Vote Tomorrow (and say hi if you're in Teele)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to vote tomorrow! Polls are open 7am to 8pm.

If you are not sure whether you are registered or what your status is, you can call your local city hall and find out. Some numbers for that:
Somerville: 617-625-6600
Cambridge: 617-349-4361
Boston: 617-635-4635

If you need to know where to vote, you can look here for Somerville addresses or here for anywhere in Massachusetts.

If you are voting at the Teele Square Fire Station, say hi! I am working the polls and will be there all day (excepting a couple of breaks).
[ETA: My official title is "Inspector" and it would be fabulous if visitors could address me as such, with appropriate French accent and rolled R and all. :]


Some notes:

* In Massachusetts you can vote in the primary if you're registered as a Democrat, a Republican, or if you're unenrolled or independent. If you're registered as a Democrat or a Republican, you can only vote in that primary. If you're unenrolled/independent, you can pick a ballot for either primary at your polling location. Voting in the primary does not change your party status--i.e., you'll still be an independent when you're done voting.

* If you are in line or in the process of voting when the polls close, you still have the right to vote. Just stay in line.

* If you registered to vote, but your name does not appear on the voter list, you still have the right to vote. If this happens to you, ask the poll workers for a provisional ballot. You should be prepared to provide proof of identity and address with a driver's license, state ID, or passport.

* If you recently moved, and did not re-register with your new address before January 16th, you will probably need to vote at your former address's polling place. And then remember to re-register to update your address.

* If your right to vote is challenged for any reason, you have the right to know the reason and the right to vote by provisional ballot.

* If you witness any voting irregularities, take note. Document if you have a camera. Get the names of the folks around you who also witnessed it. Then either let me know or contact the campaign who might have lost out as a result.



[Poll #1132880]

Comments

[ron_newman]

Thanks for posting this! I'm not sure everyone will realize there is a poll behind the LJ-cut.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Well, it does say so in the cut-text. It's a pretty long poll to have un-cut, I think.

[ron_newman]

The second link is wrong (and my apologies if I'm the one who gave it to you). Should be this.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oops, fixed. I'd accidentally used the URL from the results page instead of the search.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The somerville link didn't work for me. (I know where I vote, so it's no problem for me...) I put in my house and it wouldn't tell me ward or precinct or nuthin'. Just the assessment value of my house. Which is actually interesting to me, since I rent, I had no idea what the house was worth!

[ron_newman]

Call the Election Department and let them know. If they find out immediately they may be able to fix it in time for the election.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

How odd! It didn't give you your trash day or the other info either? Did the general MA page work?

(FYI, don't put much stock in that assessment number. While there is a chance it might bear some resemblance to current market value, the info for my place certainly did not.)

[cos]

It's very picky about exact forms of street names. For example, "Powder House" needs to be two words with a space. Also, you can't type the Street/Road/Way/... part in the field, you have to choose it from the menu.

[cutieperson]

try putting in the other apartment number for your building. it only lists the info under one, not both.

[cos]

I wish there were an "I am not eligible to vote" option, separate from the more general "I will not be voting" which could mean several other things.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

True. And I forgot to put in Still Undecided. I was apparently at the limit, though I imagine I could have lumped the Greens together to no significant effect.

[cos]

Add to your list:

* If you recently moved, and did not re-register with your new address before January 16th, you will probably need to vote at your former address's polling place. And then remember to re-register to update your address.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Polls OPEN AT 7 AM! :)

[ron_newman]

and CLOSE AT 8 PM. Could the OP please add this information? Thanks.

election protection

[cos]

Also, the national election protection hotline I volunteered for in 2004 is still active and staffed with lawyers and other helpful people. 866-OUR-VOTE.

[ron_newman]

By the way, I'm on tomorrow's ballot, as a candidate for the Ward 6 Democratic Committee. Please vote for me ;-)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Very cool!

Unfortunately, I now live in the wilds of Ward 7.

Sample Ballots

[ron_newman]

Sample ballots for each ward and precinct can be found here. Unfortunately, these are huge PDFS that do not load very fast.

