DTS Voters and Obama's Email

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Last night I was watching football with friends and at one point the discussion turned to the upcoming election.  One of my friends has not yet registered and was remarking that she was going to mail in her registration on Tuesday, aware of the deadline.  This friend is quite moderate and despite the fact that politics is a fairly regular topic of conversation for our group of friends, I was not sure if she was going to want to vote in the Democratic of Republican primary.  Quite frankly I was just happy she was intending to register.  So I went through and explained to her and another friend who is DTS, but wanting to vote in the Democratic primary the rules for California's primary.

Make sure all of your family and friends who are DTS voters are aware:

1) They are not permitted to vote in the Republican primary.

2) They must request a Democratic ballot if they wish to vote in the primary, otherwise they will only get a ballot with the initiatives.

3) Vote by mail people have until Jan 29th to request a Democratic ballot from the registrar.

Literally right after I finished that conversation I got this email from the Obama campaign.  It is exactly in keeping with the overall message from the Obama campaign about bringing people into the process and drawing voters who may not be registered Democrats to vote for Obama.  The email is on the flip.

Julia --

If you want to participate in the California Democratic primary on February 5th, you must register to vote by this Tuesday, January 22nd.

Make sure you are registered, and then forward this email to your friends, family, and neighbors. Remind them that they need to be registered if they want to support Barack.

Remember, you do not need to be a Democrat to participate in the primary. Republicans and unaffiliated voters who choose "Decline to State" as their party preference can vote for Senator Obama.

Once someone is registered as "Decline to State," here's how it works:

   * Unaffiliated voters must specifically request a Democratic ballot. If they are voting in person, they can request the ballot at the polling place.

   * If they are voting by mail, they must contact their County Elections Officer and request a Democratic ballot by January 29th: http://my.barackobama.com/CAVo...

Our campaign wants as many Californians as possible to participate in the Democratic primary -- to support Barack, but also to reconnect with the political process.

For the full rules on registering to vote, visit the website of the California Secretary of State:

http://my.barackobama.com/CASe...

Make sure you are registered and spread the word,

Mitchell

Mitchell Schwartz

California State Director

Obama for America

All of the campaigns should be reaching out to the DTS voters and making sure they know they have to request a Democratic ballot.  They make up over 19% of voter registration and there are plenty of consistent Democratic voters, who just refuse to register as Democrats.  I know people who are ardent Democrats, but registered as DTS just to cut down on the amount of campaign mailers they were receiving.

You as a political blog reader are most likely an influential. Your friends are looking to you for guidance on the mechanics of the elections.  Make sure they all know what to do and are set to vote, no matter who they are supporting.