Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Blue Hearts 10-22-08
Hello All,
Here's the latest. Did you go to the rally in KC on Saturday? Wow! What a crowd, so diverse in every way. I LOVED it. And we couldn't even see the mass of people who could actually see the stage. 75K!
K
HUMOR/LINKS
This was sent to me. Definitely worth watching. K
Here is a little something my women friends and I put together, for girls and women everywhere.
Please watch and forward if you agree, to every woman you know.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart
Karin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6OsGjelmbo&feature=emailhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6OsGjelmbo&feature=email
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not only click on doors, desk, windows but other items about the room... bridge, phone, pictures on wall, etc.... very funny. put up sound too
http://www.palinaspresident.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From my buddy. K
so i'm friends with this young s.f. girl and somehow i commented to her totally creative and probably unemployed friend about his halloween card. he's now done this:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check this out. It's a fun way to be involved in the political process. K
http://yeswecarve.com/index.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why I'd Be a Better VP than Sarah Palin
(Or, The Bridge to New Zealand)
by ROSANNE CASH
October 10, 2008
I'd like to formally submit myself to replace Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket. I feel confident that John McCain will see that the very attributes he desired in his VP choice can be met, and even exceeded in some areas, by me. For your consideration, my big, fat résumé:
1. Focus on the Family
I am the mother of five children, just like Governor Palin. I have known the demands of managing a full-time career and motherhood at the same time. I have juggled a breast pump and a BlackBerry, and I know when to put the BlackBerry down. (To be perfectly honest, I did once send a text to the baby and tried to nurse my bass player. You learn from your mistakes.)
2. Reproductive Issues
I also believe that a teenager's pregnancy is a "private family matter." In fact, I believe that every woman's pregnancy is a "private, family matter." (I bet the GOP never thought of making that leap!)
3. Church and State
Like the Governor, I now also believe that my will is perfectly aligned with God's will. When Governor Palin said that it was God's will for the Alaska pipeline to be built and asked for people to pray for that to happen, I was really inspired by her confidence in the absolute, seamless integration of her will and God's will. I have begun practicing this kind of supreme confidence on a smaller scale, but I am sure that I can quickly move to national issues. Starting with the sartorial, I know that it is God's will that I have the entire Chanel collection for the fall season, including those adorable high-heeled booties that were all over the runway shows.
(A couple things I'm still having trouble with regarding the will of God: I knew it was God's will that I win the Grammy in 2007 for my last record, but Bob Dylan won. This is clearly the work of Satan, but shouldn't my will/God's will have been strong enough to override that? And this Alaska pipeline--if it is God's will to have the pipeline built, then why isn't it built already? On a related topic, I don't own a single piece of Chanel.)
4. Environment
Along with Governor Palin, I don't believe that humans cause climate change.
(Okay, that is a bold-faced lie, but I've been paying really close attention to the campaign stump speeches, and I feel certain I am allowed a generous allotment of bold-faced lies.)
5. Foreign policy
Here's where I really shine. Governor Palin got her first passport in 2007. I got my first passport in 1970, when the Governor was only 6 years old! Not only do I have a passport, I have actually been outside of the United States, dozens of times. I have had relationships and conversations with real foreigners, in their own countries, in restaurants, shops, flea markets, museums, nightclubs, spas, hotels, all modes of public transportation, and even in their own homes. My foreign policies are fair, inclusive and sensitive to cultural differences. I don't ask for English Breakfast tea when I'm in France. I never call foreign currency "funny money" (even though it does look funny.) I don't shout at people to help them better understand English and, finally, I act on God's will when in Paris by going to Chanel, and to all the great boutiques, which is just an extension of God's will, as you can surely extrapolate by the above explanation of my will/God's will.
I know Governor Palin has one distinct advantage in living so close to Russia, in that she can keep a close eye on nefarious activity across the Bering Strait, but I, too, live very close to a foreign country. Canada is less than 400 miles from my home in New York City, and you never know when it might become necessary to invade a sovereign nation that has not attacked us, as we learned the hard way. Not only that, I have a girlfriend in Austin, Texas, whom I'm going to ask to keep an eye on Mexico.
6. Legal Experience
My understanding of the law is extensive, but here are a couple of cogent points: a photographer who thought I had used his photograph of me without his permission sued me. (I absolutely didn't use the photo without permission. When McCain does his meticulous vetting and background checks on me, I will explain the whole story. It was all a big misunderstanding.)
More importantly, I renegotiated my contract with the Sony Corporation in 1987. That was huge. You should have seen my legal bills. I negotiated an all-new contract with Capitol Records in 1995 and that, too, was an exhausting, contentious, but ultimately lucrative enterprise. Entertainment law is a blood sport, people. (Speaking of blood sports, I have to give it up to the Governor on the hunting issue. I have never shot a wolf from a helicopter, but I have thrown my cat off the bed. Hundreds of times.)
7. Higher Education
Governor Palin went to five different colleges to get her BS in journalism, but none of the colleges had entry requirements, whereas I went to a university that required a trigonometry credit before they would admit me. I had to take it the summer before school started. I don't remember a frigging thing, but I got a B. The other disparities in education are too numerous to mention, but suffice to say that I bet she never met Lee Strasberg.
It is true that I have no background in constitutional law, but I have read the Constitution, except for the amendments that don't have anything to do with me, and I watched the entire John Adams mini-series on HBO. Twice.
8. Ethics
I really think this whole investigation into the firing of the top state law enforcement official in Alaska, who wouldn't fire the state trooper who was mean to the Governor's sister, is just overblown. I once fired my assistant for making a pass at my husband, so I can totally understand this! And I would have fired an assistant who made a pass at my sister's husband, too. I love my sisters. Governor Palin loves her sister. People need to get over it.
