Because I’m dumb: corrected to Portantino from Portafino

Rep. Anthony Portantino got a fax last week informing him that he was no longer chairing the Education Committee.  Rep. Hector De La Torre lost his chairmanship of the Rules Committee and won’t even get to stay on the committee.  The LA Times and the Pasadena Star News, along with Capitol Weekly, paint the moves as some combination of retribution for running for Speaker (both ran against Karen Bass) and lining up Bass’ preferred leadership ahead of her taking over the Speakership.

Steve Maviglio, in his normally flowery language, said simply “it’s an internal caucus matter.”  Both Portantino and De La Torre have said they spoke to Bass and she told them she knew nothing about the demotions.  If you’ve been living under a rock lately, you may have missed that Education is rather a hot topic about now in the halls of the Capitol, so a shakeup at the top of the committee is notable.  And the Rules Committee is always a big deal, so swapping out a recent Bass (and Nunez) competitor for Ted Leiu (who’s long been in Nunez’s and Bass’ respective camps) and dropping De La Torre all the way off the committee, well…that’s also notable.

If anything, it brings into stark contrast two competing governing theories.  Some people want to govern surrounded by the folks who get to the top based entirely on their merits, some prefer to be surrounded by the folks they work best with.  Certainly this isn’t a cut-and-dried contrast between the two options, but I’m sure it sets (or reinforces more likely) a standard of discouraging people for aspiring to higher positions lest they be punished for it.

I work for the Courage Campaign

This double bubble thing sure has some legs.  The discussion continues tomorrow in downtown LA with all the major electoral players in the house.  Secretary of State Bowen will be there. Registrar Dean Logan and recently departed Registrar Conny McCormack. The Courage Campaign’s lawyer. And a gaggle of LA electeds for good measure (and to give the forum a purpose).

The Courage Campaign proper will be represented, but this has always been about the voters.  So we hope that any Courage supporters who are in the area can come by the hearing and help us fix the double bubble and all the other problems that were brought to light on election day last month.

Rick Jacobs extends a proper invitation on the flip.

Can you come to the special hearing on the “double bubble” ballot in Los Angeles on Friday? We need as many people to show up as possible.

You signed our petition to demand that Los Angeles County acting Registrar Dean Logan count every “double bubble” ballot possible cast by “Decline-to-State” voters on Super Tuesday. Because of people-powered pressure from 32,802 petition-signers, the grassroots, the netroots, and our legal team, Mr. Logan just officially certified 47,153 votes — 80% of the total “Decline-to-State” votes initially discarded.

Until the “double-bubble” ballot — which has disenfranchised an unknown number of voters since 2002 — is history, we’re going to make sure that Registrar Logan follows through on his commitment to change this flawed ballot design before the June statewide primary election.

On Friday, March 7, you have the opportunity to help make sure this never happens again.

Please come to this rare hearing on Friday being conducted among three legislative committees to address the “double bubble” problem and other issues that emerged during the February 5 presidential primary election.

Elections experts from across the state are expected to attend, including Secretary of State Debra Bowen. So will Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County acting Registrar, and Conny McCormack, his predecessor (and the Registrar who presided over previous Los Angeles County elections using the “double bubble” ballot).

I can’t go (I’ll be on the road in another state), but Steven Reyes, our lawyer and an election law expert, will be there to represent the Courage Campaign.

Can you go? We need as many people to show up as possible. To find the event info for Friday’s event and let us know if you are coming, please click here:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/hearing

We also want to make it easier for “Decline-to-State” (DTS) voters to vote in upcoming elections. The Courage Campaign contacted 1.1 million DTS voters before Super Tuesday about their right to vote in the Democratic Party presidential primary — now we need California’s state and local officials to prioritize DTS voter outreach as well.

If you care about getting more voters to the polls and making sure the “double-bubble” ballot is never used again, please come on Friday and forward this message to your friends.

Thank you for helping the Courage Campaign make 2008 a new era for progressive politics in California.

