In this edition:
National Conference for Media Reform
Election Integrity
Deep Democracy Retreats
Ranked Choice Voting in Santa Fe
Legislative Agenda
National Media Reform Conference
Voting Matters Rick Lass is heading off to Minneapolis this weekend for
the National Conference for Media Reform hosted by Free Press
(www.freepress.net). Thursday is
Democracy Day, a gathering for election reform advocates featuring
workshops and networking opportunities
(www.claimdemocracy.com).
Look for a full report in next months update.
Election Integrity
If you or someone you know had any difficulty voting in Tuesdays
primary, please contact us at
vote@newmexico.com or
505-920-0540. Please note that the Election hotline number printed in
last months edition will not be available for the New Mexico primary.
In related news, the Fair Elections Legal Network has just sent a letter
to the Secretary of State and county clerks asking them to do what they
can to reduce the need for provisional ballots, and make projections of
turnout for the general election in November.
www.fairelectionsnetwork.com for more on this and the text of the
letters.
Deep Democracy Retreats
If you are ready to take your activism to the next level, consider
attending one of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt Countys Deep Democracy
Retreats this year. DUHC helped pass a ballot initiative banning
non-local corporate donations to political campaigns there. Their
intensive weekend retreats focus on organizing for building more
democratic communities. This years retreats are August 8-10 and October
10-12. www.duhc.org
Ranked Choice Voting in Santa Fe
3 months have passed since the people of Santa Fe voted to implement
Ranked Choice Voting. As of yet, there has been indication of whether the
city will act in time for the 2010 election. Because of the fact that the
city uses voting machines owned by the county, we are working with both
the city and county on this issue.
Please contact your city councilors and remind them that this is
important to you and ask them to please make sure the clerks office does
everything in its power to see that Ranked Choice is in place by the next
city election. We have sent a letter to the clerk asking her to look at
three specific options- (1) upgrading current ES&S equipment, (2)
buying or leasing other equipment, and (3) a hand count of just the
runoff portion of the election. We believe any one of these could be done
at a reasonable cost.
Also, please take a moment to mention this to the winners of the county
primary elections and sitting incumbents, including county clerk and
commissioner candidates. Getting some letters to the editor published
would be a great way to support this cause.
Patti Bushee
984-8744
pjbushee@santafenm.gov
Chris Calvert
913-0359
ccalvert@santafenm.gov
Rosemary Romero
982-9805
rosemary.romero@gmail.com
Rebecca Wurzburger
982-6351
rebeccawrz@comcast.net
Miguel Chavez
984-8125
miguelmchavez@msn.com
Carmichael Dominguez
955-6814
cadominguez@santafenm.gov
Matt Ortiz
955-6817
meortiz@santafenm.gov
Ronald Trujillo
424-1791
rstrujillo@santafenm.gov
David Coss
955-6590
Albuquerque Journal Santa Fe: kpeterson@abqjournal.com
Santa Fe New Mexican:
letters@sfnewmexican.com
(150 words)
Santa Fe Reporter: editor@sfreporter.com
Legislative Agenda
With both houses of the state legislature up for election this year, it
is a great time to talk to your senators, representatives and candidates
for those offices about important election reform issues. We expect to
see legislation in January 2009s 60 day session dealing with expanding
public financing of elections, election day registration, an independent
redistricting commission, improved audit and recount laws, voter ID, and
more.
See www.sos.state.nm.us for a
list of legislative candidates.
Voting Matters will be creating our legislative agenda over the next few
weeks. If you have specific ideas about what you think should be
included, please drop us a line at vote@newmexico.com.
About this newsletter
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Voting Matters
POB 4764
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87502
www.votingmatters.net
505-920-0540