Election Day Voter Registration in MA: an open letter

I'm writing this blog post today to tell you about an issue that is near and dear to my heart: voter engagement/election day registration.  It isn't really a partisan issue (although you folks aren't really ones to worry about this) but it would make a huge difference in participation levels here in MA.  Minnesota has it and when I met the Secretary of State who started it there this past summer, he convinced me of the value it provides.  There's no evidence of voter fraud with it, only increased chances to promote an active democracy.  Just think about it.  College students across MA could register day of election to cast ballots, without needing to think ahead and ask for an absentee ballot. 

For the Harvard specific benefits, think about the benefits this could bring on a local level too.  Imagine having city councilors beholden to the student vote who wanted to help make sure Felipes was open past 2am.  Think about progressive student votes coming in in more conservative towns across MA like Olin College in Needham or the ladies of Wellesley.

I want you sign this petition to help move it forward, the bill promoting this is at a critical point in the approval process.  The governor has already said he would sign it, and so all it needs is to pass the legislature.  Sign here.

A victory for grassroots

Over 220,000 people went to the Iowa caucuses for Democrats tonight. How many people went to the Democratic caucuses in 2004? 120,000.

We're talking about not quite doubling the participation here folks. This is a victory of campaigns in general. I'm sure all of our friends who are working on the Obama campaign are very energized tonight, as they well should be. However, the campaigns in general should all be exceedingly proud of themselves for the tremendous job they did involving people in the process of choosing our next leader.

This has been your general, feel good post of the evening.

For those who love numbers, check out the exit polling data over at MSNBC.

p.s. I already talked about my feelings on Huckabee.  That said, I can't help but love Romney getting trashed in Iowa.  Sorry for the negativity, but sometimes its nice to see a bad guy get hit hard.  Everyone reset your countdown clocks.  103 hours and counting...

Election Day Registration rocks my world.

So I've been talking about my summer as a PolitiCorps fellow to basically anyone who asks, but a large achievement of ours was registering 1,500 people to vote.  We got to meet with the State Secretary of Minnesota which has election day registration (EDR) and hearing his stories made me swoon.  The idea that people could register to vote and cast their vote on the same day is an activists dreamland.  

We can make that happen in Massachusetts.  EDR is in committee right now, and it needs to be pulled out and passed.  To quote Blue Mass Group: "It's easy, however, to do something about it. You can write to your Rep via Act for Change, or you can click here and find your Rep's or Senator's info."

Let's make this happen here.  Sign the petition with a friend.  Turn to each other and say "Democracy thanks you."  Because, believe me, it does. 

War Protest

Here are some photos from Saturday's protest in Washington DC. After a rally on the national mall, with speeches by Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon, among others, the march proceeded to ring the capitol building. There was no official head count, but estimates were a few hundred thousand. I've attended every major protest in Washington since the first one before the war in 2003, and this was by far the most diverse and populous crowd. The warm weather (yay global warming!) probably helped, but still it was heartening to see so many people. There were a lot of jokes along the lines of "where are all the congressmen?" and Bush's convenient meetings at Camp David, but the general sentiment was, what else can we do besides march?

March on DC!

Quick plug for this Saturday. Anyone remotely in the DC area owes it to themselves to come out. I know they say this every time, but it is supposed to be big. Call me an idealist, but the bigger the better, let's end this shit.

Join United for Peace and Justice in a massive march on Washington,
D.C., on Sat., January 27, to call on Congress to take immediate
action to end the war.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/