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Hillary won!

Hillary makes a comeback. Sen. Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday, having a 10-point lead over Sen. Barack Obama. Now Clinton has a total of 1,589 delegates and Obama leads with 1,724 delegates. Clinton's camp said it raised $10 million on Wednesday.
If you count Michigan and Florida's votes, Clinton is ahead in the popular votes. But Obama's name wasn't on the Michigan ballot...so how fair is that?

To pee or not to pee

John Hartley is running for a City Council position (from district no. 3) against five other men. He is by far the most well known ... but he wishes that he'd have gotten the publicity some other way.
On March 27, while he was door-to-door campaigning in a Kensington neighborhood, he "had to take a leak." This lead to his arrest.
Two women say they saw Hartley, 65, urinate into a cup in his truck and then place a T-shirt over his lap and masturbate. They called the cops and Hartley was arrested. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor lewdness. He does not have to register as a sex offender, but his sentence is a fine of $500 and being placed on three years' probation. He has also lost his job as a San Diego Unified School District substitute teacher.
Hartley sent out a mailer on April 15. He said that he apologizes, he made a mistake and "It all started because I had to take a leak." He claims that the women made a mistake about his gestures, because he said all he was doing was making sure he wouldn't soil his pants- not masturbate.
He served on the San Diego City Council from 1989 to 1993. The election is June 3.


I wonder:
Will people vote for a man who can't even be a substitute teacher?
Could two women really make that big of a mistake about what they saw?
Did Hartley receive special treatment from the law enforcement and court?
Would you vote for him?
Will he ever work in politics again?
Is it that hard to go drive to a bathroom?




If you have anything you'd like to ask/say to him, his e-mail address is: Hartley2k@aol.com

158 would help

Pennsylvania has a lot of delegates up for grabs: 158 to be exact. According to a telephone poll conducted yesterday in a Rasmussen Report that came out today, Sen. Hillary Clinton is still beating Sen. Barack Obama by 7 percentage points. Clinton currently has 49 percent of the vote and Obama has 44 percent. She will most likely win the majority of delegates in Pennsylvania. Democratic voters in the state vote tomorrow, April 22.

Craving that vote

The primary scuffle came and went a couple months ago. People rushed to the polls before the bickering and backstabbing between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton became commonplace.

San Diego wanted to be heard. More than 60 percent of registered voters in San Diego County voted in the primary election.

"That's the highest turnout that we have had for a presidential primary in over 30 years," said Deborah Seiler, San Diego County's registrar of voters.

The majority of San Diegans voted by mail ballots, Seiler said.

Nine million Californians voted on Super Tuesday, beating the previous record number. Perhaps this election has gotten more publicity than in the past. Perhaps Californians recognized the importance and power of voting. Perhaps they want to implement change in the White House. Perhaps they wanted to make sure some candidates got the boot.

Special Mail Ballot Election: May 6

There's a Special Mail Ballot election for residents registered to vote in Campo on Tuesday. Residents were mailed the ballot packet in the mail on April 7. Residents are able to vote in the registrar of voters office on May 6 7 a.m. through 8 a.m.

The last day to register to vote for this special election is April 21- that is a week away.

This election is for Proposition A: to approve a $100 fee per parcel to be used as compensation for Campo firefighters.

The last day to vote for the June 3rd primary election is May 19th.

Register to Vote now!!

Now is the time to register to vote!


Reasons why you should register to vote:

1) Because it's free

2) Because it's easy

3) Because you should express your right to vote

4) Because your vote matters!


You can always request a mail ballot and vote when you feel like it.

No. 2 is as important as No. 1

Who ever said being the vice president isn't as important as being the president? In this past administration, Vice President Dick Cheney showed that he was just as powerful and influential as (if not more than) President George W. Bush. So who says that the next president's v.p. won't be just as influential toward his or her decisions?

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have already made passes at each other about the possibility of them taking the other as their v.p.. But Clinton's was sincere, saying that their joint ticket would be "unstoppable," while Obama turned her down.

According to April 1, a Gallup poll showed that more people would like to see Obama as Clinton's v.p., instead of Clinton being Obama's v.p. Only 42 percent of people polled during the end of March said they'd like to see Clinton as Obama's v.p. compared to 58 percent of people who said they'd like to see Obama as Clinton's v.p.

