Steele County says voter ID could cost it $100,000
The Secretary of State’s office estimates that Steele County has 2,386 eligible voters without state-issued IDs or with invalid IDs. Steele County auditor Laura Ihrke has tallied the numbers and says the proposed Voted ID amendment could cost the county close to $100,000, writes Derek Sullivan of the Owatonna People's Press. The Secretary of State’s office estimates that Steele County has 2,386 eligible voters without state-issued IDs or with invalid IDs. “If (the Constitutional Amendment) passes, a lot of what will happen is unknown,” Ihrke said. “We don’t know who is going to pay for the additional poll books. Is it going to be the responsibility of the county?” A poll book allows election officials to review and process voter information during an election. Ihrke said poll books cost $2,000 to $4,500. Steele County has 26 voting precincts, so if one was placed at each precinct, the cost would be $52,000 to $117,000. Ihrke said that estimation may be conservative. “We will most likely have to have more than one at each precinct to avoid extremely long lines,” she said.
The storm was the most destructive in the 108-year history of New York City’s subway system, said Joseph J. Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in an early morning statement. “We are assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the process of recovery,” he said, but did not provide a timetable for restoring transit service to a paralyzed city.
At least 16 deaths — including 7 in the New York region — were tied to the storm, which toppled trees and sparked fires in several areas, The Associated Press reported.
