Elections
News and opinions related to local elections.
The filing period is now closed and we definitely have an interesting primary ahead of us. Thanks to Chapel Hill Herald Editor Ray Gronberg for pointing out that the list of candidates is already available on the Orange County Board of Elections website (which, by the way has made no noticeable improvement since the last election day debacle).
So... who you like and why or why not?
Finally! I tell you this July primary business is tough on us political junkies. It was sad to watch May 4, which should have been the date of our primary, come and go with only the thought of an election in the air.
A few newcomers will be challenging the two incumbent members of the Orange County Commision this year. Since this is such a "liberal" community (ha ha) most of the excitement will be played out in the primary election since the Democrats always win the general race in November. (Anyone know how long this consistency dates back? Have I asked that before?)
This is a probably unnecessary last-minute appeal to anyone liberal to left who plans to vote in the Democratic Party “caucus†tomorrow (8am-noon, Chapel Hill Town Hall). The plea is to vote for anyone but John Kerry. The New York Times today described Kerry’s efforts to paint himself as a “centrist†which is newspeak for conservative. Sure, we’ll all hold our noses and vote for him in November since Bush is so repugnant. But how many of us did the same thing twelve years ago? I nearly threw up (literally!) voting for Clinton but I was even sicker of Reagan/Bush-I. Clinton ran to his left. Kerry doesn’t need to. He’ll run on his center-right record and cower away from media charges of “liberalism.â€
How to get the foxes out of the hen house is probably beyond the scope of this blog but we do have a very local opportunity Saturday morning to deliver a small counterpoint to the voices of inevitability.
Guest Post by Blaise Strenn
North Carolina will have a Presidential preference county caucus on April 17th. Participation in this caucus will be for Democrats only. You must be registered as a Democrat by April 9th to vote in this caucus.
There is an updated form available at the State Board of Election site: www.app.sboe.state.nc.us Click on voter registration, Changing your Information, then North Carolina Voter Registration Application/Change of Information Form.
This will open a PDF file you can print out. You must get this form to your county's Board of Elections by the end of Friday; postmarked on Friday will not work. If you plan handing the form in on Friday, please call to check their hours for it is Good Friday.
It is very important to not use an old form, it will not be accepted. You must use the updated form from this website or the new form you would get at the county BOE office.
For caucus sites state wide see: www.ncdp.org Registered Democrats can vote in any county in North Carolina.
Guest Post by Gerry Cohen
THE NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
A PRIMER ON THE APRIL 17 EVENT
Due to snags in approval of North Carolina's legislative redistricting plan and a Democratic National Committee requirement that delegate selection be finished by early June, the North Carolina Democratic Party has established caucuses to determine candidate preferences from North Carolina in time for the Democratic National Convention in July. North Carolina's 20 at-large delegates will be allocated proportionately to any candidate getting at least 15% of the caucus vote statewide, and the same 15% rule will apply in each congressional district, where from four to six delegates will be elected. (The Fourth District - including all of Durham and Orange, north Chatham, and western Wake - is the only district getting six delegates.)
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