Elections

The past 3 months I've been campaigning a bit for some of the state and national candidates. Almost everyone I met said they were registered to vote (at their current address) or were not US citizens. I had some interesting conversations with professors, students and employees from other countries(Jordan, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, China, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, India,Guatemala and a few others.) Tuesday evenings I have been calling Sierra Club members around the state, encouraging them to vote for the endorsed candidates and volunteer. Most people who are home are older, have health issues or are already volunteering with other groups.  I've driven out several times to Halifax and Northampton County where I used to live and work. There are very few yard signs and most are for the Republicans even though this area votes heavily democratic. I brought some yard signs for the early voting sites in Northampton and put them up. I was unable to contact anyone coordinating activities there. As of Monday 650 people had voted in Northampton County and the volunteers passing out sample ballots said they had been asked by the state Raleigh office to help.

I just noticed this item on Council's agenda for next week. This allows more money to be donated to local candidates. Subject: Adjust Municipal Campaign Contributions and Disclosure Limits as Required by Ordinance   
Staff: Roger L. Stancil Ralph D. Karpinos
Department: Town Manager Town Attorney  
Overview: Chapter 2, Article IV of the Town Code limits the amount of money that an individual or a political committee can contribute to a Mayor or Town Council candidate’s campaign.  The Ordinance also establishes a maximum contribution that can be made without disclosing the contributor’s name in municipal campaign reports. Ordinance Section 2-73 requires that these amounts be adjusted during even-numbered years and provides criteria for making these adjustments based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2009 and number of Town of Chapel Hill registered voters.  
The Town established campaign contribution limits in 1999 pursuant to special legislation enacted by the General Assembly.