Nov 2, Make Your Voices Heard

One of the missions of the Legislative District 20 Democrats is to help our fellow citizens remain informed on important issues of the day. This blog post is to help you navigate your ballot for the November 2 general election. You may download a soft copy of this information to take with you!

FAQ (This is not a comprehensive list, but a condensed, please visit the Maricopa County Recorders website: http://recorder.maricopa.gov/web/elections.aspx for additional information)

1. What day are elections? Tuesday November 2, 2010
2. What time are the polls open? Polls are open from 6:00am-7:00pm
3. What proof of identity should I bring?
   Present ONE of these:

• Valid Arizona driver license or non-operating identification
• Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification
• Valid United States federal, state, or local government issued identification
  
  TWO of these:
• Utility bill of the elector that is dated within ninety days of
• the date of the election. A utility bill may be for electric,
• gas, water, solid waste, sewer, telephone, cellular phone, or cable television
• Bank or credit union statement that is dated within 90
• days of the date of the election
• Valid Arizona Vehicle Registration
• Indian census card
• Property tax statement of the elector's residence
• Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification
• Vehicle insurance card
• Valid United States federal, state, or local government
• issued identification
• Voter Registration Card / Recorder's Certification
• Any "Official Election Material" mailing bearing your name and address


OR Mix and Match TWO of these:

• Any Valid Picture ID from List #1 with an address that does NOT match the Precinct Register WITH a nonphoto ID from List #2 with an address that DOES match the Precinct Register.
• U.S. PASSPORT and one item from List #2
• U.S. MILITARY ID and one item from List #2

For a complete FAQ of Voter ID questions, please see http://recorder.maricopa.gov/pdf/ID_AT_THE_POLL_FAQS2009.pdf

Avoid Disenfranchisement

• Do not let your vote go unheard, if you are on the Permanent Early Voter List, mail your ballot with enough time for it to be RECEIVED on election day, not POSTMARKED by. If you wait until the day of, you can just walk your ballot into ANY polling place in Maricopa county and drop your sealed and signed ballot in the blue box -- no waiting in line!
• As much of a privilege as our right to vote is, the number one reason that your vote may not count on election day, even if you DO show up to the polls, is that you went to the WRONG polling place. Polling places change all of the time, KNOW WHERE YOU VOTE!
• Know when the polls open and close, you cannot vote if you are not in line by the close of polls

Use the Polling Place Locator to identify your polling place if you are not sure.

***IMPORTANT: If you have moved in the last 30 days and have not updated your voter registration, use your OLD address***

Be an informed voter!

There are many resources available to you that will help you decide which candidates you feel will best represent Arizona locally and in Washington. We have consolidated many of them here to assist in your process.

• The Citizens Clean Elections Commission recorded and televised debates for all offices in the general election, they are worth watching! Seeing how your politicians respond to each other and the issues will help you make informed decisions: http://www.azcleanelections.gov/home/video/generaldebatevids2010.aspx
• NPR local affiliate, KJZZ, has spoken with candidates in races across Arizona, giving fair and balanced coverage: http://kjzz.org/news/Vote2010
• A very nice summary of the candidates is provide on the liberal blog Random Musings

Ballot Measures

There are 10 measures on the ballot in this year's general election. At our District Meeting on Monday, October 11, 2010, we had the privilege of hearing a summary of the measures from Linda Brown of the Arizona Advocacy Network. The AzAN has done an exceptional job summarizing the measures and providing:

• A Description of each measure
• Background of the measure
• Impact of the measure
• The sponsors of referenda and a summary of how the Legislature voted
• Arguments in favor of and against the measure
• Partial list of supporters and opponents of the measure
• List of major contributors that gave money to support or oppose the measure
• Websites of interest (regarding the measure in question)

In short, the following are the AzAN recommendations:

• Vote YES on Props 110 and 203; Vote NO on all others.

You can download the full text of the AzAN ballot measures review here.

Legislative District 20 Recommendations:

Below are the recommendations of LD20 for statewide and local races, listed below are the Democratic candidates.

