Election Day: Your Voting Information

The common ballot item to all Americans, of course, is that of President of the United States. But, next Tuesday there is plenty more to vote for in the District and beyond. Depending on where you live in the country, you're liable to be voting for Congressional Representatives, Senators, City Council members, Mayors, school board members and more. 

As a public service the Voting Information Project has released an online tool, installed below. Learn your polling place as well as who is on your ballot. This tool is for anyone! District residents, yes; but also those from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia, any state in the Union.  Enter your address and then use the arrows to scroll through the ballot issues and races.

Have a great weekend and happy voting next Tuesday!

Vote Today for DC's Mayor, Council

With all due respect to the Republicans and Statehood Greens, the election for Mayor of Washington DC happens today and will be determined by Democrats. Although today's vote is technically a party primary, DC's overwhelming registered Democratic majority virtually ensures that that party's primary winner will prevail in the general election.

If you live in Mount Pleasant, you are likely voting in one of two schools:  Bancroft Elementary at 1755 Newton Street NW or Bell Multicultural High at 3101 16th Street NW.  Some of you way down on Harvard St NW closer to Adams Morgan will vote at H.D. Cooke School.  Check your registration card or DC Board of Elections and Ethics website. Where ever you vote, the polls are open from 7:00AM until 8:00PM.

You have to be registered as a member of one of the three major political parties to vote today (that's Dem, Rep or Green).  Those registered as Independent will vote during the general election on November 2, 2010.

Ward One residents who are registered to one of the three major parties will cast votes for:

*Mayor

*Council Chair

*At-large Council Member

*Ward One Council Member

*Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives

*United States Representative

Here's a PDF from DCBOEE with all candidates for all three parties across all DC Wards.

Only the Democrats are fielding candidates in each office for Ward One.  Republican and Statehood Green Parties are fielding partial slates, although all voters are entitled to write in a candidate for any office or not vote at all.  Good luck and see you at the polls.

No Promises, But Voting Rights Bill Off to a Good Start

We're nowhere near attaining statehood. That's another issue entirely. But it's related to the subject matter. Yes, the biennial (happens with each new Congress) push for D.C. Congressional voting privileges has begun anew and we're off to a good start. The Senate committee which oversees the District's goings-on voted to advance a bill which would give the District a voting member in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill would permanently add two voting members to the House, bringing the total to 437. The additional seat would go to the state next in line according to recent population increases; Utah. However, Congressional voting districts will be redrawn and reapportioned after the 2010 Census, so Utah may not hold on to the extra seat for long. D.C. would keep its seat no mater what the outcome of the Census. There are plenty of pros and cons to this bill, but moving it along this early in the Congressional session is a good thing.

Finally, Voters Take Center Stage

A new President will be moving onto the 42 bus line in January. Help choose him.

Just to review:

+++DC polls are open from 7:00AM until 8:00PM
+++Those in line by 8:00PM will get to cast a vote
+++Voters can take notes or sample ballots into the booth
+++Voters can take a friend or other helper into the booth
+++A paper ballot is always available, in every polling place
+++IDs not always required, but bring one anyway
+++No campaign paraphernalia can be displayed in the polling place
+++Precinct 39 voting (formerly Mt Pleasant Library) now located at Bell Multicultural High School

DC, Vote III: Electoral College

When in the voting booth tomorrow voting for President, you'll actually be voting for a group of people, none of which are running for President. Casting your vote for Obama, McCain, or any of the other candidates is actually casting your vote for a group of people who represent the candidate's party. They are called electors. Look closely at the ballot tomorrow. It states that you are voting for "Electors of President of the United States," not just for the President of the United States. These electors (538 total in the U.S., including 3 from DC) are the actual people who vote to determine the President of the United States. Each party chooses it's electors in a different manner, which also varies by state.

You may remember that in the 2004 election, the final electoral count was 286 for Bush, 251 for Kerry, and 1 for Edwards. John Edwards actually got an electoral vote for President of the United States from an elector in Minnesota. That incident got me interested in the whole electoral process again.

A candidate needs a plurality of electors, at least 270, to vote for him or her to claim the Presidency. The real vote for President in 2008 happens on December 15, 2008. That day the electors in each state and the District of Columbia will gather in their respective state capitals and officially cast their votes. The vote counts will be sealed and sent to the United States Congress. They will be unsealed and read allowed on the floor of a joint session of Congress next January 6, 2009. There will be a new Congress in session at that point, including newly elected members from the November 4 elections. Only after that reading will the President elect be officially declared the next President of the United States, inaugurated two weeks later on January 20th 2009.

Interesting system. The reasons behind its creation go all the way back to the nation's founding and are fairly complicated. There are federal and state laws that govern every aspect from whether or not an elector can vote for a candidate which didn't win their respective state (some states outlaw it, others don't) to setting up a possibility of having a candidate win the popular vote, but lose the election (has happened three times in U.S. history). If you'd like to read more, there's a great concise and easy to read book called After the People Vote.

