January 4, 2008
Don't Forget to Register to Vote
Now that the 2008 presidential primary season has officially begun, it's time to make sure you're registered to vote. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will all hold their presidential primaries on Feb. 12, which means voter registration deadlines are looming.
- In D.C., you must register to vote 30 days before election day, so your registration form will need to be postmarked by Jan. 13 (which is a Sunday, so make that Jan. 12 for good measure). You can download a printable mail-in registration form here.
- In Maryland, where they recently cleared up that 17 year-olds who will be 18 before the general election in November can in fact register and vote in the primary, your voter registration application must be postmarked by Jan. 22 to vote in the primary. Go here to register in Maryland.
- In Virginia, you must register by Jan. 12, or 29 days before the primary election. Head over here for a printable application to register to vote in Virginia.
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i'm registered to vote, but i do not know if i can vote in the primary. not sure what the rules in Virginia are, but in Jersey, i was only allowed to vote in a primary if i was registered with a party. i don't remember if i registered with a party in Virginia.
anyone know how either a. i can find out if i registered with a party or b. if i can vote in the primary if i'm registered but not to a party?
Virginia has open primaries. You can vote in either the Republican or the Democratic primary regardless of your party affiliation (or lack thereof).
And luckily for you ErinCarly, the Virginia GOP backed down on it's idea that if you voted republican in the primary, you had to sign an affidavit that you would vote that way in the general...gotta love good old Virginny sometimes.
For D.C. residents, don't forget you can actually start voting on January 28 if you. In-person absentee at BOEE (Judiciary Square) is available every day of the week starting on the 28th.
I was automatically registered to vote in the District when they processed me out of DC Jail.
I just got a new voter reg card in the mail which notes that DC holds its presidential primaries in May. That's not out of date and confusing, is it?
Ah yes, DC primaries.
A brief review before you bother to register:
In 2004, DC residents voted the following:
Howard Dean: 42%
Al Sharpton: 35%
Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (IL): 12%
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (OH): 8%
In other words, these people are completely out of their minds.
Tuesday, January 8th, will be Independents Day for Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton's campaign of presidential inevitability has collided with historical American reality. American voters are instinctively annoyed by pretentious politicians in general, and especially those with a sense of political entitlement. When spin with the wind arrogance is added to the mix, only losing integrity becomes inevitable.
Sure, America's electorate is sometimes fickle, blind and gullible. However, we're never genuinely stupid. Since the founding of our country, inside every American is an Independent activist. Having discovered that Democrats and Republicans are the left and right wings of a rotting bird, the proponents of special interest status quo governance will face future electoral cremations.
Despite some early dysfunction and distractions, being an Independent voter has increasingly become this century's best option in national and local politics. Truly democratic common sense governance focused on "We the People" is the core belief of this reemerging political force rooted in our nation's creation. Autocratic bureaucracies, corporate manipulation, and special interest agendas are the poisons being purged by this century's patriots of democracy.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, including several of her Republican contemporaries, has become the iconic political dinosaur trying to function in a world that is rapidly rendering her species extinct. Even the hype of being a woman presidential candidate holds little credibility compared to being the best choice for a more discerning Independent electorate.
Notwithstanding popular perception, Independent voters network, organize, strategize, and are expanding. New Hampshire, like Iowa, is the tolling bell signaling Senator Clinton's attention that politics and politricks as usual died when she tried to politically strangle Independent voters in America's first capital, New York City. New Hampshire's Independents are a major voting bloc. Despite attempts to revise her rhetoric, the inevitability of Mrs. Clinton presiding in the new capital decisively ends on a unusually warm winter's day in the "Granite State."
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
http://www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org