Counting the Votes in Cuyahoga County
Jane M. Platten – Director, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections
Friday November 9, 2007
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall – Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University
Your vote doesn’t count unless it’s counted correctly. Since the infamous failures in Florida in 2000, activists, press and public have paid a lot more attention to how elections are administered. Cuyahoga County had its own problems, with machine foul-ups and long lines in the 2004 general election.
So, in the lead-up to the 2008 elections, there is a lot of pressure on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. November 6 is a modest dry run for next year’s challenges. Can the machines work, securely? Will the poll-workers know how to operate them? Will new rules about identification deprive people of their right to vote? Join us as Director Jane Platten reflects on how it went – and how far there is to go.
The Friday Lunch is a brown-bag event open to all. Cookies and some beverages are provided
The remainder of this e-mail reports what we know about the schedule for the rest of the semester. We will be sending out announcements each week. If you would prefer not to receive the announcements, please inform Dr. Andrew Lucker, Associate Director of the Center for Policy Studies, by e-mail (andrew.lucker@case.edu).
About Our Guest
Jane M. Platten was named the Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in June 2007. She has worked for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections since 2004 as an administrator in charge of the poll worker department, community outreach efforts, in human resources, and in pucurement and operations. Before going to work for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, Jane Platten, worked as a projects administrator and an executive assitant to the Cuyahoga County Commissioners. Jane Patten started her career as an executive assitant to the Cuyhaoga County Auditor. She recieved her B.A. degree from John Carroll University.
Friday Lunch and Other Public Affairs Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
November 16: Journalistic Ethics. Ted Gup, Shirley Wormser Professor of Journalism at Case Western Reserve University and Chris Sherridan, former associate editor and award-winning editorial writer and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and special assistant to CWRU President Barbara Snyder
November 23: Thanksgiving Break
November 30: Nico Lacetara, Assistant Professor of Economics, will talk about, “What Motivates Blood Donors?”
December 7: TBA
The Friday Lunch will resume for the Spring semester on January 18, with Robert Strassfeld, Professor of Law, leading a discussion on ‘How to End a War.
The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of
Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.
Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.
For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.
