Subject: Find Your Voting Location: 1) For Early Voting; 2) Voting On Election Day Tuesday November 4th
1. Find Your Early Voting Location
This link shows where you can go to Early Vote by entering your zip code and optionally your address: http://govote.org/ (click on ‘View Larger Map’ after you see the first map to reveal the Early Voting Location address and polling times)
2. Find Your Voting Location on Election Day (next Tuesday, November 4th for everybody* )
This link shows where you can Vote on Election Day by entering your zip code and address:
http://maps.google.com/vote
3. *Dispel the ‘Staggered Voting Date’ Rumor
Some Republican election machines have been giving the misleading message to voters that: “Election/Voting Day is November 4th for Republican Voters and November 5th for Democratic Voters”
This destructive misinformation has been misleading many voters, especially those who are new to the election process.
Please dispel this poisonous destructive rumor with everybody you meet, and tell them:
“Election/Voting Day is Tuesday November 4th for Everybody: Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike”.
Please forward this message to all your email groups, message boards, Facebook and so on.
Below please find a detailed Grass-Roots "How To Guide" on Voter Registration from the Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/23/132922/423/583/555718
Below please find a link to an Obama Florida “Quick Reference” Info Sheet in 8-1/2” x 11” format for voters, giving them quick and easy links to many Obama things going on in Florida.
http://snipurl.com/2nrov or http://okeechobeedemocrats.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/obama20info20sheet.pdf
Especially in the internet age, this is something you can hand to people on the street or leave in coffee shops, and it gives them most important links they will need. Hopefully many of these people will also sign up with the campaign and donate or volunteer as a result. It contains info on Voter Registration - even for ex-felons, local Obama Groups, Obama Events, how to Volunteer, how to get Obama Merchandise and much more. I also found a lot of people I met out campaigning “wanted to help the campaign” and wanted to “get involved”, but I had nothing to give them with detailed links. I hope this sheet will solve that. Also the url’s on the Obama website can be impossibly long so I’ve abbreviated them using url’s from www.snipurl.com. You can print this sheet double-sided on 8-1/2” x 11” paper inexpensively either in black and white or color at home or at a print shop.
Local print shops can be found as below:http://www.theupsstore.com/ or http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/main/ (just look for Fedex Kinko's locations, not the other shipping locations).I think this sheet is worth handing out to or emailing to the numerous “passive” Obama supporters in every county and getting many more of them contributing to the campaign.Please also forward the link to all your Obama friends and groups in Florida!JohnPS if anybody wants the original MSWord document to modify for local conditions or to put it into Spanish please email me.Any suggestions for improvement also gratefully received, though I make no promise as to when I will update it!
If you agree with this policy, please post it in your own words under ‘policy issue’ at the Obama website feedback form:http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2 forward it to your friends and colleagues, Congressmen and Senators and ask your favorite newspapers to carry it.
Retrofit Our Cars, Don't Pollute Our Coastlines - How Really to Save Americans' Gas Money Within 6-8 Months
In America we had cars in the 1960’s which would get 30 mpg, and with technology advances we should be seeing at least 45 mpg average these days. The auto industry never implemented these gas-saving advances, preferring to keep most cars at “around 22 mpg” for the next 40 years. This has only helped the oil industry and is now hurting Americans’ pockets very hard.The auto industry has the technology to make our current day “22 mpg” cars already on the road achieve 30-35 mpg through retrofits. (more)
If you want Obama campaign materials for your event, you can obtain them from the sources below. Be sure to order them in good time for your Voter Registration Event as they can take a few weeks to arrive.You cannot give items of value away to potential voters if it could be construed you were doing that to get somebody to support Obama or the Democrats. It's probably therefore best to sell the pins and bumper stickers and anything else of noticeable value for a modest price (at or above your cost).
Two sources of Obama Pins, Stickers, T-Shirts and other Obama "Stuff" are:
1. Obama Website (check their delivery times):http://store.barackobama.com/
2. Democratic Stuffhttp://www.democraticstuff.com/
Note you can also make your OWN posters locally. The artwork is available for download from the Obama website. I got some beautiful 11" x 17" Obama posters printed on shiny cardstock at my local UPS Store Printshop and was charged about $1.34 each for them. You might be able to print larger than 11" x 17" at some printshops if they have the larger plotters. Note I would put the poster .pdf files onto a flash drive or CD to give to the person at the printshop for efficiency, although they could access them on-line also.
One Obama downloads page is at: http://www.barackobama.com/downloads/ It has Obama posters in different colors under "Posters" and "Signs."
Note there are also "Issue Flyers" there on subjects like Seniors, Environments, and so on. You can print these out for voters who ask about issues. Check out the other media there too.This is a GREAT resource to use. You can also find .pdf downloads at those links for Obama flyers on policy issues and other matters, Obama logos and all the other artwork you need for a campaign.UPS Store Printshop Locations you can print these out on large paper are at (search by zip code):http://www.theupsstore.com/
Fedex/Kinko Printshop Locations are at (search by zip code):http://www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/main/ (just look for Fedex Kinko's locations, not the other shipping locations)
Some general advice from a Florida lawyer on rallies or private gatherings:
If you have a rally or private gathering you can invite whomever you want, and do not have to invite everybody. You do not have to make all your events "public", they can be "private rallies". If you're registering voters at this event you must take everyone's registration and you can't influence their decision on party preference or other choices. You can have an OBAMA sign at the rally but it would be safe to have at least a 10 foot distance between the registration table and the RALLY. At the registration table itself you should not have a sign per se other than registration sign. You can set up your rally in any "targeted neighborhood" (OBAMA friendly) and that is quite legitimate.
