Please don't wait until 2/5/08 to vote if you can help it.
Hopefully you didn't miss the deadline to register which was yesterday!!
A couple of things to keep in mind w/ regards to this primary election.
You CAN vote early. I did so yesterday at the county recorders office. I'm registered in the CA Central Valley and managed to vote for all the propositions and the candidates in less than 5 minutes.
An interesting anecdote: While I was waiting in line at the Recorder's Office, a 65+ y.o. lady walked up to the one of the clerks and said "I've been a Republican all my life but I'm jumping ship. I'm now a Democrat; how do I change my registration?". Music to my ears; I vote in a purple-redish district, and Democrats need all the votes they can get.
If you have a couple of minutes, please call your County Recorders Office and see if you can come in before 2/5 to vote (especially if you're in a red district). They'll give you a ballot, a pen, and an envelope. Doesn't get any simpler (or safer) than that. Giving up one lunch hour isn't that big a sacrifice. You'll avoid the lines during election day, and do your part to maximize Democratic voter participation.
If you're voting by mail be sure to drop your ballot in a secure USPS mailbox; people have been known to steal ballots from mailboxes, especially if you have a huge Hillary, Obama or Edwards sign in front of your house.
Note: Please vote "NO" on all the gambling-related Props; the tribes in question have been consistently very anti-union, and anti-labor. We were recently told about incidents of people being beaten up and left out in the desert because they tried to raise labor and benefits issues with regards to the proposed (and the existing) casinos. In addition there are no credible mechanisms in place to ensure honest bookeeping/reporting of revenues to the State of California.
Finally, if you do vote on 2/5/08 please keep an eye out for any irregularities. Many California districts are going the "low-tech" route (paper ballots); that's a good thing. Some districts use Scantron-type devices to tabulate votes; from what we were told (...) they ARE secure. The dreaded touch-screen machines ARE still in use however in some areas. If you live in such a district, call and ask if you have other voting options on 2/5/08. Here's the CA Secretary of State's website; a lot of details related to voting systems and updates are listed. Please take a quick look and see if your county/district are mentioned. CA Secretary of State; Voting Systems
On a somewhat related note it seems like the "Steal the State" petition drive is dormant to dead.
Ed Rollins who was spearheading the effort last August-September went to work for Mike Huckabee. But to quote Wilford Brimley "I get paid to be suspicious when there's nothing to be suspicious about"... Please be sure to report any petition gatherers and challenge the validity of any of their claims. Photograph them and their petitions if you can. Republicans are aware that they can still put their "Electoral College Reform" on the ballot in time for November's election. They may try to argue that because delegates will have to commit to a presidential candidate AFTER the election, that their "new apportionment rule" should become effective immediately after the November election but before California's delegates commit to the winner of the state's popular vote. (sorry for the long-winded explanation). It's a pipe dream, but it's still "out there" so please be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to your local Democratic party, and to:
Crystal Strait
Political Director
California Democratic Party
916-442-5707 (office)
916-442-5715 (fax)
crystal@cadem.org