But speaking of family, I've also had my fill of no-good boyfriends to my daughters, and boy, do I sympathize with the Governor over this Levi fellow and his MySpace page, with the guns and the cursing. My husband once took a broken chair out into the street to chase away a no-good boyfriend of my oldest daughter, and we didn't see the likes of him anymore. I have a zero-tolerance policy for miscreant youth, and I know I could help the Governor sort out her obviously conflicted feelings about setting limits for teenagers, just for her own peace of mind.
9. Iraq
The Governor says she hasn't "focused" on the war in Iraq, but I think she's just joshing us. No person in an executive position in the government of the United States could be so lazy that they would not familiarize themselves with every angle of what is potentially the greatest American debacle since the nation was founded, including all the terminology, like "Bush Doctrine."
If she's not kidding, then I respectfully submit the hate mail I received in 2003, at the beginning of the war, which came after my press conference with Musicians United To Win Without War, as proof of my "focus."
10. Executive Ability
Governor Palin was the mayor of a real town of 5,000 people. I have never been mayor of anything, but I have performed for crowds bigger than the population of Wasilla, Alaska, and I can tell you it's no picnic getting the monitors just right, working with cranky and egotistical musicians, changing clothes in dirty dressing rooms and eating bad backstage food, handling the hecklers and technical problems during a show, and then getting on the bus to go somewhere else and do it all over again the next night. Also, my last record sold about the population of Wasilla times forty, and they all seemed to like it. But dealing with the public is really difficult and they all have opinions about you, which are usually all wrong, so I've developed a thick skin, another requirement for life as the VP. Lastly, and the importance of this cannot be over-emphasized, the guy's head on the tail of the Alaska Airlines planes looks like my dad.
11. Maverick personality
Finally, there is one subject in which I find I am even more conservative than the Governor, and that is in the area of neo-natal responsibility. The Governor was eight months pregnant and in Texas to give a speech, when her water broke. She reportedly made her speech and then traveled eleven hours, dripping amniotic fluid, bypassing Seattle and Anchorage (major cities with world-class hospitals) to travel to a small hospital in Wasilla that had no neo-natal intensive care unit, and gave birth there. Call me a wimp, call me insecure, but you had better also call me a maverick, because I would have said "Damn the schedule! Damn the speech and the airline ticket!" If this had been me, as soon as my water broke, I'd be at the closest hospital and that baby would have been born in Texas! Just like my mom!
In summation, I present myself to the GOP as a woman, and I repeat, woman, who has held a passport for thirty-eight years, a lip gloss-wearing soccer-volleyball-softball-gymnastics mom of five, who can carry a six-pack home to her husband like nobody's business, whose will is firmly aligned with God's will, a neo-natal conservative and legally savvy public figure, a border-watching, trigonometry-credited, breastfeeding, BlackBerry-tapping, cat-throwing maverick whose daughters are out of their teens, therefore immune to teenage pregnancy (although this is a private, family matter), and whose dad's head (or an eerie facsimile) adorns a state airline.
I could offer more to recommend me to the job of vice president, but one last special quality that I share with Governor Palin is the fact that I also have a husband who wants his state to secede from the Union. Ever since the 2000 election, my husband has been all for the secession of not only New York, but the island of Manhattan! And I have to tell you, if Sarah Palin becomes vice president of the United States, he says we have to personally secede from the whole country. So please, people, write me in on the ballot in November, or write me in New Zealand, where I'll be making my new home.
Rosanne Cash is a singer-songwriter, and even though she has met Presidents Bush and Clinton (who appeared to note her décolletage with great appreciation), the ambassador to the Czech Republic and George Stevens, who produces the Kennedy Center Honors awards show, she does not think her knowledge of world leaders should be held against her, because her experience in Washington is limited to three days during the Million Mom March.
About Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. Her fourteen record albums, released over the past twenty-five years, have charted eleven number-one singles. She has earned numerous accolades for songwriting and performance. more...
Copyright © 2008 The Nation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL
Although I can't confirm this story, there's a SNOPES link below that verifies something just like this. K
Ken,
Mom "early voted" today. She said the machine kept flipping to Republican every time she tried to vote a straight Democratic ticket. At first they patronized her, "Honey, here's the way you do this." After it flipped to Republican 3 times, she made them get the judge.
I did some online searches and find out, that this is not uncommon. The big suggestion, online, is to take a video camera in the booth and tape the process. I will definitely be doing just that.
They are trying to steal the election, again!
We must stop them!
Bill
p.s. Check this out to go along with the story above.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/straightticket.asp
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
McCain's political attacks inciting far right
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Are we witnessing the re-emergence of the far right as a power in American politics? Has John McCain, inadvertently perhaps, become the midwife of a new movement built around fear, xenophobia, racism and anger? McCain has clearly become uneasy with some of the forces that have gathered around him. He has begun to insist, against the sometimes loud protests from his crowds, that Barack Obama is, among other things, a "decent person."
Yet McCain's own campaign is playing with powerful extremist themes to denigrate Obama. When his running mate, Sarah Palin, first brought up Obama's association with 1960s radical Bill Ayers, who has become a centerpiece of McCain's attacks, she accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." What other "terrorists" was she thinking about?
Because Obama was a child when Ayers was part of the Weather Underground, and because even Republicans have served on boards with Ayers, this is classic guilt by association. Ayers has been dragged into this campaign because there is a deep frustration on the right with Obama's enthusiasm for shutting down the culture wars of the 1960s.
Precisely because Obama is not a Baby Boomer, he carries none of that generation's scars. Most Americans (including most Boomers) are weary of living in the past and reprising the 1960s every four years.
Yet culture war politics are relatively mild compared with the far right appeals that are emerging this year. It is as if McCain's loyalists overshot the '60s and went back to the '50s or even the '30s.
