To: California Secretary of StateWe call for an investigation into and remedy for the following malfeasance in voter registration.
In California, the office of the Alameda County Registrar of Voter, David MacDonald, participated in the following questionable pratices:
- mailed Presidential Primary Election (February 5, 2008) ballot requests in such a way that they arrived after the deadline for submission had passed (December 17, 2007). On December 19th, 2007 the deadline was reported by a Registrar of Voters telephone representative as being extended to January 22, 2008 but the form does not provide this information and therefore appears useless.
- failed to include on the form a line for printing both name and address to speed verification of voters. Only a signature and date line is included. The same Registrar of Voters telephone representative reported how difficult it is to work with just a signature and strongly requested the additional information.
We are California residents and are concerned that the practices outlined above directly and negatively impact the democratic process and all parties allowing Decline to State/Non-partisan voters to participate in their upcoming primaries. We hereby call for an investigation and verification of the deadline extension.Sincerely,
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Labels: local, petition, politics
| posted by Unknown @ 12/19/2007 12:01:00 PM
Stop Big Media From Getting Bigger!
I oppose any relaxation or elimination of the public interest limits on media ownership. The proposed rewrite of the cross ownership ban severely jeopardizes localism and diversity, which are the cornerstones of a democratic media.
Limits on media consolidation have been a bulwark against the concentration of economic power in the marketplace of ideas -- a critical part of balancing the public service mission of the media system, and we cannot afford to compromise them in any way.
Any public policy seeking to protect diversity in the media must recognize the simple fact that ownership matters. Media consolidation has already led to declines in local and minority ownership as well as the homogenization of content in radio and television.
The proposed language permitting cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations will only worsen the problems we already have.
When the FCC attempted to weaken and remove media ownership limits in 2003, millions of Americans rose up in protest. Congress and the courts ultimately intervened to turn back that misguided regulatory process.
Now that the cross ownership ban is again under consideration, the FCC should stand firm with the public against further concentration of media ownership in the hands of the few.
A vote against these proposed rules is a vote for democracy.
| Date | Name | State | Country | Tell the FCC why you are concerned about media consolidation: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00 pm PST, Dec 9 | Brandon Williamscraig | California | United States | A suggested way to talk about this: The choices we face at this level are simple to understand and difficult to accept. Surviving the coming crises depends on powering down, manufacturing less, and getting local (decentralizing). This all applies to control of media but the last is the most crucial. In this age good media = locally driven media. This is impossible with more control being gobbled up by multinationals. This is not a petty squabble over power. It will directly impact the survival and viability of the United States as a whole. |
