March 6 Presidential Primary: Voting Info and Open Discussion Thread

[ron_newman]

Next Tuesday, March 6, Massachusetts is holding a Presidential Primary.

If you are registered in the Democratic, Republican, or Green-Rainbow party, you can take only that party's ballot. If you are registered as "unenrolled" (independent, no party), you can choose which party's ballot you want to take. After doing so, you will remain "unenrolled".

Sample ballots for each Somerville ward can be found in the right column of the Somerville Election Department page.

Precinct lines have changed because of the 2010 federal census, so you should consult http://WhereDoIVoteMA.com or (for Somerville) http://www.somervillema.gov/residents/address-lookup to be sure where you are now voting. If you have voted at the Dilboy VFW (Ward 6, Precinct 1) in the past, your polling place has changed to the Kennedy School, Sartwell Avenue entrance.

Here's a list of Presidential candidates who will be on the ballot for each party. On the Democratic ballot, President Obama is unopposed. The Republican ballot has seven candidates, three of whom have dropped out. The Green-Rainbow ballot pits Jill Stein against two people I've never heard of.


Each party's primary ballot also includes contests for that party's State Committee Man, State Committee Woman, and Ward Committee.

In the Democratic Party, the state committee members are running unopposed, and there are incomplete slates (fewer names than seats to be filled) for all Ward Committees in Somerville. (I haven't looked up information about other cities and towns.) The remaining seats can be filled by write-ins. A write-in must get at least 5 votes to be elected.

In the Republican Party, there are two candidates for State Committee Man. I know nothing about them. The Ward Committee ballots consist entirely of write-in slots, except for a single name printed on the ballot in Ward 5. A write-in must get at least 5 votes to be elected.

In the Green-Rainbow Party, all state committee and ward committee slots are write-ins.

Use this post for any discussion of the primary election.

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Slightly related, anyone know who is in charge of the Somerville Democratic City Committee webpage?

seeing as how most of the information there is at least two years out of date (Kennedy is still listed as Senator, one page still shows Romney as Governor)

http://www.somervilledemocrats.org/OFFICIALS.html
It's as if they don't want anyone knowing any valid information about the City Committee, it's that out of date, like they just don't care.

[ron_newman]

The web site says Helen Corrigan , but I think it's actually now Kate Chang.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Is that YOU on the Ward 6 Dem ballot for Ward Committee?! Tell us more!

[ron_newman]

Yes, and I was on the 2008 ballot as well. Sadly, these committees tend to be only as active as their chairpersons make them, and Jack Connolly hasn't been very active at all. The Ward 2 committee I used to be on did a lot more, such as sponsoring local candidate debates, holding an annual picnic, and even making endorsements.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

You could make it active! I'll vote for you!

[ron_newman]

Thanks. By law we are required to hold a reorganization meeting after the election, so maybe I can try to bring some life to this thing.

You may see other folks that you know on these ballots; for instance, elements is on the Ward 7 slate, and tom_champion is on Ward 3's.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know what is the point of marking the "No Preference" option in the Presidential section?

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know how to change party affiliation? And could I make the change Monday or Tuesday in order to get a ballot on Tuesday for the new party?

[ron_newman]

If you are now registered in a party, it is too late to change that registration for the March 6 primary. You would have had to do that 20 days in advance of the election, which was February 15.

(Did you see this post last month?)

To change your party registration for future elections, fill out a registration form. I think these are available at polling places tomorrow, as well as at City Hall and libraries.

[ron_newman]

The following is copied from several e-mails by Katie Wallace to the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) mailing list:

These people are asking you to write their name in for vacant Democratic Ward Committee seats. Be sure to connect the arrow next to any blank space where you write in a name.

Ward 3

Ellen Frith
163 Summer Street
Ellen is an activist serving on the Somerville's Commission for Persons With Disabilities, participates in the monthly immigrant dialogues with the Chief of Police, and has been a member of Cambridge-Somerville for Change since its inception, campaigning for Obama, Patrick, Coakley and now Elizabeth Warren.

John Kozma
12 Craigie Terrace, #1
John is a Wilson Square resident, law student, and parent of an (almost) 2-year old who's interested in helping out the Democrats in the coming elections.