Rick Jacobs

Chair

A quick, throwaway article crossed my path last night that two Jurupa Community Services District board members (from Calvert’s 44th District) are bullish about receiving federal funding for water projects after visiting DC last week. The article promptly disappeared and doesn’t show up in searches of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin or San Bernardino Sun websites, but the google cached version remains:

“We felt we needed to make a strong statement,” said board President R.M. “Cook” Barela about the meeting with Rep. Ken Calvert. “He seemed really interested in helping us with our projects.”

Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD) Legislative Committee members Barela and director Kenneth McLaughlin were in Washington representing JCSD’s needs before legislators during the Association of California Water Agencies conference Feb. 26-28.

The district has been self-reliant in funding projects and services but as the area has grown in population, district officials have started seeking federal funding for major projects, Barela said.

What exactly are these projects, and why would Ken Calvert be “really interested in helping” with these projects?  Sure there’s pork in Washington, but this sounded familiar:

They are also asking for money to turn an inoperable well into a water-producing producer. Both projects are in Mira Loma and would total $1.8 million, Barela said.

The district is also seeking funding for its 100-year-flood protection project to provide bank reinforcement at one of the district’s plants in Mira Loma.

Mira Loma you say? Now maybe I understand Calvert’s interest.  Ken Calvert bought up a bunch of public land in Mira Loma back in 2006 from, yup, the Jurupa Community Services District.  And as it turns out, did so unethically if not illegally because the District didn’t open the land up to the public for sale (as required by law)- just went straight to Calvert.  They claim they did notify other people and organizations, but they have no proof and nobody’s substantiating the claim.

The deal allowed Calvert, R-Corona, and his partners to buy public land without competition in a booming sellers’ market. The partnership also might have benefited from rising property values because a long escrow period tied up the property for more that a year while prices were climbing 15 percent to 25 percent a year, real estate experts said. Calvert, who has been in the real estate business since before his 1992 election to Congress, said he and his partners paid at least market value.

Calvert co-sponsored legislation that would increase the water supply of the Jurupa Community Services District and other water agencies by providing money for desalination facilities.

But what land in particular, and what’s it like?

The Calvert partnership plans to build a mini-storage business.

The land, just west of the Stater Bros. grocery store on the south side of Limonite Avenue, could have served as the only community park in a predominately Hispanic, lower-income neighborhood in Mira Loma, said Warren Lucio, a former board member of the local park district.

Jurupa Area Park and Recreation District officials said they were dismayed that they didn’t have a chance to buy the land. “It is a shame they didn’t follow the rules and guidelines; it would have been nice to have the opportunity to bid on the property,” said Dan Rodriguez, the district’s general manager. “It’s a good size for a ball field with tot lot and a picnic area.”

Emphasis mine.  So Ken Calvert sponsors legislation to expand water infrastructure in Mira Loma. Then the local government gives him an absurd and likely illegal deal on land in Mira Loma where he plans a business that will profit from the migratory nature of low-income communities without improving the community.  Then local officials visit DC and Ken Calvert is “really interested” in getting them some funding for further development projects around the land he snagged himself.

JCSD President R.M. “Cook” Barela said in the original article “He was very receptive we’re making contacts to see who can help us…we laid the groundwork that was needed.” I’m sure those contacts will play all sorts of unexpected dividends going forward.

Ken Calvert has a list of shady dealings as long as my…arm.  That’s not news.  What’s surprising(ish) is that he just keeps plugging along with this stuff like nobody cares.  This in spite of Republican activists trying to prevent him from getting a spot on Appropriations because he’s so slimy.  I suppose it’s just an old dog/new tricks situation.  But it would be nice to beat him in November.  We have good candidates and plenty to run on.

I’m going to Drinking Liberally, but I hear there are some elections today.

Thoughts/Numbers/Flames. Brokaw’s supers. Vote stealing in Houston. Extended hours in Ohio. What’s the deal with Rhode Island? Let it fly.

