After California’s record low turnout during the recent election, California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla (D) is reaching out to the public for advice on boosting turnout. Padilla has created
a website where the public may leave their suggestions, or if you use the hashtag #BoostTheVote, he will mine social media like Facebook and Twitter to find your ideas. It’s not only a California problem, only 36% of eligible Americans actually voted, but California lags behind at 32%. Of the 800,000 Santa Clara County citizens that bothered to register, only half off them voted. It’s not like we didn’t have contested races and important propositions on the ballot, but still most did not take the time to voice their preferences.
With campaign spending at all-time highs and turnout at all-time lows, have we turned off citizens to the entire election game, or is it a matter of time? Seems people could find the time if they really wanted to vote, but most didn’t even return their mail-in ballots. Maybe with a postage-paid mail-in system like Oregon, we could match their measly 50% turnout of eligible voters.
So tweet Padilla your idea or spit in the wind, probably just as effective. I will say, until we increase turnout, Democrats will continue to lose, and politicians of both parties will continue to ignore us.
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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More California News...
The California Democratic Party's delegate elections are this weekend, read Simplify's diary for more information:
Do you want to influence the agenda that the California Democratic Party sets for our state? Then put democracy into the Democratic Party, and make your voice heard! This weekend, January 10th and 11th, there will be elections for delegates to the state party convention, which is the body that makes endorsements, writes the state party platform, and so forth. In each of the eighty Assembly districts across the state, only a thousand or so people vote, choosing among about fifty candidates for fourteen spots. [...]
Want to tell the California Democratic Party what to do? Go vote this weekend!
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After serving on the US Senate longer than some voters have been alive, Barbara Boxer announced she would not run for another term. In an email sent to supporters she posted a video message. The quirky video is staged as a faux interview by her grandson, Zach Rodham. Although she will not run for senate, she says, “[she] is never going retire, the work is too important.” Boxer vows to work on issues and promote progressive Democrats through her PAC for a Change.
Rhyme time with Boxer:
the Senate is the place where I've always made my case
for families the planet and the human race.
more than twenty years in a job I love
thanks to California and the Lord above
so although I won't be working from my Senate space
and I won't be running in that next tough race
as long as there are issues and challenges and strife
I will never retire 'cause that's the meaning of my life
transcribed by eyo