Sen. John McCain has also got to find his No. 2 man. Or woman. A flock of rumors swept through the party over the weekend, suggesting that Condoleezza Rice is active in McCain's campaign and is considering running as his v.p.

McCain said that he had "missed those signals," when talking about Rice's presumed interest in being v.p. on Sunday. But then Tuesday, Rice made an announcement that she looks forward to voting, not running for office and then going back to Stanford.

I wonder:
Could a black woman become popular enough to have Republicans vote for her, even if she is Bush's right-hand person?
Would the Republican party be bold enough as to introduce a person who's not a white male as the v.p. running mate as a vote-booster?
Would McCain be willing to have a diverse person as his running mate?

The bumpy road to Pennsylvania

The battle for Pennsylvania is on. According to a Rasmussen Report that printed on April 1, Sen. Hillary Clinton currently has a 5 percent lead over Sen. Barack Obama for voters in the state. During the last week of March, Clinton had a 12 percent lead over Obama, having 49 percent.
Obama is endorsed by Penn. Sen. Bob Casey (the other Senator is a Republican). If Obama wins this Pennsylvania primary (on Tuesday, April 22), he could win gain enough delegates to solidify the Democratic nomination.
Along the bumpy road to Pennsylvania, Clinton and Obama have been publicizing each other's dirt. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain is currently traveling the country, going to receptions and rallies, and making thoughtful considerations about his vice presidential pick.

Registrar needs Cali to keep promise and pay for Feb. 5

Organizing a primary election is difficult. Organizing two primaries within five months of each other is a recipe for chaos. Californians had an early vote for the presidential primaries, but the San Diego County Registrar of Voters is still waiting for the state to pick up the tab.
The registrar spent 44 percent more money this current fiscal year by holding two primary elections, than it will spend next fiscal year by holding only one major statewide election. Because of that, the registrar's proposed 2008-09 budget could be up to $16 million less than the current fiscal year's budget.
This year, the California State Legislature voted to hold a bifurcated primary, which means that the original primary is split into two primaries - the Feb. 5 and June 3 elections. This special type of primary isn't held often.
On the surface, having two elections appears to be a beneficial idea. But behind the scenes, the registrar has been running into a number of problems.
“[The bifurcated primary] is difficult because of the overlapping timeframes and it’s very expensive,” said the registrar’s department head, Deborah Seiler. “We’re working overtime because people are still doing cleanup from February and we’re also planning for June. It means a lot of overtime and no breaks for the staff. People working nights and weekends with no days off.”
Seiler said she believes the voters did like that the primary date was changed from January to February. But she expects there to be a decrease in voter turnout in the June primary election, because so many people all ready voted in the big presidential primary.
“The legislature decided to split the primaries for the first time in decades,” Seiler said. “But there was no reason to.”
Actually, the California legislature did have a reason.
By installing this bifurcated primary, some termed-out legislatures will be able to run again in the June election for State Senate and State Assembly, but wouldn’t have been able to if the election were held in February.
Even though this decision to implement a bifurcated primary arduously affected the registrar and other registrars throughout the state, the counties don’t really have a say whether it’ll occur again.
“I think the likelihood [that a bifurcated primary happening again] is slim,” Seiler said.
The state legislature, in return from challenging the registrar offices with two primaries, said it would pay for the Feb. 5 election, which cost the registrar $15.2 million. But it hasn’t paid the San Diego County Registrar yet.
“The February primary needs to be paid for by the state,” Seiler said.
She said the State Association of Counties is currently pushing for the registrar’s reimbursement.
Even though the November election is expected to be hundreds of thousands of dollars more expensive than the February and June primary elections, the registrar is expecting to make much ore revenue from the November election.
“We’ll get ore money because more local jurisdictions are participating in the election and sharing the costs,” Seiler said.
The registrar spent $30.5 million in their 2006-07 fiscal year and will probably spend around $36.5 million this fiscal year, while it’s proposing it will spend a low total of $20.4 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year.
The registrar spends most of its money on services and supplies for the elections, which include printing costs, length of ballots and number of ballots.
February’s primary had a very simple ballot compared to the November election ballot, Seiler said. There are up to 300 candidates on the ballot that the registrar is working with, she said.
The registrar has $11.4 million for services and supplies in its proposed budget for the November election, while it spent only $7.8 million on services and supplies for the February primary.
If the November election will cost more than expected, the registrar can shift money between categories in its budget, Seiler said.
“We participate a spike in voters [in the November election],” she said. “But the question is, will the voters both to go to the polls in June?”

