Vote California!
While I’m not exactly sure how they did it, Californians signed some petitions and went through some court hearings and got our primary elections scooted up to February 5th. They used to be in June, and by then no one really cared who we thought should be president, especially the folks running for president, so it’s fair to say we were left feeling a bit ignored. But now that we have primaries during high season, we matter. And so I was very excited when I got my absentee ballot in the mail the other day, ready to join the ranks of those whose voices count during this presidential race madness. But when I opened the envelope, all I saw was one measly ballot of state and city propositions. Had someone forgotten that my opinion on who should run this country now mattered? Well, I did some quick research at sfgov.org and realized that the Feb 5 election is a modified closed presidential primary. That means that you must have registered with a particular political party to vote for candidates from that party. I registered back in the days when hottie Matt Gonzalez had me convinced the Green party was making a bid for the big time, and I decided not to pick sides at the moment. So I, like many others, am a “declined to state” voter, political party-wise. But if you are like me, don’t fret, you can still get in on the action. Both the Democratic Party and the American independent Party allow us fence-sitters to vote in their elections. You must request that ballot from a poll worker when signing the roster on Election Day. Absentee voters like me can fill out a Vote-by-Mail application requesting either the democratic or Independent Party ballot. But mail that baby in soon—Vote-by-mail applications must be received by 5pm on January 29.
