd >> >> >> >> On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 9:01 AM Andy Wang <andyrw...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> As of March, according to the election results. >>> <29AFF794-562A-4589-B5F3-D20DB548516B.png> >>> >>> Andy >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 8:36 AM Garrick Niemiec < >>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 9:52 PM Garrick Niemiec < >>>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> 5000 voters are on record >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 9:36 PM Barbara Low <barbara_...@hotmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I thought there were about 5000 residents, not voters. >>>>>> Does anyone know the actual number of voters? >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 5G Device >>>>>> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg> >>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>> *From:* Lincoln <lincoln-boun...@lincolntalk.org> on behalf of Sara >>>>>> Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> >>>>>> *Sent:* Monday, December 11, 2023 8:22:46 PM >>>>>> *To:* Garrick Niemiec <garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> >>>>>> *Cc:* Lincoln Talk <lincoln@lincolntalk.org> >>>>>> *Subject:* Re: [LincolnTalk] Wow 800 Lincoln folk vote at STM >>>>>> >>>>>> Most towns do NOT do this. >>>>>> Laws which govern Open Town Meeting towns are the determining >>>>>> factors. >>>>>> Perhaps all who want to come up with some new concepts should get >>>>>> together, like LRHA, and research and propose to the town. >>>>>> That would be really instructive and constructive. >>>>>> >>>>>> March will have a ballot, in addition to the TM vote -to approve the >>>>>> $$ for the Community Center. >>>>>> One could skip TM and simply vote at the ballot box the following >>>>>> Monday. >>>>>> >>>>>> Again, I urge all who are interested in this issue to form a study >>>>>> group and see what options are available. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> ------ >>>>>> Sara Mattes >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 8:09 PM, Garrick Niemiec < >>>>>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> I couldn't disagree more...we need to make voting accessable...time >>>>>> for change Sara.. time for change now. Let us vote electronically...all >>>>>> of >>>>>> us remotely. C'mon most towns do it now. >>>>>> >>>>>> New comers including my family all recognize this! >>>>>> >>>>>> The system is sooo antiquated. >>>>>> >>>>>> Join us now before the march town meeting fails us again! Again and >>>>>> again and again! >>>>>> >>>>>> As a good friend said at STM we are not spending our money wisely! >>>>>> You know that...a school project for 30M turns into 100 M. Driven by >>>>>> current Lincoln politics including selects. Yikes! >>>>>> >>>>>> Now RLF is bankrupt? What's going on here. We're in a tailspin. Any >>>>>> ideas? >>>>>> >>>>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 6:53 PM Sara Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Garrick, >>>>>> Town Meeting is open to all who care enough to attend. >>>>>> It not a drive-by! >>>>>> When people make noise about wanting a secret ballot at a ballot box, >>>>>> there is no evidence that indicates a huge leap in participation! >>>>>> I don’t like the way thing unfolded or the (predictable) outcome, but >>>>>> it was not because voting was not available tall. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> ------ >>>>>> Sara Mattes >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 5:53 PM, Garrick Niemiec < >>>>>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> 5000 are registered voters...this is NOT the Lincoln way!!! >>>>>> -- >>>>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >>>>>> Browse the archives at >>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >>>> Browse the archives at >>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>> >>>> -- >>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >>> Browse the archives at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>> Change your subscription settings at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>> >>> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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