DC, Vote: Notes and Change of Polling Place

DC absentee voting is happening now. You are allowed to vote absentee if you can not make it to the polls on election day because of illness, disability, or travel. As of October 20th, DC residents can vote absentee, in person at the DC Board of Elections and Ethics Office, address 441 4th Street, NW Suite 205-North. Registered voters can vote absentee in-person at the office every day Monday-Saturday (yes, Saturday) from now until November 3rd. The hours are 8:30AM-4:45PM. Citizens can no longer register to vote in the November 4 elections.

If you are mailing in a ballot, its due Tuesday October 28th, soon. Mail-in absentee ballots are not like taxes, they have to be received into the office by October 28th, not just postmarked by October 28th.

For Mount Pleasant residents, the voting place of precinct 39 has changed. If you used to vote at the Mount Pleasant Branch Library, your new polling place is Bell Multicultural High School at 3101 16th St NW. Voting will take place in the auditorium.

If you previously voted at Bancroft Elementary (precinct 40), nothing has changed for you. Refer to your voter registration card or use the DCBOEE website to double check your registration status and voting location.

District Figures Big in National Primary Scene

After 2004's primary debacle, the District along with the Commonwealth and the Free State, captured the attention of the nation on Tuesday. Robust turnout, compelling party races, and plain old geeky political punditry combined to swing the spotlight onto the Mid-Atlantic; once again proving that alliteration can sell pretty much anything (Potomac Primary...?...tell that to the voters in Baltimore or Cumberland Gap). Still, it felt nice for just a night to see our little misshapen piece of territory known as the District of Columbia splashed across the nightly news shows. Who ever wins the Republican and Democratic nominations, we'll know we had a significant and much noticed roll in the process. Turns out being first isn't the only way to make a difference. We made news from coast to coast and even overseas. Good job DC, good job.

Coverage from:

The New York Times//Los Angeles Times//Chicago Tribune//Daily Telegraph (UK)//Au Fait (Morocco, French language)

DC Voting Deadlines, Primaries Loom

UPDATED FOR NOV 4, 2008 ELECTION: CLICK HERE

If you are a registered voter in the District of Columbia, get ready. Key dates are approaching regarding the Race to Live in Relative Comfort For at Least Four Years, Maybe Eight, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Or, in the parlance of our times, the Race for the White House '08. The DC primaries are only weeks away, Tuesday February 12, 2008. If you'd like to vote in the primaries, you must be a registered voter by January 14th, 2008. That's next week! Remember, we have closed primaries in DC. That means you must register under a particular party to take part. Those registered as independents are not allowed to vote in DC's primaries. However, independents are allowed to vote in the general election. For the 2008 presidential primary elections, three parties are on the ballot, Democrat, Republican and Statehood Green.

The polling locations for the primary elections mirror those for the general election. There are 142 all over the city. Check you voter registration card, or use this web link to determine to which polling place you are assigned. There are a couple in Mt Pleasant alone including Bancroft School and the Mt Pleasant Branch Library.

If you are just turning 18 soon, or just haven't registered, you still have time to before the general elections in November. The deadline to register in DC for the general (including presidential) elections is October 6. The election will then be held a month later on November 4, 2008.

There are 7 Democrat, 6 Statehood Green and 5 Republican candidates vying for their own party's presidential nomination. Interesting notes: Two candidates have already dropped out of the presidential race although their names will still appear on the DC ballot (Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd, both Democrats), one candidate is a DC resident (Jared Ball of the Green Party), and one candidate was a star of sorts in an opposing party (Cynthia McKinney, formerly of Democratic Party fame, now a Green Party candidate). A couple of years ago, DC officials tried to jump the primary nomination gun and schedule an primary in January. The purposes were to make a splash nationally by being the first in the nation primary and to focus attention on our lack of full representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The primaries were held early, but the plan backfired when national Democratic Party leaders stripped the elections of any cache' by declaring them non-binding, essentially making the exercise a meaningless exhibition. Not so this year, as we get back in line with everyone else. The big day outside of Iowa and New Hampshire, is Super Tuesday February 5, 2008. Twenty states will hold primary elections, virtually assuring that one candidate form each of the major parties will have locked up the nomination for president by Wednesday February 6.

Where does that leave DC then, with a primary on February 12? Well, whether our primary is on January 1 or June 1, the purpose is the same. Vote to send your candidate to lead your party and run for President. If you don't have a party (or don't want one), just wait out the primaries and use that time to decide who you'll vote for in the general election. Its true, "all politics is local," and we get a chance at least once every four years to prove that statement in the national presidential primaries. Vote.

A Break, A Brake, A Bake

I'm on a short hiatus, but I'll be back soon with postings updating the drama surrounding the DC voting rights bill, the final installment of The No Cheese Thin Crust 42 Bus Pizza Wars (plus addendum) and a little bit on the DC gun ban issue, which will hit the national stage in a few months if the Supreme Court takes it up.

I breached the topic of comical and absurd condo names and I have a little more to say about that since we're supposedly in a "market downturn" although my expenses haven't been reduced at all recently. And there'll be a little feature on everyone's favorite local vegan bakery. Mmmm.....

The Last Colony...

Ah, well... I was trying not to jinx the latest attempt to secure partial DC voting rights in the U.S. Congress by not writing about it. Too bad. Stupid Senate. At least we can enjoy a nice porch session a few more times before it gets cold out. The simple things. Who cares about voting....