What we are now witnessing is the mainstreaming of the far right, a phenomenon that began to take shape with some of the earliest attacks on Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
False claims that Obama is a Muslim, that he trained to overthrow the government, that he was educated in Wahhabi Muslim schools, are a standard part of the political discussion. These fake stories come from voices on the ultra right that have dabbled in other forms of conspiracy, including classic anti-Semitism. McCain and his campaign do not pick up the most extreme charges. They just fan the flames by suggesting that voters don't really know who Obama is, hinting at a sinister back story without filling in the details. That is left to the voters' imaginations.
The tragic irony here is that McCain was the victim of some of the very same extremist forces in the 2000 South Carolina primary.
To bring McCain down, some of President Bush's supporters on the far right peddled all manner of falsehoods about McCain, raising despicable charges about his time as a POW and suggesting (again falsely) that he had fathered an illegitimate child of color. In the past, McCain publicly condemned some of the very people who are now going after Obama.
McCain cannot be blamed for all of the crazies who see in Obama a chance to earn fame and fortune by concocting lies about him. And yes, we should defend the speech rights even of those whose views we find abhorrent.
But the angry McCain-Palin crowds, and particularly those who threaten violence or shout racist epithets, should be a wake-up call to McCain. The dark hints about Obama that McCain's campaign is dropping dovetail too nicely with the nasty trash floating around the Internet and the airwaves.
We are in the midst of what could become - and here's hoping it doesn't - the worst economic downturn in decades. The last thing we need is a campaign that strengthens fanaticism, tarnishes the authority of the next president, and whips up the worst kinds of prejudice. This works both ways: Obama should not be delegitimized if he wins, and McCain should not want to win in a way that would undermine his own capacity to lead.
When Christopher Buckley, a novelist and former speechwriter for George H.W. Bush, announced last week that he would vote for Obama (his first vote ever for a Democrat), he referred to words once spoken to him by his late father. "You know," the conservative hero William F. Buckley Jr. said, "I've spent my entire lifetime separating the right from the kooks."
McCain has an obligation, to his own legacy and the country he has served, to separate himself and his campaign from the kooks. Extremism in defense of liberty may be no vice, but extremism in pursuit of the presidency is as dysfunctional as it is degrading.
To comment, e-mail E.J. Dionne Jr. at postchat@aol.com.
Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 14, 2008
Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants
By TOMMY McCALL
Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared?
As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FYI, from a MoveOn email. K
The GOP is trying to purge Democratic voters off the rolls to steal the election in states like Ohio, Florida, and Colorado.
We're hearing a lot about the trumped-up charges against ACORN these days—but very little about the massive voter suppression campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans. The GOP is trying to purge thousands of Democratic voters off the rolls in states like Ohio, Florida, and Colorado.1
John McCain and Sarah Palin are falsely accusing a community organizing group—ACORN—of voting fraud to distract the media from their own party's wrongdoing.2 Worst of all: It's working.
The truth is, McCain is vilifying ACORN to justify voter suppression—making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.
The GOP's voter suppression campaign could steal this election. But we can stop them with a rapid-response fund to support legal actions, run newspaper ads to get the media talking about GOP voter suppression, and prosecute anyone who tries to steal this election.
For over twenty-five years, Republicans have promoted the myth of voting fraud to argue for restrictive voting laws—but Bush's own Justice Department found virtually no organized voting fraud.3 Now McCain is attacking ACORN in order to justify a frenzy of lawsuits making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.
Here's what he's not telling you:
The only fraud committed was against ACORN itself. ACORN hired 13,000 workers to register a remarkable 1.3 million new voters. And a few of them turned in registration forms with inaccurate and even made-up names to get credit for work they didn't do. ACORN fired them and turned them over to the authorities.4
ACORN reported the fraudulent registration forms. In most states, ACORN is required by law to submit all forms collected whether they appear to be bogus or not—that way election officials, not partisan groups, can make the call. ACORN flags cards that may not be legitimate. And in many places, the charges of fraud only came up because ACORN was the one who flagged the cards!5
This won't have any impact on the election. No one is allowed to vote unless they are properly registered. And there is no evidence of false registrations actually leading to organized voting fraud.6
We can't let false charges of voting fraud distract us from the very real voter suppression campaign that is already well under way.
Republicans are looking for typos on voter registration forms, threatening to challenge homeowners facing foreclosure, and falsely warning that voters with outstanding traffic tickets may be arrested if they go to the polls.7
P.S. You can learn more about the false charges against ACORN by clicking here:
http://acorn.org/quickfacts
P.P.S. Republicans aren't just smearing ACORN—they're smearing Barack Obama, too, by sending around untrue emails about him.
Have your friends or family ever forwarded you an email with false attacks on Obama? If so, be sure they know the truth. Forward the email to The Center for Political Accuracy, and they'll reply with the true facts for you to respond with:
info@politicalaccuracy.org
Sources:
1. "States' Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal," New York Times, October 8, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09voting.html
"Check-off box delays thousands of voter registrations," Denver Post, October 14, 2008
http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/home/ci_10713377
2. "ACORN defends efforts amid voter-fraud allegations," Associated Press, October 14, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081014/ap_on_el_pr/voter_fraud
3. "In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud," New York Times, April 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/washington/12fraud.html
"The Truth About Fraud," Brennan Center for Justice
http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/
4. "The Truth About ACORN's Voter Registration Drives," ACORN
http://acorn.org/quickfacts
"Group Answers Charges of Voter Registration Fraud," New York Times, October 14, 2008
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/acorn/
5. "Voter Group Admits Mistakes, Defends Work," ABC News, October 14, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31241&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=5
"Is there ACORN fraud in Florida?," Orlando Sentinel, October 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31239&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=6
6. "'Fraud' vs. 'Suppression'," Politico, October 14, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31240&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=7
7. "After A Surge in Registration, A Surge in Suppression," Brennan Center for Justice, October 7, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31236&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=8
"Democrats fear GOP will turn away foreclosed voters; GOP won't rule out using residency change to challenge a ballot," Indianapolis Star, October 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31237&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=9
"Vote-scam fliers target black neighborhoods," Philadelphia Daily News, October 2, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31041&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCAL
This is from Jason Kander. Here's a great way to get involved locally on election day. K
Let's get out the vote for Obama
On Monday, November 3rd (the day before election day), I'll canvass the 44th District, putting literature on doors to remind Democratic voters to go to the polls the following day.
