Voter Suppression in Arizona - call in the DOJ

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Friday April 01, 2016 · 4:39 PM PDT

2016/04/01 · 16:39

UPDATE 4/5/16:

I delivered your signatures to the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. last week (photo on Facebook and Twitter), and the news just came out that the DOJ is going to investigate!

In Maricopa County (Phoenix area) Arizona, the number of polling places was reduced from 200 during the 2012 primary election, to just 60 for 2016. They were warned that this would mean long lines and discourage people from voting. But they did it anyway.

Some predominantly Latino areas only got one or no polling places at all. County officials allocated one polling place for every 108,000 residents but Anglo communities had more polling sites per residents. The result was traffic jams, and people had to wait in 5+ hour lines to vote. More about this here and here.

Tell the Department of Justice to investigate the Arizona voter suppression now.

[Republican] "Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, in charge of overseeing the election, told reporters she was sorry people were upset but didn’t offer solutions."

The Justice Department can put a stop to this, they are the best hope for upholding the rights of all Arizona voters. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has asked for the DOJ to investigate, now it's our turn to keep up the pressure.

Together we got the feds to investigate what happened in Alabama, we need to help Arizona too.

Voter Suppression in Alabama - call in the DOJ

lpackard for Voting Rights

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 05, 2015 · 11:16 AM PDT

2015/10/05 · 11:16

UPDATE 12/9/15: Great news! The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into the closure or reduction in services at 34 drivers' license office in Alabama, "as part of the agency's responsibilities under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make sure federal dollars going to state and local governments are used in a non-discriminatory fashion". -

First diaried here and here, the state of Alabama passed a very strict voter ID rule. Now they're closing drivers license bureaus, due to "budget cuts". Every single Alabama county in which African Americans are more than 75% of registered voters will have no offices anymore. Because Alabama requires voters to have photo ID in order to vote, this is a civil rights violation. Join me and my new organization Voter Rights Action in calling on the Department of Justice to investigate and put a stop to the voter suppression.

lpackard for Voting Rights

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 04, 2015 · 12:01 PM PDT

2015/10/04 · 12:01

Update 10/10/15: Victory! Governor Brown signed AB 1461 the New Motor Voter Act into law today.

You may have heard about the voter suppression going on right now in Alabama. But there's potentially good news about voting rights, for a change-- in California. The California legislature recently passed AB1461, the New Motor Voter Act, which would make it easier for Californians to register to vote by automatically registering any citizen who gets or updates a drivers license. It will be much easier than the current process, which has extra paperwork. With over 6 1/2 million citizens in California not yet registered AND record low turnout last year, something's got to change. The bill is on Governor Brown's desk, but he hasn't signed it yet. He has only a week left to sign or veto the bill, but the clock is ticking. Join me and my new organization Voter Rights Action to ask Governor Brown to sign AB1461 now, before it's too late.

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 23, 2014 · 11:59 AM PDT

2014/07/23 · 11:59

Running for office, or know somebody who is? As progressives, we need to make sure we use our time and money most effectively, since we don't have a lot of either to waste. Here's my thoughts on how to get the most from your website.

As a digital strategist and political consultant, we do a lot of work with political campaigns -- as they launch and as they ramp up. I've written before on how to successfully launch your campaign, but what happens after that? When you're ready for a full campaign website, it's easy to spend too much money and too much time -- and wind up with something that doesn't work and isn't what you wanted anyways. As progressives, we just don't have spare money (or time) to waste.

At PowerThru, we've helped a lot of candidates get the websites they need, on time and on budget. Here's some of our tips to help you on your project too! If you're thinking about having a website developed (or redeveloped) for your campaign, please read this carefully. And if you know somebody who's running, please pass this along!

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 28, 2014 · 4:16 PM PST

2014/02/28 · 16:16

As a digital strategist and political consultant, I see political campaigns all the time that launch with critical pieces missing in their strategy. Then they get bad press, or no press. They fail to capitalize on the moment, to raise enough money and supporters to kick start the campaign. It's a hard enough road for progressive political candidates, since we rarely have the deep pockets of the other side. We need to get the basics right at the beginning, and the momentum can carry us through to be in a good position later.

At PowerThru, we've helped a lot of candidates get launched in the last few months. For first time candidates or folks who have been out of office for awhile and are not used to online tools, we find ourselves telling them the same things.

How do you get started when you're running for office? Here's our list to help guide candidates and would-be candidates during the crucial phase between "thinking about running" and launching. What you do now can give you the boost you need for a successful launch, and get you on track to win. If you're thinking about running, please read this carefully. And if you know somebody who's running, please pass this along!

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday November 30, 2008 · 7:56 AM PST

2008/11/30 · 07:56

This weekend, I hit the road as a volunteer with the Jim Martin for Senate campaign again as we toured Georgia by bus. You can read my previous posts here and here. With the runoff on Tuesday the spotlight is shining brightly here. I re-joined the bus on Friday afternoon, as we headed out to Macon for a rally with supporters at the local campaign office. The major personnel shift on the bus this time was that Joan Martin (Jim Martin's wife) was not with us - instead we had Frank, Jim's son.

It soon became dark as we made the long drive to Macon, which led to a low-key atmosphere on-bus. Then at the Macon office, the two Jims (also Jim Powell, candidate for Georgia Public Service Commission) talked individually to some dedicated volunteers dedicated enough to be there making calls on the day after Thanksgiving!

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 24, 2008 · 9:55 AM PST

2008/11/24 · 09:55

Cross-posted at Tondee's Tavern

This weekend, I hit the road as a volunteer with the Jim Martin for Senate campaign as we toured Georgia by bus. You can read my previous post here. We (the road crew) were off to a later start on Sunday, although Jim Martin had been attending church services in the morning.

We headed out to a round table of veterans in Augusta after lunch. At this event, we heard stories from several veterans (clips may eventually be on YouTube, a few different tv cameras were there). They shared their feelings about the war, and talked about problems with accessing health care services and the VA. These people need help, and Georgia needs a change. Georgia needs to elect Jim Martin on behalf of all who are not being served by their government today.

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday November 23, 2008 · 10:03 AM PST

2008/11/23 · 10:03

Cross-posted at Blog for Democracy

This weekend, I hit the road as a volunteer with the Jim Martin for Senate campaign, as we tour Georgia by bus.

Saturday morning started off very early (6:30am) at the Martin campaign headquarters in Atlanta. Jim and Joan, Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell, and the road team boarded here in darkness, and off we went.

lpackard for Daily Kos

Community

Tuesday December 11, 2007 · 1:42 PM PST

2007/12/11 · 13:42

[Promoted by DHinMI]

Disclosure: I am volunteering out of the Robin Weirauch for Congress campaign headquarters in Bowling Green.

Polls are open here until 7:30pm, so there's three hours till polls close. The verdict so far? Because of the weather we believe turnout is low. But nobody knows if that is good or bad. It's doubly important that if you know anybody living in the district, you call them now and ask them to go vote for Robin. If you're on Facebook, you can use this event to invite your friends and family to go vote. But a personal phone call is probably best.

The weather is pretty uniformly bad. It's been raining or misting or about to rain all day. At least it isn't icy out. Supposed to be in the upper 30s for the rest of the day.

Ohio Daily Blog and Buckeye State Blog have been offering up great coverage all day, be sure to go read their posts.

For results tonight, check out the SOS website.

OH-05 Update: Election Eve

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday December 10, 2007 · 8:02 AM PST

2007/12/10 · 08:02

Disclosure: I am volunteering out of the Robin Weirauch for Congress campaign headquarters in Bowling Green.

Today is the last day before Election Day. The crush of volunteers from the weekend is over, so the office is calmer. It’s the calm before the storm, the forecast for tomorrow is more bad weather. We’re still seeing volunteers streaming in to talk to voters. Everyone is talking about how this is going to be a close one, so nobody wants to leave that last door un-knocked, that last number un-called.

What we need now, is you.

lpackard

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 09, 2007 · 8:31 AM PST

2007/12/09 · 08:31

Disclosure: I am volunteering out of the Robin Weirauch for Congress campaign headquarters in Bowling Green.

The Ohio special election is in just 2 days now!

The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for the 5th congressional district area, the temperature is bitter cold and the winds are bone-chilling. The weather is terrible outside, but people continue to stream in for door-knocking to help elect Robin Wierauch.

If you live in OH-05, hopefully you’ve gotten a call from the campaign at some point. If you were home last night, that call may have come from Robin Weirauch herself. Candidate Robin was sitting right behind me, making voter calls alongside several volunteers.

lpackard for Daily Kos

Community

Saturday December 08, 2007 · 9:07 AM PST

2007/12/08 · 09:07

[Promoted by DHinMI]

Disclosure: I am volunteering out of the Robin Weirauch for Congress campaign headquarters in Bowling Green.

Today will be more phone-banking and door-knocking for the Weirauch campaign, to reach every possible supporter in the district and remind them of the special election on Tuesday. The office was packed this morning with supporters for our canvass.

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Voter Suppression in Arizona - call in the DOJ

Voter Suppression in Alabama - call in the DOJ

Automatic voter registration in California?

Running for office? How to get a winning campaign website

Running for office? Here's how to successfully launch your campaign online

Georgia Senate Run-Off: On the bus again with Jim Martin

GA-SEN: On the bus with Jim Martin Part 2

GA-Sen: On the bus with Jim Martin

OH-05: An Update from Bowling Green

OH-05 Update: Election Eve

Update: More from OH-05

OH-05: Dispatch from the Front Lines