Guest Post

This letter appeared in Sunday's Herald-Times (subscription required).

[Note: You can find the press release mentioned below at http://www.in.gov/sos/press/2008/040308.html]

With the approach of the next election, as you decide whether to vote electronically on a MicroVote Infinity, you might consider an April 4 release from the Indiana Secretary of State (contact: Bethany Derringer, 317-233-8655). The headline: “State Enforces Action against Errant Voting System Vendor/ Secretary of State Todd Rokita moves to collect fines and fees totaling more than $360,000.”

The release adds that on March 31, an administrative law judge of the Indiana Election Commission revoked the certification of MicroVote’s Infinity Voting System, and prohibited the company’s sale of voting systems in Indiana for five years.

The revocation concerned the company’s involvement with uncertified voting systems in 2005 and 2006. Nevertheless, the company may continue to support counties already equipped with the voting system.

Thus, although the judge revoked its certification, Monroe County voters can still use the MicroVote Infinity if they so choose. An alternative is to vote before Election Day by means of a paper ballot.

- JAMES ALLISON, Bloomington

This is a guest post...

Please read this if you do not like the idea of Bloomington Hospital moving miles outside the city to the corner of Curry Pike and State Road 46. At the end of this message, you will find some simple steps you can take to stop the relocation from happening. You will need to act quickly.

Merger and Move are Intertwined

As the Herald Times noted in a May 18th article (http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2008/05/18/news.qp-2006559.sto - Sub Req'd), the management of the Bloomington Hospital is about to become a part of the private Clarian Health Partners, which is gobbling up small independent hospitals around Indiana under the guise of making health care more cost effective. Clarian will have 51 percent representation on the hospital's board to protect its interests.

As Mark Moore, president and CEO of Bloomington Hospital, notes in the HT article, a major part of this deal is that BH will get funds to move the hospital to a location that can attract more patients from outside Monroe County.

City and county planners have not been consulted about the merger or the move. After the HT article appeared, the Bloomington City Council invited Mr. Moore and other involved leaders to its June 4 meeting. Mr. Moore admitted that it is well known that doctors locate their offices near hospitals and, when the hospital moves, so do most of the doctors' offices as well as supporting businesses. Bloomington would be left with a blighted area around the existing BH site. At the same time, its citizens would be burdened by having to pay an unfair share of county expenses required to build on the new site, which is currently without utilities and other infrastructure.