Thursday, September 20, 2007

Historic day for NC voters.... If you forgot to register for the October elections don't sweat it. You can register and vote for the election as long as you do it before the end of the day on Oct. 6th. Today marked the first time ever you can do that as a new law went into effect.

Cary voters are also making history by using an experimental instant runoff ballot. Essentially, you pick your first choice then pick a second and third as well. This prevents the need for a special and costly runoff election with few voters if a candidate doesn't get a majority. If it goes well expect to see this on all ballots in a few years. The state could use it on a statewide race as early as next May.

A new law changes the way we cover elections now too. The amendments prevent us from shooting video of people voting unless we have permission from the precinct official and every single person that could be in the shot. That means if we shoot a wide shot of 20 people voting they all have to agree.

We can no longer get those shots of the ballot going in the machine either. The new changes prevent us from shooting ANY video of a ballot once it has been completed.

It shouldn't make our lives too much more difficult but it does indeed change it quite a bit.

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