Job Fair this Wednesday

Want to earn some extra cash? The San Diego County Registrar of Voters is holding a job fair for the upcoming June 3rd election this Wednesday, March 26, from 9 a.m. till 1 p.m.

Types of work include:
general clerical positions (such as using phones, entering data and filing paperwork)
review forms
sort and assemble mail pieces
packaging of supplies and other warehouse duties (involves some heavy lifting)
recruit poll workers
train poll workers

The pay ranges from $8.76 to $17.61 per hour, depending on knowledge and the complexity of the assignments.

If you're interested, please go to the ROV office at: 5201 Ruffin Road, Suite I - it's on the Southeast corner of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. and Ruffin Road, between the 163 and I-15.

"Decline to State" mix-up

Nobody enjoys hanging in limbo. Most of the time it's in your best interest to choose a party if you feel more closely with one. When you're a "decline to state" voter for a primary election, it means that you're a nonpartisan/independent voter. (This doesn't mean you're with the American Independent Party- it means independent as in you don't have a party.) During a primary election, the nonpartisan voters will receive a nonpartisan ballot, which consists of only nonpartisan issues. The nonpartisan voter can receive a ballot for a single political party in a primary election only if the voter asks at the time of voting (for a mailing ballot or while at the polling place) and if the political party notifies the state before the election.

In the February 5th election, "decline to state" voters weren't allowed to vote for a Republican candidate, because the Republican Party didn't notify the state in time to allow the process to happen.

In the June 3rd election, "decline to state" voters will be allowed to vote for most candidates of the Democrat, Republican and American Independent parties.

Payback checks

The San Diego County of Registrar made an oops. It accidentally charged 91 jurisdictions a total of $427,000 for the November 2006 general election. Last week, the registrar mailed checks to the jurisdictions. The biggest check was $78,000 for the San Diego Community College District. The error occurred because the two vendors (Merrill Publishing and CTS LanguageLink) that created and printed the sample ballots charged the jurisdictions twice. Registrar head Deborah Seiler said the confusion happened because of unclear contract language. Merill gave the registrar $400,000 for future services.

-Information gathered by The San Diego Union-Tribune

Obama's unsurprising win

Sen. Barack Obama won Mississppi last night, winning 61% of the vote and therefore 19 delegates. Mississippi is the state with the highest African-American population and Obama won a whopping 92% of the black vote. But Sen. Hillary Clinton didn't go home empty-handed. She won 37% of the vote, but grabbed 14 delegates. Not bad. She still trals Obama with 1,480 delegates to his 1,611. Remember- the first one to 2,025 wins!

I wonder:
Should Florida and Michigan's punishments be lifted and be permitted to re-do their primaries? They would probably favor Clinton, because she won a great majority of the votes in the states originally, a month ago.

Look out for Pennsylvania. The primary will occur in 6 weeks and that's the golden ticket to grab. One candidate will grab it. If it's evenly split...then the battle continues, and maybe something else must be done to declare a clear winner. But if that something else are the superdelegates...how just will their decision be?

Lots of flavors to choose from for U.S. Rep

The 52nd congressional district is up for grabs. Well, not exactly. There are 11 candidates (5 Republicans and 4 Democrats) on the ballot to become the U.S. Representative for San Diego's East County area, but below is some research on the people I believe have the best chance.

Vickie Butcher- Democrat from La Mesa- wants universal health care, a withdrawal from Iraq and wants clean, renewable energy.
Duncan Hunter- a Republican from La Mesa- he's currently in office right now as a U.S. Rep. He's a Vietnam vet and has had a strong hand in building the border fence to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, providing tax relief and supports the war in Iraq.
Mike Lumpkin- Democrat from Jamul- He's against the war in Iraq, having fiscal restraint and orderly, legal immigration.


My personal favorite? Vickie Butcher. It could be because when I met her, her smile was so warm and sincere that it made Nancy Pelosi look like Hillary Clinton. Or it could be that she was out in the rain on Martin Luther King Day (along with me)- celebrating the civil rights movement, King's brave ambition and acknowledgment of what's important even though the weather wasn't San Diego's best. And it could be that she's a female Democrat who used to be a teacher and who is comfortably liberal - just like me.