Then, on election day, I'm going to do it again. We're going to get every last Democratic vote out of the Fightin' 44th.
I HOPE YOU'LL JOIN ME!!!!
We'll go from 2pm to 7pm on Monday and 3pm to 7pm on Election Day. It's not every door, it's not convincing anyone of anything, it's just leaving reminders on the doors of folks we have identified as likely Democratic voters. And it's right here in the 44th. This election could be decided in Missouri, and Missouri could be decided by the turnout in Kansas City. Time to step up.
If you want to help, reply to me at this email address or contact Sarah White at 816 822 1627 or swhite@jaynixon.com and we'll get in touch by phone to give you the details.
Other volunteer opportunities:
The Missouri Democratic Party needs your help with a variety of other work between now and election day. They are located at 8043 Wornall. Walk in and offer your services or contact Elizabeth Birks at 816 260 1902 or birks.elizabeth@gmail.com.
Yard Signs:
Finally, I have a few Obama yard signs left. Let me know if you want one, but realize that I'm just going to hit you up to spend some time volunteering for Obama. Also, you can get signs for pretty much the entire Democratic ticket over at the Democratic Headquarters at 8043 Wornall.
Two weeks until we make history!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are hoping to get a gig with the election board in MO, please check out the following. K
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 12:00 PM
Subject: KC Election Board - Worker Positions
Per our conversation, please find the referenced information attached. Thank you. J
"Rae”melle A. Davis
Executive Secretary/Tabulation Specialist
Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners
1828 Walnut - Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-842-4820
Fax: 816-472-4960
raemelle@kceb.org
www.kceb.org
Please consider being a part of our team on election day!
On election day, more than 1,500 election workers are needed to serve the voters of Kansas City, within Jackson County. This presents a great opportunity to serve your community and be part of the election process.
You can join our Election Worker Team by completing the Election Worker form and mailing or faxing it to the KC Election Board office. Our address and fax number are listed below.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Election Workers are the Gatekeepers of Our Democracy!
Count me in!
I am interested in joining the Election Worker Team!
PLEASE PRINT – RETURN VIA E-MAIL OR FAX
Name
Address
City MO Zip 64 Date of Birth________ SSN (last 4 digits)
Home Phone Res. Email
Cell Phone Bus. Email
Bus. Phone
U.S. Citizen? Y___ N___ Resident of Jackson County? Y___ N___ Registered Voter in KCMO Y___ N___
Describe any physical limitations that require work accommodations
Where did you pick up this form: _______________
Party Affiliation: _______Republican _______Democrat
I’M INTERESTED IN
____Election Judge ____Pick up Personnel ____Voter Assistant Specialist
____Deputy Commissioner ____Greeter/Locator
Signature Date
Qualifications
• Citizen of the United States
• Resident of Kansas City, within Jackson County
• A registered voter, at least 18 years-old
• Available to work in any part of the city
Hours
• Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Election workers report to their assigned location no later than 5:00 a.m. to prepare for 6:00 a.m. poll opening.
• Following the 7:00 p.m. close of polls, all election workers assist Supervising Judges in closing poll site.
Training/Compensation
• Required attendance at one training session
• Training pay applicable only if combined with election day work
• Compensation ranges from $25.00 to $125.00 depending on the position worked
• Training materials including laptops, cell phones and poll logs are provided
• Total election day payment mailed 7 to 10 days after the election
Benefits of Becoming an Election Worker
• Learning about and assisting others in the democratic process
• Showing your civic pride
• Giving back to the community
• Contributing personally to timely, free, fair, honest and accurate elections
• Promoting public trust and confidence in the democratic process
• Earning extra dollars!
POLL WORKER DESCRIPTIONS
*Supervising Judge
• Assign duties to election judges
• Provide directions for setting up poll
• Open poll at 6:00 a.m.
• Manage processing of voters
• Officially close poll at 7:00 p.m.
• Responsible for preparing designated supplies to be picked up at end of day
*Election Judge
• Assist Supervising Judges and share responsibilities including, but not limited to:
• Open and set up poll
• Check voter identification and ensure poll book signature
• Greet voters
• Assist voters as needed
• Issue “I Voted” stickers
• Assist Supervising Judges in closing poll
*Deputy Commissioners (DC’s) work in teams to visit assigned poll sites throughout election day to monitor and ensure compliance with voting procedures and laws governing elections in the state of Missouri. Authorized to report any irregularity or failure of duty, assist judges and voters – serves as the eyes and ears of the election board (must designate a party preference).
Voter Assistance Specialist (VAS’s) assist voters by verifying their registration, correct polling location or other information using the Missouri Certified Voter Registration database and a laptop computer, cell phone or poll log (provided by the election board).
Pickup Personnel (PUP’s) ensure timely retrieval of “digital” ballots and voting supplies from poll sites and deliver the supplies to the election board headquarters (a 3-4 hour shift).
Greeters/Locators help minimize lines at the polls by ensuring the voter is at the correct poll, has the correct identification and is in the correct line.
*Duties are performed in bi-partisan teams of two.