State

• Governor: Terry Goddard
• Secretary of State: Chris Deschene
• United States Senate: Rodney Glassman
• Attorney General: Felicia Rotellini
• Treasurer: Andrei Cherny
• Superintendent of Public Instruction: Penny Kotterman
• State Mine Inspector: Manuel Cruz
• Corporation Commission: David Bradley and Jorge Garcia
• Central Arizona Water Conservation District: Arif Kazmi and Jim Holway

County

• Maricopa County Clerk of the Court: Sherry B Williams

Local (LD20)

• Congressional District 5 Representative: Harry Mitchell
• Legislative District 20 Representative: Rae Waters
• School Board:
  Kyrene Elementary #28: Beth Brizel
  Tempe Union #213: Dave Wells and David Schapira
• Justice of the Peace:
  Kyrene Justice Precinct: Elizabeth Rogers
  San Marcos Justice Precinct: Michael Corey Chan
  University Lakes Justice Precinct: Meg Burton-Cahill

Judges

The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review collects information on how judges perform by distributing written surveys and holding public hearings for people who have first-hand knowledge of the job performance of judges appearing on the 2010 general election ballot. Of interest for our precinct will be the performance reviews for Maricopa County judges. The Conservative blog http://azjudgesreview.blogspot.com/ provides analysis of Judicial leaning and appointment information, below is the summary:

L - Liberal LL – Leans Liberal LC – Leans Conservative C- Conservative

Name	Philosophy	Appointed By	AZJR
Rebecca White Berch	Moderate	Hull (R) - 2002	LL
Daniel A. Barker	Conservative	Hull (R) - 2001	C
John Gemmill	Moderate	Hull (R) - 2001	LC
Patrick Irvine	Not Known	Hull (R) - 2002	LL
Lawrence E. Winthrop	Moderate to liberal	Hull (R) - 2002	LL
Mark F. Aceto	Conservative	Symington (R) - 1995	LC
Aimee L. Anderson	Liberal	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Arthur T. Anderson	Slightly soft on crime	Hull (R) - 1999	LL
Janet E. Barton	Not Known	Hull (R) - 2000	LL
Edward W. Bassett	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2008	L
Dawn M. Bergin	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Roger E. Brodman	Not Known	Symington (R) - 2002	LC
William Brotherton	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Richard J. Gama	Tough on crime but considered liberal	Hull (R) - 2000	L
Larry Grant	Very Liberal	Napolitano (D) - 2003	L
Warren E. Granville	Very Liberal	Hull (R) - 2000	L
Brian R. Hauser	A decent judge, although moderate on crime	Symington (R) - 1991	LC
Hugh E. Hegyi	Active in left wing Legal Services Committee	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Joseph B. Heilman	Not Known	Hull (R) - 1999	L
Bethany G. Hicks	Soft on crime & invents new laws	Hull (R) - 1999	L
Jean M. Hoag	Considered okay	Mofford (D) - 1996	LC
Carey S. Hyatt	Not Known	Hull (R) - 2000	LC
Brian K. Ishikawa	Not Known	Symington (R) - 1995	C
Michael D. Jones	Considered lazy & a pushover	Symington (R) - 1995	LC
Joseph C. Kreamer	Active in left wing Legal Services committee	Napolitano (D) – 2007	L
Raymond Lee	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2003	L
Kenneth J. Mangum	Okay	Mofford (D) or Symington (R) - 1991	LC
Daniel G. Martin	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Rosa P. Mroz	Very liberal	Napolitano (D) - 2004	L
Samuel J. Myers	Former Dennis De Concini intern	Napolitano (D) - 2007	L
Benjamin R. Norris	Not Known	Napolitano (D) - 2008	L

Get Involved!

Poll workers are officially known as Election Board Workers. Maricopa County Elections Dept (MCED) hires Board Workers and pays about $110 for what ends up being about 20 hours work, including up to 15 hours on election day. The Maricopa County Elections Department has a recruiter for each Legislative District. You can call your recruiter for LD20 directly at 602-506-8891. The MCED main phone number is (602) 506-1511.

You can also apply AND get all kinds of information at the MCED Board Worker info webpage: http://recorder.maricopa.gov/elections/electboard.aspx. There are links to the Election Board Worker Training Video and Manual, etc. We strongly suggest prospective Board Workers AND Observers look them over. It may look complicated, but it is just a matter of following a checklist.

If you scroll down the page, there's a web form you can fill out to apply to be a Board Worker. The MCED homepage is at: http://recorder.maricopa.gov/web/elections.aspx.

If you are interested in volunteering with LD20, we would be happy to have you! There are many ways that you can provide assistance, even if you are not a canvasser or phone banker, there is something for everyone!

Our Ahwatukee office is located at 4611 E Chandler Blvd, Suite 100 in the Kohl's and Applebee's shopping plaza just south of Starbucks or you can volunteer at many other locations around the valley! Contact Volunteer Organizer Emma Einhorn: Emma@ourarizona.org or call 480-648-4733

NOW, GET OUT AND VOTE!