For the Feb. 5 California Presidential Primary, the Democratic Party and the American Independent Party have chosen to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primaries (See Decline to State - Voter Information on the Secretary of State web site). The notice describes how unaffiliated permanent absentee voters may vote by mail in those primaries, without re-registering.
This is the third major screw-up by the Registrar since he took office last year. Last year, before the Nov., 2006 election, he put on the County Registrar's web site a form to tell you whether you are registered to vote or not, but the data was incorrect! People who have been registered for years were told by the web page that they were not registered to vote! When notified of this, Registrar MacDonald refused to remove the web page.
The form is still up, try it. However, it is very fussy so you must be very careful how you enter your data. Let me know (jerry at berkeley dot edu) if you are registered to vote in Alameda County, but have trouble getting the form to verify that.
The third major screw-up is that when Alameda County switched from Diebold to Sequoia voting machines, Registrar MacDonald sent the Diebold machines back to Diebold in Texas, without preserving evidence for a pending lawsuit over the Marijuana Initiative, Measure R. According to "Judge Orders Sanctions, New Election in Measure R Case" in the Berkeley Daily Planet:
"Respondents County of Alameda and [Registrar of Voters] Dave MacDonald have engaged in a pattern of withholding relevant evidence and failing to preserve evidence central to the allegations of this case," Judge Winifred Y. Smith wrote in her Sept. 25 order. "That evidence has now been determined to be irretrievable due to respondents' mishandling of the DRE (direct electronic recording) machines."
Call your Supervisor and tell him or her this is unacceptable:
| District | Supervisor | Phone Number | Description of District |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 1: | Scott Haggerty | (510) 272-6691 | Livermore, Pleasanton, ... |
| District 2: | Gail Steel | (510) 272-6692 | Hayward, Union City, Newark, ... |
| District 3: | Alice Lai-Bitker | (510) 272-6693 | Alameda, parts of Oakland near Alameda, San Lorenzo, ... |
| District 4: | Nate Miley | (510) 272-6694 | Montclair, parts of Oakland, Castro Valley, Fairview, ... |
| District 5: | Keith Carson | (510) 272-6695 | Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Piedmont, parts of Oakland, ... |
If you are not sure of your district, check these maps: small map or and a huge map.
Registrar MacDonald issued an apology for the invalid notices. Hopefully he will send it to the correct addresses this time. He has not apologized for the other botches.
Also, neither notice mentions that an unaffiliated voter may vote in the Democratic or American Independent Presidential Primary by going to their precinct polling place on Feb. 5, returning their absentee ballot, and asking for an American Independent or Democratic party ballot.
Some people have expressed concerns this might be the first step in challenging voters at the polls or purging voters from the voter rolls. However, California has very strict requirements for challenges and purges, so either of these probably can't happen. See this summary for more details.
Newspaper articles:
Here is the full text of the notice:
Registrar of Voters Alameda County, California David MacDonald Registrar of Voters We are sending you this notice because you did not choose a qualified party when you registered to vote. The following parties will allow you to crossover and vote for their candidates (except central committee members) in the February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary. AMERICAN INDEPENDENT AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES If you wish to vote for partisan candidates in one of the parties listed above for this election only, please fill out the form attached, detach it and mail or fax it to the Registrar of Voters office (510) 272-6982. After we receive your form, we will send you an absentee ballot for the party you have requested. You may not request more than one party's ballot. If you do not request a partisan ballot, you will be mailed a non-partisan ballot containing only the names of candidates for non-partisan offices to be voted on in the February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary Election. If you have any questions about this notice, please call the Alameda County Registrar of voters at (510) 272-6973.