Here's the latest. Did you go to the rally in KC on Saturday? Wow! What a crowd, so diverse in every way. I LOVED it. And we couldn't even see the mass of people who could actually see the stage. 75K!
K
HUMOR/LINKS
This was sent to me. Definitely worth watching. K
Here is a little something my women friends and I put together, for girls and women everywhere.
Please watch and forward if you agree, to every woman you know.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart
Karin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6OsGjelmbo&feature=emailhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6OsGjelmbo&feature=email
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not only click on doors, desk, windows but other items about the room... bridge, phone, pictures on wall, etc.... very funny. put up sound too
http://www.palinaspresident.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From my buddy. K
so i'm friends with this young s.f. girl and somehow i commented to her totally creative and probably unemployed friend about his halloween card. he's now done this:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check this out. It's a fun way to be involved in the political process. K
http://yeswecarve.com/index.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why I'd Be a Better VP than Sarah Palin
(Or, The Bridge to New Zealand)
by ROSANNE CASH
October 10, 2008
I'd like to formally submit myself to replace Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket. I feel confident that John McCain will see that the very attributes he desired in his VP choice can be met, and even exceeded in some areas, by me. For your consideration, my big, fat résumé:
1. Focus on the Family
I am the mother of five children, just like Governor Palin. I have known the demands of managing a full-time career and motherhood at the same time. I have juggled a breast pump and a BlackBerry, and I know when to put the BlackBerry down. (To be perfectly honest, I did once send a text to the baby and tried to nurse my bass player. You learn from your mistakes.)
2. Reproductive Issues
I also believe that a teenager's pregnancy is a "private family matter." In fact, I believe that every woman's pregnancy is a "private, family matter." (I bet the GOP never thought of making that leap!)
3. Church and State
Like the Governor, I now also believe that my will is perfectly aligned with God's will. When Governor Palin said that it was God's will for the Alaska pipeline to be built and asked for people to pray for that to happen, I was really inspired by her confidence in the absolute, seamless integration of her will and God's will. I have begun practicing this kind of supreme confidence on a smaller scale, but I am sure that I can quickly move to national issues. Starting with the sartorial, I know that it is God's will that I have the entire Chanel collection for the fall season, including those adorable high-heeled booties that were all over the runway shows.
(A couple things I'm still having trouble with regarding the will of God: I knew it was God's will that I win the Grammy in 2007 for my last record, but Bob Dylan won. This is clearly the work of Satan, but shouldn't my will/God's will have been strong enough to override that? And this Alaska pipeline--if it is God's will to have the pipeline built, then why isn't it built already? On a related topic, I don't own a single piece of Chanel.)
4. Environment
Along with Governor Palin, I don't believe that humans cause climate change.
(Okay, that is a bold-faced lie, but I've been paying really close attention to the campaign stump speeches, and I feel certain I am allowed a generous allotment of bold-faced lies.)
5. Foreign policy
Here's where I really shine. Governor Palin got her first passport in 2007. I got my first passport in 1970, when the Governor was only 6 years old! Not only do I have a passport, I have actually been outside of the United States, dozens of times. I have had relationships and conversations with real foreigners, in their own countries, in restaurants, shops, flea markets, museums, nightclubs, spas, hotels, all modes of public transportation, and even in their own homes. My foreign policies are fair, inclusive and sensitive to cultural differences. I don't ask for English Breakfast tea when I'm in France. I never call foreign currency "funny money" (even though it does look funny.) I don't shout at people to help them better understand English and, finally, I act on God's will when in Paris by going to Chanel, and to all the great boutiques, which is just an extension of God's will, as you can surely extrapolate by the above explanation of my will/God's will.
I know Governor Palin has one distinct advantage in living so close to Russia, in that she can keep a close eye on nefarious activity across the Bering Strait, but I, too, live very close to a foreign country. Canada is less than 400 miles from my home in New York City, and you never know when it might become necessary to invade a sovereign nation that has not attacked us, as we learned the hard way. Not only that, I have a girlfriend in Austin, Texas, whom I'm going to ask to keep an eye on Mexico.
6. Legal Experience
My understanding of the law is extensive, but here are a couple of cogent points: a photographer who thought I had used his photograph of me without his permission sued me. (I absolutely didn't use the photo without permission. When McCain does his meticulous vetting and background checks on me, I will explain the whole story. It was all a big misunderstanding.)
More importantly, I renegotiated my contract with the Sony Corporation in 1987. That was huge. You should have seen my legal bills. I negotiated an all-new contract with Capitol Records in 1995 and that, too, was an exhausting, contentious, but ultimately lucrative enterprise. Entertainment law is a blood sport, people. (Speaking of blood sports, I have to give it up to the Governor on the hunting issue. I have never shot a wolf from a helicopter, but I have thrown my cat off the bed. Hundreds of times.)
7. Higher Education
Governor Palin went to five different colleges to get her BS in journalism, but none of the colleges had entry requirements, whereas I went to a university that required a trigonometry credit before they would admit me. I had to take it the summer before school started. I don't remember a frigging thing, but I got a B. The other disparities in education are too numerous to mention, but suffice to say that I bet she never met Lee Strasberg.
It is true that I have no background in constitutional law, but I have read the Constitution, except for the amendments that don't have anything to do with me, and I watched the entire John Adams mini-series on HBO. Twice.
8. Ethics
I really think this whole investigation into the firing of the top state law enforcement official in Alaska, who wouldn't fire the state trooper who was mean to the Governor's sister, is just overblown. I once fired my assistant for making a pass at my husband, so I can totally understand this! And I would have fired an assistant who made a pass at my sister's husband, too. I love my sisters. Governor Palin loves her sister. People need to get over it.