There are a multiude of possible locations for Voter Registration Drives. These can be in public places or on private property, which include many shopping centres.
If you hold your Voter Registration Drive in a public place (e.g. outside a public library, in a town square, park or on a beach), you may have the general right to be there and talk to people under the 1st Amendment. However many municipalities require a permit e.g. to have a tent in a park or on a beach, so be sure to check up on this first. You may also want to check with the local Sheriff's office for any concerns they may have. If in doubt, ask local officials ahead of time to prevent any difficulties once you've set up.
Retail centres which attract your target demographics are often a favorite. If planning to be outside a particular store, you should get permission from the store owner, preferably in writing stating the hours you can be there and any particular conditions they require. Some store managers may say No to party specific posters or banners, and others may not care. This policy can vary from store to store even within the same chain. Favorite stores may be Wal*Mart, Publix, Winn-Dixie and 7-11.
Wal*Marts typically have a "non-profits schedule book" where you get a slot booked for your event (e.g. Salvation Army is one Saturday, Vote for Change the next Saturday for 6 hours, etc) with a specific staff member managing this book. These Wal*Mart slots can often get booked up well in advance so be sure to book yours up ahead of time.
Outside or inside local college grounds is another favorite, although most students will be away during the Summer. It would be best to plan these for the Fall when college is back but at least 6 weeks before election day (prior to Sept 23rd). Again if you're planning one of these check with the college administration and Sheriff's office for any possible concerns and get written permission if you want to be on the college premises.
Demographics can vary significantly across different parts of your city, county and across the State of Florida. It is therefore important to target your Voter Registration Drives as finely as you can to (hopefully) only register people to vote who support Senator Obama. This is a tactic which has been adopted by both parties for many years. It's therefore important to identify your target demographics and set up your Voter Registration Drives in particular streets in a certain areas of town, or in particular shopping centres or outside certain colleges where you expect your target demographics to be in the majority.
[Note that you may get people asking to be registered who have different political views from you and who may support John McCain. Remember that you MUST register those people if they request it, and you can face heavy fines if you refuse to do so.]
We saw an analysis of polling data in Florida in a June 18, 2008 article as below which put Obama : McCain at 47% : 43% state-wide:http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x2882.xml?ReleaseID=1187
For fuller analysis of that polling data and our target demographics in Florida click 'Read More'
When registering voters, you should normally let each voter fill out the registration form him- or herself. If people have difficulty filling out the forms then you can offer to help, but only do so if they give you permission. There are two types of the same form. An older red and blue card Voter Registration Application, or a newer black and white 8 1-2" x 11" paper Voter Registration Application which you can find on the internet at these links: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/webappform.pdf (English form) or http://election.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/webappform_spanish.pdf (form in Spanish). If you are registering Spanish-speaking voters it is advisable to have a team member present who speaks Spanish.We advise voters to only fill out the "red sections" or "black sections" on the forms (sections 2 thru 8 and section 16), not the "blue sections" or "white sections" (sections 9 thru 15), but we also suggest they fill out section 12 (party affiliation) so they can vote in party-restricted elections like primaries. Be especially careful to fill in section 6 in full (ID #) and to check the notes on special identification requirements.Please also note that when on a voter registration drive you cannot refuse to register anybody who asks or who is of a different party affiliation. There are heavy fines if you do this, and you must turn in all completed forms to the Supervisor of Elections. There are also strict times limits for handing completed Voter Registration Applications in and you can face heavy fines if you do not turn these in to the Supervisor of Elections' office within 10 days of them being filled out. It is therefore highly advisable to hand the forms in to the SOE the NEXT WORKING DAY AFTER the registration drive, to prevent forms being forgotten or lost. White on the VR Drive it is also advisable to appoint a central "collection person" to collect all the completed forms. For full details on the law for third party voter registration activities check this link at: http://snipurl.com/2lt5o . Details of Supervisor of Election's Offices in each Florida County can be found at: http://snipurl.com/2mnll . Although you should return completed forms to the applicant's county of residence they can be processed at other county SOE offices if sent to them in error. The voter can also choose to mail the form in him/herself, but you may want to check if they have a first class stamp or provide them with one (if feeling generous) and write the correct SOE address on the outside to ensure it gets mailed to the Supervisor of Elections' office in their county of residence.
The Florida Division of Elections website and rules on applications can be found at: http://snipurl.com/2n1ak
Some potential voters may ask you questions regarding past felonies, and if their voting rights have been restored. While it is ultimately up to the potential voter to check if their voting rights have been restored, here are some links containing two databases of people whose rights have been restored, along with details of the clemency process and the Tallahassee Office of Executive Clemency contact information:
Restoration of Voting Rights:http://restoremyvote.com (1-877-607-3786), http://www.restorerights.org (1-877-826-8682) http://www.aclufl.org
Clemency:http://snipurl.com/2mmft & https://fpc.state.fl.us/Clemency.htm
As Obama supporters registering voters in Florida we are classified as a “Third Party Voter Registration Organization” - with rules per Fla Statute 97.0575: http://snipurl.com/2lt5o (please read this).
We are NOT a “Voter Registration Agency" (like the DMV) which is governed by a different Florida statute 97.058: http://snipurl.com/2mz4s (please read this if you need to).
The complete Florida statute on Voter Regn. Chapter 97 is at: http://snipurl.com/2mz6j (please read this if you need to).
When on a voter registration drive you MUST register anybody who asks you. You cannot refuse them because you think they might have different politics from yourself (e.g. Democrat vs. Republican). If the volunteer voter registration service is offered, it must be available to all the people you meet who wish to use it.
SOURCE: Southern California Edison