Please remember to register to vote! Or, if you're not sure if you're registered, check!

Positions for upcoming June election

The positions to be voted on in San Diego's upcoming June 3rd election are:

-U.S. Representative candidates for the 49th through 53rd Congressional Districts
-State Senate candidates: 39th, 66th and 73rd Districts.
-State Assembly candidates for the 74th through 79th Districts.
-AIP Central Committee in the 66th, 73rd through 79th Assemblies.
-Democrat Central Committee in the 66th, 73rd through 79th Assemblies.
-Republican Central Committee in the 66th, 73rd through 79th Assemblies.
-P&F Central Committee- 1st through 5th Supervisorials.
-Green County Council.
-Superior Court Judges, office numbers one through 26.



(More specific information regarding the candidates and their politics will be posted within the month.)

Surprise, surprise

The elections on March 4th had shocking results. Sen. Hillary Clinton gained some ground and won Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island. Obama won Vermont. Clinton now has 1,424 delegates but still trails behind Sen. Barack Obama's 1,520 delegates. What a turnaround. What an upset for Obama supporters.
Clinton has a few tricks up her sleeve, but hopefully they aren't dirty tactics. CNN analysts said that most people who were undecided, resulted in voting for Clinton. Sure she lost the latino vote, but undecided voters proved to be powerful.
Now it's up to Pennsylvania to pick a winner (which will occur in April). To the East Coast, they go. But McCain will be resting easy.

But McCain will be resting easy. It's not a shocker that Sen. John McCain won all four states and received enough delegates to get the Republican nod. Mike Huckabee, with only 267 total delegates, said,"It's been a heckuva run" and told his supporters to back McCain.

I wonder:
Have Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton been helping or hurting their spouses' campaigns?
Did Clinton's appearance on SNL help get voters to see her young, friendly side?
How willing are Huckabee's supporters to jump on the McCain wagon?

Clinton's getting out her boxing gloves

March 4th is coming up fast. It's the day of the pivotal Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and Texas primaries. Sen. Hillary Clinton 91 delegates short of Sen. Barack Obama. According to a Rasmussen Report's telephone survey that was published on Feb. 25, Clinton has a one point lead over Obama. She's slowly slipping, because she had a three point lead over Obama last week. Clinton is beating Obama in Ohio by five points. Although the Texas and Ohio debates went pretty well for her, she is in a troubled spot. If she loses getting the majority of delegates from superstates such as Texas and Ohio, she's practically a goner.

Third party candidate stirs up what's left of the left

Democrats were mad this week. Sen. Hillary Clinton said "Shame on you Barack Obama" for sending out mailings that she said were "blatantly false." She criticized Obama for borrowing some lines from a supporter/governor's speech. And then there was the tactical Texas debate, which mainly focused on Clinton and Obama's differences in policies. But what really stirred things up for the party was Ralph Nader.
On Monday, he decided to through his hat into the ring as a third party candidate. He's been on the ballot as a third party presidential candidate for the past three elections. Clinton and Obama believe that he's going to lose the Democratic Party the presidential election, but Nader defends his decision to run and insists that people aren't and shouldn't be happy with Clinton and Obama. He will most likely be on the ballot in November as an Independent.

"Obamarific"

Sen. Barack Obama has won 10 straight contests. Last night, Obama won both the Wisconsin and Washington primaries, and he also won the Hawaii caucus. Obama now has 1,315 delegates, while Sen. Hillary Clinton is slowly slipping away with only 1,245.

Obama has more votes, more delegates and has won contests in more states. He's also currently taking away Clinton's female and blue-collar voters.
Clinton has the support of the Superdelegates.

McCain also won the primaries in both Wisconsin and Washington, with his delegate total now at 918. He only needs 273 more delegates to win the Republican nomination.


Watch tomorrow night: Clinton vs. Obama in a CNN debate.

I wonder:
What created Clinton's fall from her leaving Obama in the dust on Super Tuesday to her current loss of straight 10 contests?
Will Clinton make a comeback with wins in Texas and Ohio? Or will those primaries prove Obama will send Clinton back to New York with her tail between her legs?
Will Clinton's large amount of Superdelegates secure her win for the Democratic nomination? Does that check on the voters seem democratic if Obama continues to get more votes than her?

One election after another

With one election down and two more to go, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters office is busy as a beehive. California had their first "Bifurcated" Primary this year. A bifurcated primary is the title given when the presidential primary election is on a separate date than the direct primary election. The direct primary election is coming up quickly - it's on June 3rd - and the registrar of voters office is stepping it back into full gear for the next election.

First on their agenda is getting poll workers - who are trained and paid for their one-day job. It's the perfect opportunity to do something to help your community (but the plus is that your reward isn't only appreciation, but it's also money). People speaking all languages are needed, but primarily Spanish, Filipino and Vietnamese.

Make sure you register to vote so that you can vote in the June 3rd election!

Obama takes the lead

One thing's for certain: Sen. Barack Obama has momentum. Obama is now in the lead, having 1,253 delegates, which is 42 delegates more than his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton. Obama won the primaries from all three states in the elections on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Clinton's had eight consecutive losses to Obama, but has been putting her effort into the bigger states that haven't voted yet, such as Texas and Ohio. She'll need all the help she can get to stop Obama's winning streak.

As for the Republican race, Sen. John McCain has practically won. He has 827 delegates and Mike Huckabee only has 217, and it's mathematically impossible for him to make a comeback extreme enough to beat McCain. The GOP leaders are celebrating McCain's "victory" and endorse him. Now it's just the Democratic Party nominee that's up for grabs. Next up: Washington and Wisconsin.

I wonder:
Who has the best chance of winning: the candidate who promises change, has the most delegates but isn't winning the big states, or the candidate with the experience, wins the big states but has been losing the top position?
Will the people vote on who has the best policies or who will beat McCain?
Only time will tell, and while the Democrats are getting nervous, the Republicans better start preparing for one heck of a battle for the White House.

A wrench thrown in Hillary's and John's camps

Sen. Hillary Clinton had a bad weekend, to say the least. Sen. Barack Obama is closing in on her with his charismatic "We need change now" campaign, no matter how hard she fights. After he won contests in three states on Saturday, he only trails by 27 delegates. This caused fear and nervousness to Clinton and her loyal supporters. Recognizing potential failure of getting the Democratic nomination, she knew she had to make some changes of her own. She , Patti Solis Doyle, to a senior adviser position and put longtime adviser, Maggie Williams, in her place yesterday. Clinton now has 1,148 delegates and needs 2,025 to win the nomination.

Sen. John McCain is still in a far lead, but is confronted by a desperate Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is still standing strong in the race. McCain won the Washington caucus, but lost the Kansas caucus and Louisiana primary to the hopeful Huckabee, who claims that he still believes in miracles. McCain has a total of 723 delegates and Huckabee has a non-threatening 217 delegates. The Republican candidates need 1,191 delegates to win the nomination.

Adieu, Romney

Wave goodbye to Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, who has been behind Sen. John McCain in the presidential race. He dropped out today, Feb. 7, after he won three primaries and eight caucuses on Super Tuesday. He was currently in second place in total delegates for his party, with 286 delegates. McCain has 714 delegates and former Gov. Mike Huckabee has 181 delegates. Huckabee said today that he'll continue his run for the Republican nomination.

I wonder:
Will Romney's drop help unite the Republican party and result in a McCain-winning blowout?
Or will this create a split among the Republican voters- the more moderate voters to McCain and the more conservative voters to Huckabee?

Could you smell the election in the air?

The presidential race is close and the stakes are high. Efforts have increased this year to get more voters- especially young voters- to be active in this democratic process. There are 2,026,537 eligible voters in San Diego County, with a record-high of 60 percent of them (around 15.7 million) being registered. Thirty-five percent of the registered voters are Democrats, 39 percent are Republicans, 2.4 percent are Independents and .6 percent are members of the Green Party. More people declined to the state this year than any other year on record, leaving less people voting as a particular political party. The 2004 presidential election's registration percent was 68.95 percent and this year's election's registration percent has slightly decreased to 68.47 percent.

The obvious return to traditional paper ballots slowed down the tallying process and therefore resulted in a long night, but it will ensure accuracy.

