911 cell phone vote passes - Gerald Green @ 4:57 pm CST
Tuesday¡¦s vote calling for a 50-cents-per-month fee on all cell phones to finance an upgraded E-911 emergency phone system passed overwhelmingly in the five South Western Oklahoma Development Authority counties where it was on the ballot, with Custer County voters approving it by more than 4 to 1.<p>In fact, the margins in all five counties were close to that. Here in Custer County, 81.1 percent of those voting favored the fee. In the other counties, the percentages were 90.3 in Harmon County, 80.0 in Kiowa, 79.7 in Beckham, and 77.6 in Roger Mills.>SWODA spokesmen say it will be 12 to 18 months before the new system is fully operational. When it is, it will enable dispatchers in five area police stations „o Clinton, Weatherford, Elk City, Sayre and Hobart „o to know automatically the exact location from which a 911 call is being made so that they can immediately send out help. Presently, 911 callers using cell phones must physically state their locations, often causing lengthy delays in emergency responders finding them.>While Iraqis will risk death and maiming to go to the polls tomorrow in their national election „o with some in this country traveling hundreds of miles to cast absentee ballots at one of eight U.S. polling places „o Election Board worker Jan Lacy said only 7 percent of Custer County¡¦s eligible voters chose to exercise their rights Tuesday.>The total number of votes cast countywide was 1,049, with 851 for the proposition and 198 against.<p>At Clinton¡¦s four precincts 303 voted, with 259 in favor and 44 against. The percentage of yes votes exceeded 86 percent at three of the four polling places with City Hall coming in at 76.3.<p>Clinton¡¦s overall percentage in favor, 85.5, was more than 10 points above Weatherford¡¦s 74.3. Butler had a 90.6 favorable vote, Arapaho 88.7, Thomas 85.3, and Custer City 70.2.<p>Literature distributed by SWODA prior to the election promised that all money collected from the 50-cent fee would go into a dedicated fund, just like the money now collected from fees on land-line phones, and would be used solely for upgrading the 911 network, training personnel in its operation, and maintaining the system.>Responding to the fears of some cell phone users that the system could be misused by the government to track their daily comings and goings, the literature stated: ¡§Local governments, police and call-takers do not have the capability to track or follow citizens and cell phone users with this system. The only way that the location system is activated is when a 911 call is made.¡¨<p>r>

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