But speaking of family, I've also had my fill of no-good boyfriends to my daughters, and boy, do I sympathize with the Governor over this Levi fellow and his MySpace page, with the guns and the cursing. My husband once took a broken chair out into the street to chase away a no-good boyfriend of my oldest daughter, and we didn't see the likes of him anymore. I have a zero-tolerance policy for miscreant youth, and I know I could help the Governor sort out her obviously conflicted feelings about setting limits for teenagers, just for her own peace of mind.
9. Iraq
The Governor says she hasn't "focused" on the war in Iraq, but I think she's just joshing us. No person in an executive position in the government of the United States could be so lazy that they would not familiarize themselves with every angle of what is potentially the greatest American debacle since the nation was founded, including all the terminology, like "Bush Doctrine."
If she's not kidding, then I respectfully submit the hate mail I received in 2003, at the beginning of the war, which came after my press conference with Musicians United To Win Without War, as proof of my "focus."
10. Executive Ability
Governor Palin was the mayor of a real town of 5,000 people. I have never been mayor of anything, but I have performed for crowds bigger than the population of Wasilla, Alaska, and I can tell you it's no picnic getting the monitors just right, working with cranky and egotistical musicians, changing clothes in dirty dressing rooms and eating bad backstage food, handling the hecklers and technical problems during a show, and then getting on the bus to go somewhere else and do it all over again the next night. Also, my last record sold about the population of Wasilla times forty, and they all seemed to like it. But dealing with the public is really difficult and they all have opinions about you, which are usually all wrong, so I've developed a thick skin, another requirement for life as the VP. Lastly, and the importance of this cannot be over-emphasized, the guy's head on the tail of the Alaska Airlines planes looks like my dad.
11. Maverick personality
Finally, there is one subject in which I find I am even more conservative than the Governor, and that is in the area of neo-natal responsibility. The Governor was eight months pregnant and in Texas to give a speech, when her water broke. She reportedly made her speech and then traveled eleven hours, dripping amniotic fluid, bypassing Seattle and Anchorage (major cities with world-class hospitals) to travel to a small hospital in Wasilla that had no neo-natal intensive care unit, and gave birth there. Call me a wimp, call me insecure, but you had better also call me a maverick, because I would have said "Damn the schedule! Damn the speech and the airline ticket!" If this had been me, as soon as my water broke, I'd be at the closest hospital and that baby would have been born in Texas! Just like my mom!
In summation, I present myself to the GOP as a woman, and I repeat, woman, who has held a passport for thirty-eight years, a lip gloss-wearing soccer-volleyball-softball-gymnastics mom of five, who can carry a six-pack home to her husband like nobody's business, whose will is firmly aligned with God's will, a neo-natal conservative and legally savvy public figure, a border-watching, trigonometry-credited, breastfeeding, BlackBerry-tapping, cat-throwing maverick whose daughters are out of their teens, therefore immune to teenage pregnancy (although this is a private, family matter), and whose dad's head (or an eerie facsimile) adorns a state airline.
I could offer more to recommend me to the job of vice president, but one last special quality that I share with Governor Palin is the fact that I also have a husband who wants his state to secede from the Union. Ever since the 2000 election, my husband has been all for the secession of not only New York, but the island of Manhattan! And I have to tell you, if Sarah Palin becomes vice president of the United States, he says we have to personally secede from the whole country. So please, people, write me in on the ballot in November, or write me in New Zealand, where I'll be making my new home.
Rosanne Cash is a singer-songwriter, and even though she has met Presidents Bush and Clinton (who appeared to note her décolletage with great appreciation), the ambassador to the Czech Republic and George Stevens, who produces the Kennedy Center Honors awards show, she does not think her knowledge of world leaders should be held against her, because her experience in Washington is limited to three days during the Million Mom March.
About Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. Her fourteen record albums, released over the past twenty-five years, have charted eleven number-one singles. She has earned numerous accolades for songwriting and performance. more...
Copyright © 2008 The Nation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL
Although I can't confirm this story, there's a SNOPES link below that verifies something just like this. K
Ken,
Mom "early voted" today. She said the machine kept flipping to Republican every time she tried to vote a straight Democratic ticket. At first they patronized her, "Honey, here's the way you do this." After it flipped to Republican 3 times, she made them get the judge.
I did some online searches and find out, that this is not uncommon. The big suggestion, online, is to take a video camera in the booth and tape the process. I will definitely be doing just that.
They are trying to steal the election, again!
We must stop them!
Bill
p.s. Check this out to go along with the story above.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/straightticket.asp
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
McCain's political attacks inciting far right
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Are we witnessing the re-emergence of the far right as a power in American politics? Has John McCain, inadvertently perhaps, become the midwife of a new movement built around fear, xenophobia, racism and anger? McCain has clearly become uneasy with some of the forces that have gathered around him. He has begun to insist, against the sometimes loud protests from his crowds, that Barack Obama is, among other things, a "decent person."
Yet McCain's own campaign is playing with powerful extremist themes to denigrate Obama. When his running mate, Sarah Palin, first brought up Obama's association with 1960s radical Bill Ayers, who has become a centerpiece of McCain's attacks, she accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." What other "terrorists" was she thinking about?
Because Obama was a child when Ayers was part of the Weather Underground, and because even Republicans have served on boards with Ayers, this is classic guilt by association. Ayers has been dragged into this campaign because there is a deep frustration on the right with Obama's enthusiasm for shutting down the culture wars of the 1960s.
Precisely because Obama is not a Baby Boomer, he carries none of that generation's scars. Most Americans (including most Boomers) are weary of living in the past and reprising the 1960s every four years.
Yet culture war politics are relatively mild compared with the far right appeals that are emerging this year. It is as if McCain's loyalists overshot the '60s and went back to the '50s or even the '30s.