President Bush will endorse McCain tomorrow, Huck is out. I hope they make out.

Full Disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

Cross posted from the Courage Campaign blog and at DailyKos

The final results are in for Los Angeles County, with nearly 80% of the double bubble ballots ultimately being counted towards the final total.  As the Whittier Daily News reports:

The count, completed Sunday, had no effect on the outcome of the primary.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton received 51 percent of the 47,153 votes that were counted. Barack Obama gained 42percent of those same ballots.

Just over 12,000 votes could not be interpreted, said Dean Logan, the acting registrar-recorder/county clerk.

Of course, as the article goes on to say, Logan began the process not expecting any of the ballots to be counted:

Logan initially believed none of the “double bubble” votes could be counted in cases where non-partisan voters had failed to fill in a bubble specifying in which party’s presidential race they were casting a “crossover” ballot.

This is a huge victory for functional elections, and a tremendous testimony to what people power can accomplish when focused on the system threatening to fail voters.  This was never about the candidates involved, and the results ultimately mirrored rather closely the overall numbers.  But what we do get is voices being heard.  Rick Jacobs said that “Today, due to people-powered politics, a petition signed by 32,802 people, and the persistent attention of our lawyers and the media, the votes have been counted,” and echoed the focus on election integrity, noting

“This was not about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. It was about counting as many votes as possible in this historic high-turnout election and increasing the faith of the public in the system.” said Jacobs. “The Courage Campaign is proud to have played a significant role in ensuring the integrity of this election as well as finally junking these infamous ‘double-bubble’ ballots in future elections.”

In addition to the final vote count being announced, the double bubble issue and all the other reported election day trouble has prompted discussion about how to improve the LA County help-desk system.  A revamped system would move away from a paper-based operation and guide operators through helping voters resolve concerns.  But as Rick explains, it may not be quite so simple:

There were people who called in to us to complain, and people testing the system for us were quite shocked,” Jacobs said. “Anything they can do to get people the right information and to help them understand how to vote when they show up is vital.

So even as the double bubble issue’s resolution is still fresh, the business of reforming and improving elections in Los Angeles and beyond continues.  We’ve proven our ability to win these fights, and there will be plenty more to come.

Indeed, the double-bubble issue has already spurring action that goes beyond just this single incident.  In a rare joint hearing, three legislative committees that address election policy will meet in Los Angeles on Friday, March 7, to address the double-bubble issue and other problems faced by California voters on Feb. 5.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Acting Registrar Dean Logan and his predecessor, Registrar Conny McCormack, will appear. Election law lawyer Steven Reyes, of Kaufman Downing LLP, will be speaking at the hearing on behalf of the Courage Campaign.

Friday’s joint hearing is set for Friday at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the Ronald Reagan State Building at 300 S. Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles.

You can see the pdf of the full LA County Registrar report here

This was and probably could/should have stayed a quick hit, but I’m in a mood.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack and her husband Rep. Connie Mack are joining forces to form the new America Supports You Caucus. Reps. Adam Schiff and Allen Boyd join them as co-chairs.  The group will, at least in part, serve to highlight the Pentagon service that provides veterans with links to support services (instead of providing those services?).

I’m all for connecting veterans with support services and all, but at some point you can’t wave that miniature American flag hard enough to hide that you aren’t actually serving members of the military as well as you should.  How fast before this becomes a de facto test of support-the-troops devotion?

Open Thread yourselves as well. Fun with Metronomy’s Radio Ladio on the flip.

Perhaps to nobody’s surprise, right wing attack ads are up, running and dishonest in CA-11 against Rep. Jerry McNerney. I’m certainly not going to embed it, but you can head here if you want to check it out.  Basically, it accuses House Democrats of enabling terrorists because they stood up to President Bush on FISA.

Our new boogeyman is a newly-formed PAC called Defense of Democracies.  The ad is running all over the country, in both generic and targeted form.  Who exactly is Defense of Democracies you ask?

Defense of Democracies is a spinoff of a bipartisan anti-terrorist foundation of the same name that had included Democrats until the ads began running. Former member Donna Brazile, who worked for former President Clinton, said in a statement that the organization “has morphed into a radical right-wing organization that is doing the dirty work for the Bush administration and congressional Republicans.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer and former GOP vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp are among the members of the organization’s board of directors.

The group running the ads is led by a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Factcheck.org got to refute everything that’s wrong with the ad which is…well…actually everything in the ad. Starts off by saying FISA expired. Not true. Says the House refused to vote. Except it voted and passed FISA in November. Says the government’s ability to fight terrorism has been crippled. Except the current law runs through August, so nothing’s changed.

But reality isn’t the sort of thing that Republicans are likely to let get in the way of trying to scare the crap out of people.  At the very least, it’s good to know that, if the right-wingers are leading off with this, it probably means they don’t have a single credible issue to run on.  Good luck with that one Dean Andal.

( – promoted by David Dayen)

Full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

BradBlog, as is the norm over there, provides an excellent evaluation of where things currently stand with the DTS ‘double bubble’ ballots.  It’s long, in-depth, and awesome. In part:

For the moment then, some 50,000 voters in Los Angeles County have had their votes for Presidential candidate currently miscounted. An intended vote for Hillary Clinton, for example, has not been registered as a vote for her. She has lost that vote for the moment, and the voter has been disenfranchised. Needlessly.

Moreover, current acting Registrar Dean Logan is claiming that, due to the fact that the same sets of bubbles were used for both Dem and AI candidates, it’s “impossible” to determine with absolute certainty the intent of the voter. But he is wrong. In almost every single case.

The current miscount/error rate for those 50,000 ballots is now at 100%. Thus, any ballot counted at this point will only lower the current miscount/error rate.

Since almost every single one of those ballots can be counted accurately, as per the voter intent, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it’s an absolute absurdity and outrage that Logan is claiming that none of them can be, as he argued in an absurd report [PDF] delivered to the County’s Board of Supervisor’s on Monday.

He closes with an elegant summation:

The excuses must stop. Dean Logan must get to work and start counting. NOW.

Any questions?

But w-w-w-wait it gets worse…

The Sacramento Bee has a love note for democracy this Valentine’s Day.  There are still 1 million ballots uncounted from the California primary a week and a half ago.  The state is aiming at a March 4 deadline

Unless you enjoy watching sausage getting made, you may want to look away:

In Sacramento County, 90,000 ballots remain unprocessed, while 277,000 had been counted as of Wednesday afternoon.

Los Angeles County has 200,000 unprocessed ballots – and that’s not counting the 50,000 presidential votes it discarded because a quarter of the decline-to-state voters improperly marked the county’s ballots.

Statewide, Weir said, most of the uncounted votes – about 600,000 – are absentee ballots turned in on election day. Still to be vetted, he reckons, are 400,000 provisional ballots, which typically are valid about 85 percent of the time.

He estimates 10,000 more uncounted ballots are damaged: shredded in the mail, mutilated in vote-counting machines, or gummed up by sloppy voters who dribbled coffee or ketchup on their absentee ballots. Election workers must pry them open, try to figure out the voter’s intention, and then create a fresh ballot to feed into the machine.

Most likely this doesn’t ultimately have a huge impact overall, and the article notes that Mitt Romney dropped out anyway.  But it begs the question.  As an example, if either the full results were known sooner and Romney had done better or the nomination schedule was a bit slower, would people be dropping out so fast?  The whole vote-and-forget thing seems poised to draw a little attention here.

Regardless, the current state of California’s electoral infrastructure is becoming much more clear in the public eye.  I’ve got no objection to it taking a while to count mountains of absentee votes or even the due diligence involved in checking provisional and DTS ballots.  But it isn’t exactly the simple process people try to make it.