Re: Sample Ballots

[jmorash.livejournal.com]

Wow. On the sample ballot for my ward (#3), there are 29 people running for Ward Committee and I've never heard of any of them, except the mayor. What in the heck do these people do?

[spicysurprise.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know if people registered independant can vote tomorrow?

[ron_newman]

Yes, you can take any party's ballot.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Can anyone elaborate on the roles of the "State Committee Man" and "State committee Woman" and the Ward Committee people?

[ron_newman]

Ward and city Democratic* committees can be very active if the people who are on them want to make them so. When I lived in Ward 2, we met every month or two, sponsored candidates' debates, and even sometimes made endorsements. Ward committees hold caucuses every year to select delegates to the state party convention, which has a significant role in the nomination process for statewide offices.

Progressive Democrats of Somerville have stepped into the vacuum created by the ward and city committees' lack of local activity. I'd like to see the ward and city committees do some of the things that PDS does now, such as distributing questionnaires to candidates and holding public forums.

* The same would go for Republican committees, except that Somerville has so few Republicans that I'm not sure any local party organization still exists here.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I vote in Teele. Will be voting for Hillary.

[vanguardcdk.livejournal.com]

"Voting in the primary does not change your party status--i.e., you'll still be an independent when you're done voting."

Huh, that's changed. Back in 2000 I voted in the Democratic primary in Cambridge and was automatically enrolled in the party. Afterwards I had to send in a little post card saying basicly "no really, I'm an Independent".

I've always referred to that incident as my 'one day as a Democrat'.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep, it has changed, though I'm not sure when exactly it flipped.

The thing I'm unclear on is why it would be in anybody's interest to actualy register in any party at all? I mean, aside from marketing purposes and all if one is a candidate.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I vote at the senior home on College Ave. Hope there's a huge turn-out.

YES WE CAN!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

AND SO ARE YOU!

[jokabri.livejournal.com]

The really sad thing is that this is not a very diverse community anymore. 90% democratic and 75% Obama? I bet even JFK didn't get that support.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Given how few respondents there have been compared to the number of comm members, I'm not sure you can generalize that much.

[faster-gun.livejournal.com]

i'm a journalism student and trying to cover my busy ass in case i don't make it to the polls tomorrow (I'm supposed to interview someone but I have class and work 8-8) would you mind answering a few questions?

1) how long have you been working the polls?

2) why do you feel it's important for you to be there working the polls?

3) what is your occupation?

4) what's the most important issue to you this election and why?

5) what's your prediction for tomorrow? do you think a lot of people will turn out and from what social/economic groups? (students, professionals, etc)

And if I could have your name that would be great. If not, uhhh ignore this comment. :)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I would love to help you, but unfortunately I've been quite busy and have to go to sleep since I'll need to be at the polls in *gah* six hours.

So a few quickies:
1. This will be my first time.
2. I'm almost pathologically civic-minded. I was going to do it when I thought it was a volunteer gig and I actually feel a little bit odd that they're going to pay me.
3. Real estate agent (with a degree in computer science and former career in tech). If you're looking to buy or sell in the area (or know someone who is), you should send them to me. Search back in the comm if you want references. :)
4&5 are too complicated/hard for me to dash anything off.

My name is Jude Shabry, and you know where to find me tomorrow, or if you want to reach me by phone, it's 617.256.9599, though I may not be able to answer at any given point, I'll be able to return calls.

Good luck!

[archangelus.livejournal.com]

Argh. My polling place is Capen Court, but I can't seem to find any actual descriptions of where that is. It just tells me that it's "off of 16"

Is it that little street by the end of Gordon street, near the rotary?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I entered 1 Capen Court, 02144 into Google Maps and it turned up the answer. (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+Capen+Ct,+Somerville,+MA+02144,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=image)

Of course, given how little of Rt 16 is in W. Somerville, I doubt it would have been too hard to spot -- just look for the big crowds of campaigners 100 yards (or whatever the limit is) away. :)