Tag Archives: VBM

Los Angeles Area

Operation Game Changer

(Thanks to Fera, the CDP’s online specialist – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Step Up and Become a Game Changer to Increase Democratic Turnout in California.

This month the California Democratic Party launched Operation Game Changer in Los Angeles County. The goal of the project is to increase statewide Democratic turnout by increasing the number of Democrats registered to Vote-by-Mail (VBM) in LA County.

“There are more than 2 million Democratic voters in Los Angeles County alone, more than any other County in California. But only 19% of those Democrats are registered to Vote-by-Mail. The statewide average is actually 39%. This is a problem for Democrats.  If we can improve our VBM percentage in LA County it will have the effect of boosting statewide Democratic turnout,” said Shawnda Westly, executive director for the California Democratic Party.

Voters registered to Vote-by-Mail are more likely to turnout to vote. Our field representatives love VBM because it allows campaign Get Out The Vote operations to target base-voters for turnout weeks before Election Day.

That’s why we need more California Democrats to step up and commit to becoming Game Changers and convert as many LA County Democrats over to Vote-by-Mail as possible.

Please visit our special Operation Game Changer site: www.operationgamechanger.com and sign up to volunteer.

Uncategorized

Leading The News – 7/15/08

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Here are a few links for you.

• It’s two days until the kickoff of Netroots Nation, and among the many luminaries attending will be Gavin Newsom, who is introducing green jobs expert Van Jones at the Sunday morning keynote.  The fact that he’s running for Governor has nothing to do with this, I’m sure… UPDATE: LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo will also be on a panel on health care, talking about his many investigations into insurance industry pratices.  That should be an interesting panel for health care activists, as it features nyceve and Ezra Klein, as well as the mother of Nataline Sarkysian, who died while waiting for her insurer to approve an operation.

• The final numbers on the June election were miserable, with a record low (for a regular election) 28.2% turnout.  A ridiculous amount of voters cast ballots by mail – 58.7%, also a record.  VBM is far stronger in Northern California than in the Los Angeles area, and not surprisingly turnout is higher up there as well.  This is really changing how elections ought to be conducted, as we move to a VBM state.  Campaign operatives need to understand this quickly.

• Hey, we had a bank run at IndyMac yesterday.  Fun!  The FDIC insures up to $100,000, so consumers should be fine for the most part, but what you’re going to see is eroding confidence in regional banks as the financial crisis widens.

• Another leader at the LA Times is out, this time publisher David Hiller.  I’m sure Sam Zell and his team can make loads of money on the paper if they just fire everybody and go to robot reporters.

• AB 97 cleared the legislature yesterday, which would ban trans fats at California restaurants and bakeries.  It now goes to the governor.  He did sign a ban on trans fats in school cafeterias last year.

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Is Vote By Mail A Good Thing?

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As Oregon finished up voting in its all Vote by Mail (VBM) system last week, Brad of BradBlog used the chance to attack the VBM system.  It's a worthwhile read as we head into the election next week. Note: Send your ballot in by TOMORROW to get counted first rather than last.      

As you might suspect, there are a number of issues regarding VBM. Claudia Kuhns, the executive director of the Public Integrity Project, targets the following six as top priority (with my little blurbs):  

  • Lack of Transparency: The votes are shipped off in a secret truck to a secret location to be counted with secret software.
  • Lack of Security: The votes are passed through the regular mail system with a poor chain of custody.
  • Voter Intimidation: Voting could be done in groups that would allow group leaders to pressure voters.
  • Election Fraud: Who signed the ballot? Who knows?!
  • Potential for Ballot Mishandling: How often is mail lost? That’s how often voters are disenfranchised
  • Lack of Secret Ballot: Most VBM software allows election judges to see how you voted and match it up with your identity.

    • Now, these are very serious problems.  However, I’m not sure that many of these problems can’t be resolved in a satisfactory way. For example, for chain of custody issues establish drop-off locations. As we wade closer to an almost complete VBM system here, we need to do so thoughtfully to increase voter confidence.