My 2020 Primary Election Coverage Begins Today
It’s time to pay attention!
In just over a month a supermajority of California voters will begin voting by mail for candidates and issues in the 2020 primary.
We citizens get the opportunity to vote twice in 2020. Traditional polling places will be open on March 3 (Primary) and November 3.(General election).
Our state has made it incredibly easy to perform the action of casting a ballot. What’s not so easy is deciding who to vote for, particularly once you get past the big name contests. Over the next month I’ll be posting analysis Monday - Friday (& on weekends if the mood strikes me) with the idea in mind of helping you with those choices.
I have opinions, the most important of which is that everybody (and I mean everybody!) should vote. Other than that, feel free to take what I have to say with whatever size grain of salt suits you best.
You don’t have to take my word for it. I’ll be providing links and social media information with each story for all the candidates and issues.
One other thing… The Union-Tribune daily newspaper has already done or scheduled interviews with 60 candidates running for local offices. I’ll provide links to those interviews in the course of covering various contests.
You should know that you only get a handful of free stories from the UT in each month before their paywall kicks in. Subscribe, even if it’s just for a few months or so. The hardworking journalists at the paper and the concept of local news coverage are worthy. I’ll also provide links to other local news outlets, like Voice of San Diego and KPBS, when it makes sense to do so.
First off, you need to ask yourself:
Are you registered to vote?
Have you checked your voter registration status?
Are you signed up for vote by mail? Find out how.
Did you know that only the top two candidates from the primary for most offices will be listed on the general election ballot? Find out how this works.
Do you want to vote for a [fill in the name of a political party] candidate, but are registered as an independent (NPP is the term in CA)? If you’re a Republican, Green, or Peace and Freedom voter tough. You can only vote for your party because that’s the rules they made up. If you’re registered as anything else, here’s what you need to do.
Key Dates
Monday, February 17: Last day to register to vote at a poll or by mail (received, not postmarked)
February 18 - March 3: Register late and vote conditionally at the Registrar of Voters Office
Tuesday, February 25: Last day to request a Vote-by-Mail (VBM) ballot (received, not postmarked)
Tuesday, March 3: Election Day and last day for a Vote-by-Mail (VBM) ballot to be postmarked
Here’s my plan for coverage:
Jan 2 - 8 Congressional Districts 49, 50, 51, 52, 53
Jan 9 - 15 State Senate District 39; Assembly Districts 71, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80
Jan 16 - Judges
Jan 20 - 23 County Supervisor Districts 1, 2, 3
Jan 23 - January 29 City Council Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
Jan 30 - City Atty
Jan 31 - Mayor
Feb 2 - Endorsements
Feb 3 - Voter Guide
See my already done coverage on County and City ballot measures.
The above is just a plan. Things might get shifted around. And not every district race will get a stand alone story. State Senate seat 39, for instance, has Toni Atkins running against exactly nobody last time I checked, so I’ll just give her a cursory look.
Post February 3rd, I’ll update races as needed and pen some thoughts on the Democratic candidates for President.
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Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com
Lead image c/o ToteMyNotes @Etsy