Ward 4

Marty Martinez
2 Lee Street
Marty is the co-founder of PDS, has been on the board of Somerville Community Corporation for 10 years and is very active in the community. He recently became a new homeowner in Ward 4.

Josh Tauber
12 Sherman Ct
Josh is is on the Steering Committe of Cambridge-Somerville for Change.

Ward 5
Cesar A. Urrunaga
11 Hinckley St. #1
Cesar is Magoun Square homeowner, father of 2 year old boy and former co-chair of the Somerville Human Rights Commission.

Ward 6
Paul Bockelman
64 Wallace Street
Paul represents Ward 6 on the Somerville School Committee and is serving as the Chair this year. He currently serves as the Director of Administration and Finance at the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of Massachusetts cities and towns.

Ward 7 (Note: you can only write-in at most five of these six names)

David Sloane
53 Paulina St
David is a Life-long Democrat & very active Organizer for Obama, Coakley, Patrick and Elizabeth Warren. He is on the Steering Committe of Cambridge-Somerville for Change.

Mark Waterbury
16 Hill St
Mark is a Proud Democrat on Hill Street, Committed to Helping Elect Democrats in 2012

Joyce Shortt
16 Packard Ave
Joyce has lived 19+ years on Packard Ave. She is concerned about Quality of Life for Children & Families

Richard Shortt
16 Packard Ave
Richard recently joined the PDS Leadership team as Issues co-chair. He is a strong advocate for keeping Somerville affordable & livable.

James Halloran Sr.
152 Powder House
Jim is a life-long Somerville Resident and was Ward 7 Alderman for 9 yrs. He is a Norwich Univ. Alum.

Matthew L Hartman
27 Conwell Ave. #2
Matt has spent 4 years with the Young Somerville Advisory Group working to engage young residents with city government and hopes to be able to continue that mission with the Somerville Democratic City Committee.


To be eligible for a Ward Committee seat, a candidate (even a write-in) must already be registered as a Democrat (NOT as 'unenrolled').

Remember to connect the arrow next to any write-in blank space that you fill in, or else your vote may not be counted.

[elements.livejournal.com]

Additional Ward 6 progressive write-in candidate:

Paul Bockelman
64 Wallace Street

"Paul represents Ward 6 on the Somerville School Committee and is serving as the Chair this year. He currently serves as the Director of Administration and Finance at the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of Massachusetts cities and towns."

... and is also just darn awesome.

[ron_newman]

He's in the list. I added him a few hours ago.

[barry rafkind (from livejournal.com)]

For some more short bios of the candidates on the Ward 7 slate, check out our voter guide (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9Rgsi91JrujVzdKWExjdFBRbzJnYVROLWUtYU9hQQ) (Google doc).

Thanks for posting this important information, Ron!

Barry Rafkind

Slate Candidate for Ward 7 Dem Committee

[ron_newman]

some last-minute additions to the above list (which I can't edit because it has been replied to):

Ward 1
Nelson Salazar
73 Derby Street
Nelson is the former Executive Director of The Welcome Project and currently he is the Parent Involvement Coordinator at Somerville Mental Health Association - Somerville Early Head Start and an ELL Counselor at SCALE

Ward 3

Sonja Darai
64 Bow Street
Sonja is the Executive Director of Somerville Commissions including the Human Rights Commission, the Multicultural Affairs Commission and the Somerville Commission for Women

Alexander Lessin
15 Belmont Sq
Alex is studying policy and business at the Heller School at Brandeis and works part time at Corporate Accountability International, an organization that has been waging and winning campaigns to challenge corporate abuse for more than 30 years.

Ward 4
Jennifer Lawrence
31 Sargent St
Jen is the former Executive Director of Groundworks Somerville. Now you can find her at Arts in the Armory and also helping people greenify their rooftops

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

What happens if I wrote in a name and could not fit their address?

[ron_newman]

I think the vote will still count, especially if the name you wrote in is matched to the same name on other ballots that did specify an address.

(I used my own ballpoint pen, not the felt-tip pen in the booth, for the write-in)

ETA: from Secretary of Commonwealth Galvin's page Running for Office as a Sticker or Write-in Candidate:

All write-in or sticker votes should include the correct name and address of the candidates. Courts have ruled that a vote should be counted whenever the intent of the voter can reasonably be determined, even if a voter omits the candidate’s address or makes a mistake in the name or address.

(see link for more)