What we are now witnessing is the mainstreaming of the far right, a phenomenon that began to take shape with some of the earliest attacks on Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
False claims that Obama is a Muslim, that he trained to overthrow the government, that he was educated in Wahhabi Muslim schools, are a standard part of the political discussion. These fake stories come from voices on the ultra right that have dabbled in other forms of conspiracy, including classic anti-Semitism. McCain and his campaign do not pick up the most extreme charges. They just fan the flames by suggesting that voters don't really know who Obama is, hinting at a sinister back story without filling in the details. That is left to the voters' imaginations.
The tragic irony here is that McCain was the victim of some of the very same extremist forces in the 2000 South Carolina primary.
To bring McCain down, some of President Bush's supporters on the far right peddled all manner of falsehoods about McCain, raising despicable charges about his time as a POW and suggesting (again falsely) that he had fathered an illegitimate child of color. In the past, McCain publicly condemned some of the very people who are now going after Obama.
McCain cannot be blamed for all of the crazies who see in Obama a chance to earn fame and fortune by concocting lies about him. And yes, we should defend the speech rights even of those whose views we find abhorrent.
But the angry McCain-Palin crowds, and particularly those who threaten violence or shout racist epithets, should be a wake-up call to McCain. The dark hints about Obama that McCain's campaign is dropping dovetail too nicely with the nasty trash floating around the Internet and the airwaves.
We are in the midst of what could become - and here's hoping it doesn't - the worst economic downturn in decades. The last thing we need is a campaign that strengthens fanaticism, tarnishes the authority of the next president, and whips up the worst kinds of prejudice. This works both ways: Obama should not be delegitimized if he wins, and McCain should not want to win in a way that would undermine his own capacity to lead.
When Christopher Buckley, a novelist and former speechwriter for George H.W. Bush, announced last week that he would vote for Obama (his first vote ever for a Democrat), he referred to words once spoken to him by his late father. "You know," the conservative hero William F. Buckley Jr. said, "I've spent my entire lifetime separating the right from the kooks."
McCain has an obligation, to his own legacy and the country he has served, to separate himself and his campaign from the kooks. Extremism in defense of liberty may be no vice, but extremism in pursuit of the presidency is as dysfunctional as it is degrading.
To comment, e-mail E.J. Dionne Jr. at postchat@aol.com.
Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 14, 2008
Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants
By TOMMY McCALL
Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared?
As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FYI, from a MoveOn email. K
The GOP is trying to purge Democratic voters off the rolls to steal the election in states like Ohio, Florida, and Colorado.
We're hearing a lot about the trumped-up charges against ACORN these days—but very little about the massive voter suppression campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans. The GOP is trying to purge thousands of Democratic voters off the rolls in states like Ohio, Florida, and Colorado.1
John McCain and Sarah Palin are falsely accusing a community organizing group—ACORN—of voting fraud to distract the media from their own party's wrongdoing.2 Worst of all: It's working.
The truth is, McCain is vilifying ACORN to justify voter suppression—making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.
The GOP's voter suppression campaign could steal this election. But we can stop them with a rapid-response fund to support legal actions, run newspaper ads to get the media talking about GOP voter suppression, and prosecute anyone who tries to steal this election.
For over twenty-five years, Republicans have promoted the myth of voting fraud to argue for restrictive voting laws—but Bush's own Justice Department found virtually no organized voting fraud.3 Now McCain is attacking ACORN in order to justify a frenzy of lawsuits making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.
Here's what he's not telling you:
The only fraud committed was against ACORN itself. ACORN hired 13,000 workers to register a remarkable 1.3 million new voters. And a few of them turned in registration forms with inaccurate and even made-up names to get credit for work they didn't do. ACORN fired them and turned them over to the authorities.4
ACORN reported the fraudulent registration forms. In most states, ACORN is required by law to submit all forms collected whether they appear to be bogus or not—that way election officials, not partisan groups, can make the call. ACORN flags cards that may not be legitimate. And in many places, the charges of fraud only came up because ACORN was the one who flagged the cards!5
This won't have any impact on the election. No one is allowed to vote unless they are properly registered. And there is no evidence of false registrations actually leading to organized voting fraud.6
We can't let false charges of voting fraud distract us from the very real voter suppression campaign that is already well under way.
Republicans are looking for typos on voter registration forms, threatening to challenge homeowners facing foreclosure, and falsely warning that voters with outstanding traffic tickets may be arrested if they go to the polls.7
P.S. You can learn more about the false charges against ACORN by clicking here:
http://acorn.org/quickfacts
P.P.S. Republicans aren't just smearing ACORN—they're smearing Barack Obama, too, by sending around untrue emails about him.
Have your friends or family ever forwarded you an email with false attacks on Obama? If so, be sure they know the truth. Forward the email to The Center for Political Accuracy, and they'll reply with the true facts for you to respond with:
info@politicalaccuracy.org
Sources:
1. "States' Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal," New York Times, October 8, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09voting.html
"Check-off box delays thousands of voter registrations," Denver Post, October 14, 2008
http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/home/ci_10713377
2. "ACORN defends efforts amid voter-fraud allegations," Associated Press, October 14, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081014/ap_on_el_pr/voter_fraud
3. "In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud," New York Times, April 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/washington/12fraud.html
"The Truth About Fraud," Brennan Center for Justice
http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/
4. "The Truth About ACORN's Voter Registration Drives," ACORN
http://acorn.org/quickfacts
"Group Answers Charges of Voter Registration Fraud," New York Times, October 14, 2008
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/acorn/
5. "Voter Group Admits Mistakes, Defends Work," ABC News, October 14, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31241&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=5
"Is there ACORN fraud in Florida?," Orlando Sentinel, October 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31239&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=6
6. "'Fraud' vs. 'Suppression'," Politico, October 14, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31240&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=7
7. "After A Surge in Registration, A Surge in Suppression," Brennan Center for Justice, October 7, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31236&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=8
"Democrats fear GOP will turn away foreclosed voters; GOP won't rule out using residency change to challenge a ballot," Indianapolis Star, October 3, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31237&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=9
"Vote-scam fliers target black neighborhoods," Philadelphia Daily News, October 2, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31041&id=14429-9571044-ZN1WAux&t=10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCAL
This is from Jason Kander. Here's a great way to get involved locally on election day. K
Let's get out the vote for Obama
On Monday, November 3rd (the day before election day), I'll canvass the 44th District, putting literature on doors to remind Democratic voters to go to the polls the following day.
