CA Voters - Today Is The Last Day To Register To Vote

Today, Monday October 18th, is the last day one can register to vote in California for the upcoming election. You can find registration forms at your local post office OR you can register online at the link below (but you still have to print out and send in the forms today.)

As most of you know, electronic touch-screen voting is NOT safe. You risk the chance of your vote not counting if you vote electronically. (For more info: http://www.blackboxvoting.com ) The most secure method is to vote early in person at your local elections office. Voting by mail is another alternative. If you end up going to the polls on election day, request a paper ballot (NOT A PROVISIONAL BALLOT.)

Help support our Democracy by passing this info on to other Californians!


Vote Early In Person At Your Elections Offices
This is the most secure way to vote. You can vote anytime from now until November 2nd at your local office. You can find your local office here:

http://www.ezvote.org/


Vote By Mail
This method is very secure, except that you have to rely on the postal service to deliver your ballot.

Absentee Ballot Application (Request one ASAP)
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/Outreach/absentee/links/GE_countyform_ballotapp2004.pdf

Find where to send the application here:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm


Register To Vote Online
Registering takes just a few minutes. Once you've filled out the form, print it out, sign it, and be sure to mail it in.

http://moveonpac.org/vote/


Overseas Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request
http://www.overseasvote2004.com/


Become An Election Protection Volunteer
http://www.electionprotectionvolunteer.org/


More info:

Vote Pair – Swap Your Vote With Progressives In Swing States
In vote-pairing, swing-state progressives whose first instinct might have been to vote for Nader, Cobb or Badnarik are paired with Democrats (and others whose first choice for President is Kerry) in 'safe' states where either Bush or Kerry has a decisive lead. Paired voters can communicate with each other and decide to vote strategically: swing-state participants for Kerry and safe-state participants for Nader, Cobb or Badnarik. As a result, the paired voters' support for progressive third parties is recorded in the popular vote and their preference for Kerry over Bush finds voice in the Electoral College.

http://www.votepair.org/


Help Your Employer Help You Vote
Four years ago, George W. Bush won the election by 537 votes. Nearly 4 million registered voters couldn't get to the polls because their employers wouldn't give them the time off that they needed. In California, companies that don't give their employees the chance to vote are breaking the law.

This year, many companies -- like household products company Seventh Generation -- are giving all of their employees the opportunity to take paid time off to vote.

It's important that managers and HR departments know that companies standing in the way of voting could be breaking a state law. If you have questions about whether your company's policy is legal, visit http://www.timetovote.net/voter_leave_laws.html to review your state’s Voter Leave Laws.

Take a few minutes today to ask about your employer's Election Day leave policy. If they don't have one, ask them to create one. Even if you don't need Election Day leave, you can speak up for your co-workers who do.

If you feel that your employer is not respecting these laws, or if you see things happening in your local area that suggest that the election is not being administered with integrity, please call the Election Protection Toll-Free Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).

Sadly, we've seen some companies go to extremes to promote a political agenda. Recently, an Alabama woman was fired from her job for refusing to remove a "John Kerry for President" sticker from her car. Businesses aggressively supporting a right-wing agenda this year could try to suppress votes from those who might not toe the corporate political line.

It's wrong for companies to take advantage of rigid work schedules, long commutes and limited child care options to keep people from voting.

We've included some recommendations that you can pass along to your company below. No one should have to choose between earning a living, raising a family and exercising their right to vote. We need to plan now to ensure that we can cast an important vote on November 2nd.

This action could make a real difference for all your co-workers.

Thanks for all you do.

Sincerely,

- Lee Bodner and Peter Schurman
MoveOn.org
September 28th, 2004

Ten Recommendations for Companies on Voting Policies

1. Ensure that your company has procedures in place to comply with the laws in 30 states that give workers the right to take time off to vote.

2. Educate line managers and supervisors about state voter leave laws and the company‚s commitment to complying with them. Establish a confidential hotline employees can call if supervisors are violating their voter leave rights.

3. Conduct a robust communications campaign using e-mail, paycheck inserts, staff meetings and other methods to educate employees about their right to take time off to vote.

4. Create a company-wide voter leave policy giving workers the opportunity to take a limited amount of time off at the beginning or end of the work day to vote.

5. Adjust the company‚s paid time off (PTO) policy to explicitly include voting. Add an additional one to three hours to all employees' PTO accounts or let employees know that the company will extend additional PTO equal to the amount of leave taken for voting if they exhaust their PTO on Election Day and need time in the future for a medical appointment or family emergency.

6. Encourage Election Day job sharing, allowing employees to cover one another's work responsibilities so time-pressured employees can vote. Ensure that any adjustments in work schedules comply with collective bargaining agreements, state and federal law.

7. Create a "stay in line" policy that exempts employees who are late to work on Election Day because they were unexpectedly delayed at the polls from penalties or loss of wages.

8. Encourage managers to avoid planning meetings on Election Day that start earlier than 11:00 a.m. or end later than 3:00 p.m.

9. Remind employees about early voting and absentee voting.

10. Ensure that election-related activities in the workplace mobilizing employees likely to vote for a particular agenda are balanced by an equally robust time off to vote policy available to all workers regardless of their political beliefs.

For more information on the time challenge facing voters and what you can do to fix it please go to Time to Vote's Web site: http://www.timetovote.net


Protect Student Voting Rights
Young people are often criticized for low turnout on Election Day, but evidence suggests that students often face significant barriers to voting. In fact, many election officials are erecting legal and administrative obstacles that may ultimately discourage young voters from casting ballots this November. The right to vote is federally protected –- but Congress must act now to safeguard this right for students.

Officials across the country have refused to process student voter registration forms, used intimidation tactics, and created next-to-impossible residency standards to discourage students from voting in their college towns. Rolling Stone described the phenomenon, saying: "Much as local registrars in the South once used poll taxes and literacy tests to deny the vote to black citizens, some county election officials now employ an intimidating mix of legal bullying and added paperwork to prevent civic-minded young people from casting ballots."

Students have faced a number of challenges this year when trying to register to vote, including:

• Students conducting a voter registration drive at the University of Arizona were erroneously told that registering out-of-state students could be a felony.

• The district attorney of Waller County, Texas, threatened to prosecute students at Prairie View A&M University who attempted to register, erroneously claiming that college students cannot establish permanent residency at school.

• The city council in Williamsburg, VA developed a residency questionnaire after students at William and Mary College formed a club to increase student participation in local politics. Students registering to vote were told that refusing to complete the questionnaire was a felony offense.

Congress must act now to stop election officials' intimidation of student voters. At a time when voter turnout for young people has reached catastrophically low rates, it is critically important to remove any barriers to voting.

Urge Members of Congress to protect student voting rights.

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=17719

Check the postage!

San Bernardino County has been returning absentee ballots for lack of postage even though the USPS agreed to mail them with one stamp and the postage would be made up at the receiving end! Seems nobody told all the local post offices up here in the high desert. Typical BS!

I think I will hand carry mine to the post office and have them put the exact postage on it and watch them mail it personally.

My SIL registered for his first election! He's voting for John Kerry!