In San Diego County, Sen. Hillary Clinton won 50.5 percent of the Democratic votes with Sen. Barack Obama winning 43.3 percent. In the Republican race, Sen. John McCain won 40.1 percent, Gov. Mitt Romney came in a close second place at 38 percent and former Gov. Mike Huckabee received only 9.4 percent of the votes from the county.

Twenty-four states voted yesterday, Feb. 5. Clinton and McCain won California, getting 52 and 42 percent of their parties' votes respectively. The delegate count leaves Clinton in a short lead over Obama while McCain has a secure lead over the other Republican candidates.


Primaries the candidates have won:
CLINTON: Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire.
OBAMA: Georgia, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, Missouri, Utah, Deleware and South Carolina.
MCCAIN: Arizona, New Jersey, New York, California, Illinois, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Missouri, Delawar, Florida, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
ROMNEY: Massachusetts, Utah and Michigan.
HUCKABEE: Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama and Tenessee.

States that still have to vote:
Saturday, Feb. 9- Louisiana primaries, Washington ccaucuses, Kansas Republican caucus and Nebraska caucus.
Sunday, Feb. 10- Maine Democratic caucuses
Tuesday, Feb. 12- D.C., Maryland and Virginia primaries
Tuesday, Feb. 19- Hawaii Democratic caucuses, and Washington and Wisconsin primaries


How San Diegans voted on the Propositions:
Prop 91: Transportation funds- 54 percent voted NO
Prop 92: Community college funding- 59 percent voted NO
Prop 93: Limits on legislatures' terms in office- 52 percent voted NO
Prop 94: Indian gaming compact- 60 percent voted YES
Prop 95: Indian gaming compact- 60 percent voted YES
Prop 96: Indian gaming compact- 59 percent voted YES
Prop 97: Indian gaming compact- 60 percent voted YES


How Californians voted on the Propositions:
Prop 91- 58 percent voted NO
Prop 92- 57 percent voted NO
Prop 93- 54 percent voted NO
Prop 94- 56 percent voted YES: passed
Prop 95- 56 percent voted YES: passed
Prop 96- 56 percent voted YES: passed
Prop 97- 56 percent voted YES: passed

Super Tuesday is super important

Super Tuesday is only five days away. As the clock ticks, the voters get more excited, the candidates get more nervous and the journalists get more anxious to see the results. I'm feeling all of the above.
On Feb. 5, people in the 24 states will vote for the primary elections. Californians, this includes you, so perk up.
This is the largest-ever number of states participating on the same day to hold primary elections for one or both political parties. But that isn't the only reason why this primary is historic. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., are in a close race to win the Democratic Party nomination - and both aren't white men. Talk about a historic election.
But don't worry, I'm not forgetting about the Republican Party's close race. Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (who is of Mormon religion) are close, as well, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trailing behind.

Visuals courtesy of CNN


This is why voting is imperative in this election. Your favorite candidate can't afford for you to lazily decide not to vote just because you believe he or she will already win the state. You never know! The polls don't even know!
Folks: this is a primary for the books. It certainly won't be forgotten and it's appropriately being well-covered by the media.

As long as you're registered, voting is a breeze. If you're not registered, make sure you register. In 2004, 12 percent of the people who were registered to vote didn't vote, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's one problem. Another problem is the high percentage of the people who aren't registered the vote. About 36 percent of the citizen population didn't vote in the 2004 election. Fortunately the 2004 election had a higher turn-out rate than the 2000 election, but Americans shouldn't be satisfied with that number. Thirty-six percent of American adults aren't voting for who will be their president? That's one out of three people - that's irresponsibly ridiculous. And look at the outcomes: 39 percent of Americans aren't satisfied with the way President Bush does his job, according to a Feb. 1, 2008 Rasmussen Report. If all legal adults vote, maybe the majority of Americans wouldn't disapprove of our president.

Another major issue that Americans must overcome is the age gap in voters. Seventy-two percent of people 72-years-old and older voted in the 2004 elections, while only 47 percent of people who were 18- to 24-years-old voted. People my must be more engaged and active in our democracy - if young people don't vote, they're making a huge mistake. Who runs the country right now will have a large impact on our adult future. So please use the most prominent power we have available to us: voting power.


SOME VOTING TIPS:
-Get registered if you're not already.
-Make sure you know the location of your designated polling place.
-Keep up with recent stories about the candidates.
-Understand both sides of the propositions.