March 13, 2008
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Tyrone Borough Council has been inundated with letters and petitions in opposition of putting wind turbines atop Ice Mountain, but council members think a simple survey will show what their voters really think.
Officials said they’ve taken a lot of heat from the people who oppose the windmills, but not all of those people have been their voters. They said with a ballot distributed to voters on election day, they’ll get the most accurate representation. However, people opposed to the turbines aren’t so sure that’s correct.
“Most of our people won’t be out there to vote because the Republican nominee is already voted in. People are only going to vote if they are voting for Democrats,” said Robert Roseberry, who has protested the windmills.
The vote won’t be on the regular ballot. After voters cast their official ballots, they will show their stubs, mark ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a different ballot and drop it in a separate box outside the polls. Officials said police will be traveling to local precincts to make sure no one is being badgered. Tyrone residents and council members will be counting the votes together.
The survey is not binding. Protesters like Roseberry said they do not think it will even matter.
“They didn’t take the petitions as a count, so this isn’t going to work either,” said Roseberry.
The council and Gamesa are still working out the price of the turbines, but the mayor said the results will help finalize their decision. He said the council could vote by may.
12 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/13/voters-asked-to-cast-ballots-on-windmills/