Sign the Voters First Pledge at Public Campaign Action Fund, for volunteer public financing of federal elections

Public Campaign Action Fund is running a Voter Pledge drive for clean elections for federal candidates. Clean elections is another term for volunteer public financing of candidate campaigns. It can save the candidates from "dialing for dollars" every day in order to keep their campaign money flowing; this allows them to focus their time and energy on their important issues they want to share with the voters.

Please sign the 2008 Voters First Pledge right now, at Public Campaign-- you can help increase the pressure on lawmakers and candidates to back this needed reform. Thank you

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Follow "local" bloggers up to general election day at Patchwork Nation

The Christian Science Monitor has just unveiled a different kind of "election 2008" web site, called "Patchwork Nation". Instead of the common "red state/ blue state" analysis of the nation's voters, it focuses on 11 different types of communities, based on census data and demographics. You can find out with your zip code where you are and follow local blogs up to general election day this November, 2008; statistics are given on what each community looks like.

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Take pictures while at your polling place

The Polling Place Photo Project is a program of The New York Times and AIGA, the professional association for design. The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this year’s primaries, caucuses and general election. By documenting local voting experiences, participants can contribute to an archive of photographs that captures the richness and complexity of voting in America.

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Will the Democratic Party's superdelegates vote the will of the people?

The role of the "superdelegate" in the presidential nomination process of the Democratic Party is under scrutiny, as the remaining two candidates-- Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama-- are in a tight race in this primary election season. Superdelegates are party public officials and party activists that individually vote for their nominee any time up to the party convention when the nominee is officially made.

FairVote's blog takes the position that the will of the people who vote in all of the primaries and caucuses that result in "delegates" should dictate the will of the party's "superdelegates". FairVote, along with other democracy-leaning organizations, have purchased an advertisement to appear this week in USA Today (it's in pdf format-- free Adobe Reader required).

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A video about Project Vote Smart-- a leader in candidate information

Project Vote Smart has been a leading supplier of information on state and federal candidates for years. They offer many primary resources to help you make an honest decision at the polling place. To give you more info about this marvel of political volunteerism, this nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in the Montana rockies has made a video; it is over 9 minutes long.

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Elderly and disabled voters are guaranteed access to a polling place

The federal General Accounting Office (GAO) recently gave testimony to the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging on the current accessibility of polling stations for the aging and disabled. Page 5 of the pdf manuscript (free Adobe Reader required):

The proportion of older people in the United States who may face challenges exercising the right to vote is growing. As of 2003, there were almost 36 million individuals aged 65 or older (12 percent of the population), and the majority have at least one chronic health condition. By 2030, those aged 65 and over will grow to more than 20 percent of the population. Disability increases with age, and studies have shown that with every 10 years after reaching the age of 65, the risk of losing mobility doubles.7 In many ways, lack of mobility and other types of impairments can diminish seniors’ ability to vote without some assistance or accommodation. With increased age, seniors will become more limited in their ability to get to polling places by driving, walking, or using public transportation. Once seniors arrive at the polling places, they may face additional challenges, depending on the availability of accessible parking areas, accessibility of polling places, type and complexity of the voting equipment, availability of alternative voting methods (such as absentee voting), and the availability of voting assistance or aids.
Responsibility for holding elections and ensuring voter access primarily rests with state and local governments. Each state sets the requirements for conducting local, state, and federal elections within the state. For example, states regulate such aspects of elections as ballot access, absentee voting requirements, establishment of voting places, provision of election day workers, and counting and certifying the vote. The states, in turn have typically delegated responsibility for administering and funding state election systems to the thousands of local election jurisdictions—more than 10,000 nationwide—creating even more variability among our nation’s election systems.
Although state and local governments are responsible for running elections, Congress has authority to affect the administration of elections. Federal laws have been enacted in several major areas of the voting process, including several that are designed to help ensure that voting is accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities. Most importantly, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEHA), enacted in 1984, requires that political subdivisions responsible for conducting elections assure that all polling places for federal elections are accessible to elderly voters and voters with disabilities (with limited exceptions). Any elderly voter or voter with a disability assigned to an inaccessible polling place, upon his or her advance request, must be assigned to an accessible polling place or be provided with an alternative means for casting a ballot on the day of the election.

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Check the directions for your state's presidential primaries

NASS (National Association of Secretaries of State) has a 2008 Presidential Primary Info webpage, listing each state's primary dates and caucus/primary, open/closed, voter registration deadline, early voting info, delegate allocation and polling hours. Check your state out right now, to make sure you're prepared to go to the polls on your primary day (if it hasn't occurred yet).

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Remember to vote Tuesday, November 6th

The League of Women Voters are the first people to look up for assistance in voting in the next election. They have local and national groups always ready with a wealth of information to make your voting experience the most productive. As many states around the country are having elections next week, LWV sends their greetings and their willingness to help:

It's fall election season! Many jurisdictions have elections on November 6, 2007. Visit the League's VOTE411.org site to find all the election information you need! Your voice will help shape important issues in your community, so please go vote on Tuesday, November 6th. Throughout the year, League members work to register, educate and inform voters on the issues that affect them. Providing quality, nonpartisan voter education remains one of our most important and well-known activities. Go to VOTE411.org to get registered, get educated, and get informed. Better yet- add VOTE411 to your list of online "favorites"!

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