Say hello to Texas' newest precint chair

[PDittie]

Well, maybe not the newest, but certainly one of them, as I accepted the appointment yesterday.

:patriot:

So what's it look like? It's Houston of course (for those of you who know me), it's urban and it's even more liberal than I suspected: my precinct went 61% for John Kerry in 2004. :7

And there's lots of room for improvement. Heh. B-)

[crispini]

1. Congratulations!

PM me if you would like me to dump every single training resource we've developed up here on you! I'm sure ya'll have your own but you know, the more the merrier! :evilgrin:

[WestHoustonDem]

2. Way to go PDittie!

Love to the Ms. Dittie! Is she over her cold?

[PDittie]

7. upper respiratory viral infection

and she's still coughing some. But mostly feels better.

[kedrys]

3. Excellent!

Congratulations! Which precinct is it? :toast:

[PDittie]

8. Because I have a Freeper lurker/stalker

I won't identify it by number here. I'm inside the Loop -- barely -- in fact my precinct laps over; some inside, some out. It's rather large also. More than 4000 registered voters, about 55% of which voted in the last election.

[Richardo]

4. WTG, PDittie!

:thumbsup:

[kansasblue]

5. check out the voting equipments.

call up the sos.

congrats.. and good luck !

[PDittie]

9. Harris County uses Hart Intercivic

It's called E-Slate, and it's been in place for a few election cycles now.

I'll probably pass on the election judge responsibilities for now; there are lots of people that like to do that but don't want to do the grassroots organizing, which is what I really want to do.

[merci_me]

11. Congratulations (I think, hehehe)

Jim's been doing it in Ohio and here, since 1968, with a small 2 year break when we first moved to Houston and there was already someone in place.

You ought to work the polls at least in the March primary (let me warn you that the run-off this December is be the most boring endless day of your year). But the primary will give you a chance to meet the people in your precinct as they come in, introduce yourself and encourage them to come to the caucus that evening. Since it is the Democratic primary, you can do that. It's especially nice, if the Dems and Rep machines are set up in separate rooms. You just can't say anything about you being on the ballot (or actually anyone else whose on the ballot), since that would be campaigning, but if you're unopposed, you only need one vote, so no problem there.

Be prepared for a LOOOOOOOOONG day, on top of the training sessions and picking up materials and then delivering them back.

Also, the Democratic party is responsible for all the pay for the workers. Jim and I usually cash our checks (you'll be taxed)and then send the money back to the party or a candidate as a contribution. We think of the day as just another volunteer activity.

Mary

[NoPasaran]

6. Congratulations!

:woohoo:

[sonias]

10. Congratulations PDittie

I'm sending a URL off that will be useful.

I want to see that precinct go to at least 75%, now hop to it. Good luck to you and thank you for stepping up.

:toast:

Sonia

[PDittie]

14. Thanks for that n/t

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Good for you, PDittie!

:thumbsup:

Nominated!:hi:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

13. Congrats to a fellow Houstonian!

Judging from your description, doesn't look like you are in my precinct.

[PDittie]

15. a belated welcome to DU, Geoff

Keep checking in at the Texas forum to see what we all are up to.

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

16. Thanks for stepping up to the plate

Folks, if you don't know which precinct you live in go to Who represents me? and type in your adress. Your precinct number is to the right of your county.

Now head to your county Party website and find out who your precinct chair is. If there is no information on the website call the Party office. If there is no website, call your county chair.

If there is no precinct chair, ask if you can be appointed. If there is a precinct chair, find their contact information, contact them and volunteer to help organize.

If your precinct chair and/or county Party or chair is nonresponsive, file to run for chair in 2006. Candidates for precinct chair can file between October 4, 2005 and January 2, 2006.

Kick some elephant, PDittie! :kick:

[Richardo]

21. Welcome to DU and kudos on the great screen name, SPL

I likes it!

:toast: from another Houston denizen.

[PDittie]

22. Whoa! I forgot to say

welcome as well, Smarty!

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

23. Thank you

Glad to be here :grouphug:

[newyawker99]

31. Hi Smarty Pants Liberal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[GOPisEvil]

17. Congratulations, fellow precinct chair!

:toast:

[Maestro]

18. Congratulations!

Now get to work! :)

[TexasThoughtCriminal]

19. Good for you!

May we get a Dem chair for every precinct in Texas!
:yourock:

[Lithos]

20. Congratulations!

Sounds like a wonderful precinct. I wish you the best in making those improvements!

L-

[tammywammy]

24. Congrats!

Here's to doing some good work! :toast:

[texanwitch]

25. Congrats PDittie, from a fellow Precinct Chair.

My precinct is located in the West End of town.:applause:

[Why Syzygy]

26. woo hoo

:woohoo:

[johncoby2]

27. Here are some sites that should help you

http://www.bayareanewdemocrats.org/resources.cfm

Look at the bottom we have links to maps of your precinct and past voting statistics.

[fudge stripe cookays]

28. Woo hoo!

Sorry I'm late! :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:

And welcome Smarty Pants!

FSC

[friedcatfish]

29. Better late than never

Props to you. Can you feel it in the air!

[newyawker99]

32. Hi friedcatfish!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[CoolOnion]

30. Congratulations!

[newyawker99]

33. Congrats PDittie!

:thumbsup: :bounce:

[babylonsister]

34. Congrats to you, PDittie!

:headbang: Don't know you, but we'll meet one day! How do I find out how my precinct went if the fix isn't/wasn't in?

[Kip Humphrey]

35. Congratulations, PDittie! Keep a close eye on those eSlates for us.

[PDittie]

36. Thanks. Kipper

I attended the Harris County Democratic Party's precinct captain training yesterday. In attendance were Chris Hightower and DJ Johanssen from Tarrant County's DFA and TakingBack Texas.org .

A terrific program and I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to do so to attend it.

Factoid: Harris County has a population of 3.6 million and is the second largest county (behind Los Angeles county). It has 913 precincts and is larger than 24 states and the District of Columbia.

Harris County went 45% for John Kerry in 2004 also. It's not an unrealistic goal to move it blue in 2008.

[Bucky]

37. If your precinct went for Kerry, you're not just the Chair, but the Judge

That gives you all sorts of legal power on election days. You can issue arrest warrants, writs of habeas corpus, all sorts of stuff that any state district judge can do, you can do. But like Green Lantern's ring, your power dies after 24 hours. And then you gotta face your pissed off friends who didn't think it was funny that you threw them in jail.

[PDittie]

38. Heh. I actually told the Vacancy Committee Chair

that I DID NOT WANT to be an election judge, and interestingly enough, Harris Co. has an overabundance of people that only want to do that, and not the grassroots organizing, blockwalking, doorknocking, and electioneering.

So no worries. :smoke: