A city council election is upon us once again. We've had plenty to say in the past, but let's get real, not enough of us vote in this election even though it is one of the most important to our daily lives. As if the voter turnout wasn't bad enough in other elections, it's basically non-existent in municipal elections. Read on for a break down of what you need to do to get up, get out, and be a good citizen in the next two weeks.
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EDUCATE AND REGISTER YOURSELF
We're smack-dab in the middle of politics season, y'all. Not only do we have the presidential primaries coming up, but many local elections are just around the corner. Local elections, while often less showy, are arguably more important as far as how the outcomes will affect your day to day life. We've seen numerous changes in the past few years that are a direct result of local elections. Read on to find out how to check and see if you're registered to vote in Denton and about the Republican Primary debate we are hosting at Dan's Silverleaf on Monday, February 15th.
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ELECTION WEEK: DISTRICT 1
It is early voting time in Denton. Do you have any clue which candidate you're going to vote for? Do you know which district you live in? Do you know where to vote? Do you even know what you're having for dinner? Don't worry. It will all be okay. We will get through it together.
Read MoreHEY WISEGUY: WHAT THE FRACK?
It's been a while since we last opened up the Hey Wiseguy mailbag, but we figured we'd check the 'ole inbox in time for the election and we're glad we did. We had a reader write in asking a pretty dang good question. What the heck does being against a ban on fracking mean? Read on for more!
Hey Wiseguy,
I've never thought of myself as a dumb individual, but I'm kinda rackin' my brain right now understanding this whole fracking ban thing. My actual opinion withheld, I'm not sure exactly how to vote. Is a vote for "yes" a vote to frack or a vote to ban fracking? Open my eyes please, goodsir.
Yours Truly,
Admiral Adama
Dear Admiral,
Man, do I know it. Politics can be confusing in general, but when the advertising for something is more confusing than the actual wording on the ballot, something's wrong. Speaking of the wording of the ballot, let's take a quick look at that. When voting, you will be presented with the following question (in all caps, of course):
“SHALL AN ORDINANCE BE ENACTED PROHIBITING, WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING, A WELL STIMULATION PROCESS INVOLVING THE USE OF WATER, SAND AND/OR CHEMICAL ADDITIVES PUMPED UNDER HIGH PRESSURE TO FRACTURE SUBSURFACE NON-POROUS ROCK FORMATIONS SUCH AS SHALE TO IMPROVE THE FLOW OF NATURAL GAS, OIL, OR OTHER HYDROCARBONS INTO THE WELL, WITH SUBSEQUENT HIGH RATE, EXTENDED FLOWBACK TO EXPEL FRACTURE FLUIDS AND SOLIDS?
FOR THE ORDINANCE _______________
AGAINST THE ORDINANCE ______________
The ordinance in this case, is for ban of hydraulic fracturing and whether you want it allowed in the Denton city limits or not. However, they've added a few extra nouns, pronouns, and hypernouns (are those a thing) to beef it up. Is there a minimum word count for propositions? Who writes these things, afterall?
The way we see it, you're either against being for being against fracking in which case you would vote NO, or you're for being against being for fracking and would cast a YES vote. It really couldn't be simpler.
In other words, putting your vote as "for the ordinance" would ban fracking in Denton and casting your vote as "against the ordinance" would be a vote to keep fracking. You're either "for" or "against" the ban.
And, that's what much of the billboards, yard signs, online ads, mailers, infomercials, product placement, other mailers, blimps, skywriting, and face yellings (these are where people yell at your face how to vote) have tried to get across, albeit in a few more words. We've seen billboards that read, "Support responsible drilling," which a casual observer, with knowledge that there's a fracking ban on the line in Denton would be led to believe was actually an ad for "Frack Free Denton," but they would be wrong. On the side of that same billboard, you'll read, "Vote no [sic] drilling ban." Responsible drilling then meaning the drilling they've been doing in the city limits.
So go vote no or yes on whether you'd like or not like for there to never be no fracking in Denton city limits and get one of them fancy little stickers people seem to like so much.
VIDEO: HOW TO VOTE IN DENTON
Early voting for the local general election started on Monday and is going on right now. The numbers aren't quite as strong as we'd like to see them be and we've chalked that up to y'all being scared. Maybe the general populous doesn't know what, exactly, they need to vote. We figured we'd counter that problem by making a video that documented not only the documents you need to vote, but also gratuitous butt shots of a denim-clad Glen Farris. Check below to find that video and a list of voting locations and times.
Video by Addison Day; Music by Telegraph Canyon
EARLY VOTING:
Early voting goes until Tuesday, May 7th at the following locations:
- Denton Civic Center - 321 E. McKinney St.
- April 30 - May 3, 8am to 5pm
- May 6 and 7, 7am to 7pm
- Denton County Elections Administration - 701 Kimberly Dr.
- April 29 - May 4, 8am to 5pm
- May 6 and 7, 7am to 7pm
ELECTION DAY
The actual election will be held on Saturday, May 11, from 7am to 7pm. Depending on your district (don't know which district you're in? Find out here. ) you will vote in the locations found below. Not sure who to vote for? We layed out our endorsements in the video, but you can decide for yourself by reading our interviews from the candidates of districts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
- DISTRICT 1 - Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center, 1300 Wilson St.
- DISTRICT 2 - North Branch Library, 3020 N. Locust St.
- DISTRICT 3 - North Lakes Recreation Center, 2001 W. Windsor Dr.
- DISTRICT 4 - Denia Recreation Center, 1001 Parvin St.