Then, on election day, I'm going to do it again. We're going to get every last Democratic vote out of the Fightin' 44th.
I HOPE YOU'LL JOIN ME!!!!
We'll go from 2pm to 7pm on Monday and 3pm to 7pm on Election Day. It's not every door, it's not convincing anyone of anything, it's just leaving reminders on the doors of folks we have identified as likely Democratic voters. And it's right here in the 44th. This election could be decided in Missouri, and Missouri could be decided by the turnout in Kansas City. Time to step up.
If you want to help, reply to me at this email address or contact Sarah White at 816 822 1627 or swhite@jaynixon.com and we'll get in touch by phone to give you the details.
Other volunteer opportunities:
The Missouri Democratic Party needs your help with a variety of other work between now and election day. They are located at 8043 Wornall. Walk in and offer your services or contact Elizabeth Birks at 816 260 1902 or birks.elizabeth@gmail.com.
Yard Signs:
Finally, I have a few Obama yard signs left. Let me know if you want one, but realize that I'm just going to hit you up to spend some time volunteering for Obama. Also, you can get signs for pretty much the entire Democratic ticket over at the Democratic Headquarters at 8043 Wornall.
Two weeks until we make history!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are hoping to get a gig with the election board in MO, please check out the following. K
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 12:00 PM
Subject: KC Election Board - Worker Positions
Per our conversation, please find the referenced information attached. Thank you. J
"Rae”melle A. Davis
Executive Secretary/Tabulation Specialist
Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners
1828 Walnut - Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-842-4820
Fax: 816-472-4960
raemelle@kceb.org
www.kceb.org
Please consider being a part of our team on election day!
On election day, more than 1,500 election workers are needed to serve the voters of Kansas City, within Jackson County. This presents a great opportunity to serve your community and be part of the election process.
You can join our Election Worker Team by completing the Election Worker form and mailing or faxing it to the KC Election Board office. Our address and fax number are listed below.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Election Workers are the Gatekeepers of Our Democracy!
Count me in!
I am interested in joining the Election Worker Team!
PLEASE PRINT – RETURN VIA E-MAIL OR FAX
Name
Address
City MO Zip 64 Date of Birth________ SSN (last 4 digits)
Home Phone Res. Email
Cell Phone Bus. Email
Bus. Phone
U.S. Citizen? Y___ N___ Resident of Jackson County? Y___ N___ Registered Voter in KCMO Y___ N___
Describe any physical limitations that require work accommodations
Where did you pick up this form: _______________
Party Affiliation: _______Republican _______Democrat
I’M INTERESTED IN
____Election Judge ____Pick up Personnel ____Voter Assistant Specialist
____Deputy Commissioner ____Greeter/Locator
Signature Date
Qualifications
• Citizen of the United States
• Resident of Kansas City, within Jackson County
• A registered voter, at least 18 years-old
• Available to work in any part of the city
Hours
• Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Election workers report to their assigned location no later than 5:00 a.m. to prepare for 6:00 a.m. poll opening.
• Following the 7:00 p.m. close of polls, all election workers assist Supervising Judges in closing poll site.
Training/Compensation
• Required attendance at one training session
• Training pay applicable only if combined with election day work
• Compensation ranges from $25.00 to $125.00 depending on the position worked
• Training materials including laptops, cell phones and poll logs are provided
• Total election day payment mailed 7 to 10 days after the election
Benefits of Becoming an Election Worker
• Learning about and assisting others in the democratic process
• Showing your civic pride
• Giving back to the community
• Contributing personally to timely, free, fair, honest and accurate elections
• Promoting public trust and confidence in the democratic process
• Earning extra dollars!
POLL WORKER DESCRIPTIONS
*Supervising Judge
• Assign duties to election judges
• Provide directions for setting up poll
• Open poll at 6:00 a.m.
• Manage processing of voters
• Officially close poll at 7:00 p.m.
• Responsible for preparing designated supplies to be picked up at end of day
*Election Judge
• Assist Supervising Judges and share responsibilities including, but not limited to:
• Open and set up poll
• Check voter identification and ensure poll book signature
• Greet voters
• Assist voters as needed
• Issue “I Voted” stickers
• Assist Supervising Judges in closing poll
*Deputy Commissioners (DC’s) work in teams to visit assigned poll sites throughout election day to monitor and ensure compliance with voting procedures and laws governing elections in the state of Missouri. Authorized to report any irregularity or failure of duty, assist judges and voters – serves as the eyes and ears of the election board (must designate a party preference).
Voter Assistance Specialist (VAS’s) assist voters by verifying their registration, correct polling location or other information using the Missouri Certified Voter Registration database and a laptop computer, cell phone or poll log (provided by the election board).
Pickup Personnel (PUP’s) ensure timely retrieval of “digital” ballots and voting supplies from poll sites and deliver the supplies to the election board headquarters (a 3-4 hour shift).
Greeters/Locators help minimize lines at the polls by ensuring the voter is at the correct poll, has the correct identification and is in the correct line.
*Duties are performed in bi-partisan teams of two.
