[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Art Torres
Chair
California Democratic Party

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

More than 23,000 Democrats turned out on Sunday afternoon to support more than 2,500 candidates vying for 241 congressional district-level delegate slots. The results of the historic caucuses are now available online at www.Cadem.org.
 
To view the Clinton caucus results, click here.

To view the Obama caucus results, click here.
 
PLEASE NOTE: The results posted online were reported in by the Caucus Conveners. They are not considered final and official until the original ballots are returned to the California Democratic Party Sacramento office.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

In what can only bode well for Democrats in the November election in California, reports from all around the state show an unprecedented number of the party faithful attending caucuses for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to select the actual delegates who will go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

I saw this in the 9th Congressional District caucus for Obama held here in Oakland where 980 Democrats voted in a multipurpose room at Beebe Memorial Church. 102 candidates competed for four delegate slots and one alternate position. Attendees had to navigate their way through delegate candidates with signs, literature, spiels, and in some cases cookies, to get a ballot. The line formed before the doors opened at 2 p.m. and when the speeches began at 3:15 p.m., fifteen minutes late, the line went out the door, through the parking lot and all the way down the block.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Sharon Kyle
Publisher
LA Progressive

Even if you don’t know anyone who is listed as a potential delegate, attend a caucus this Sunday and vote. Let’s make April 13th a date that goes down in California Political History. The locations are listed here. Caucuses open at 2 p.m. and you must be in line by 3 p.m. in all locations.

Last week, a dear friend introduced me to a young activist who happens to be running to be an Obama delegate to the National Democratic Convention. My friend had spoken fondly of the young activist on several occasions, telling me of the many progressive causes she had volunteered to support. When the activist and I met, she asked if I had any tips on how she might achieve the coveted honor of being a delegate at the convention. I told her I was the wrong person to ask. But after she pressed me, I thought for a moment and recollected a personal experience I had had just two years ago.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Susan Rowe [courtesy of Blog for America]

Dean Statement on Florida and Michigan

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bob Mulholland
Campaign Advisor,
California Democratic Party

Will the candidates who have dropped out (Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, and Richardson) still be on the California statewide ballot?

Yes, and they will all get some votes – very few though.

Will the Independent votes be counted the same as Democratic votes?

Yes. If one precinct has 88 ballots cast by registered Democrats and 12 ballots cast by Independents for a total of 100, then 100 ballots are counted equally.

Does California have a Winner-Take-All (WTA) system to allocate delegates?

No, but the Republicans still use Winner-Take-All.

The Democratic National Committee has prohibited WTA since the 1972 Convention.

We use a proportional system – candidates who get 15 percent or more are entitled to delegates.

Democrats use the “15 Percent Rule” nationwide in all 50 states plus D.C., Democrats Abroad and the four U.S. territories.

In the Republican Party, the only votes that count toward delegates are the ones cast for the winner, either at the statewide or CD level, while Democrats award delegates to all the candidates with 15 percent or more of the vote.

How does the “15 Percent Rule” actually work?