Tag Archives: 2020 elections

#VOTE, 2020 elections, 2020 Presidential campaigns, Solano County Registrar of Voters, Vote by Mail

Solano is mailing your ballot to you on Sept 26 – Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, Suisun City, Rio Vista, Dixon

By Roger Straw, Friday, September 25, 2020

When and how to VOTE EARLY!

In an email yesterday evening, Assistant Solano County Registrar of Voters John Gardner confirmed that “ballots are being mailed on Saturday 9/26.”  Gardner added, “All ballots will be delivered to the post office at the same time for delivery.”

In years past, we might then assume that our ballots would arrive in our mailboxes on Monday, September 28.  Given recent national stories about post office slow deliveries, we will have to watch and see.

Three ways to return your ballot early! (…and then there’s November 3)

  • Cast your ballot RIGHT AWAY: Mail it back on the same day you get it, maybe Monday or Tuesday, September 28 or 29.  Return it ANYTIME via US Postal Service (postage paid).
  • If you wait a week, you can drop it off in person beginning Monday, October 5: There are 15 NO CONTACT DROP BOXES (inside office buildings).  Here’s the list on the Solano County website, including City Clerks’ offices in all 7 Solano cities.
  • I hope you don’t wait until October 29, but if you do… There are 10 NO CONTACT CURBSIDE DROP-OFF LOCATIONS.  For 5 days before election day, beginning on Thursday October 29, and continuing on Oct. 30, 31, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, you can drop off ballots “Curbside.”  (Stay in your car, hand ballot to pollworkers.)  Here’s the list of at least one in each city, on the County website.
  • And there’s 4 options on ELECTION DAY, Tuesday, November 3:
    1. NOT RECOMMENDED: It’s still possible to mail your ballot.  If (and that’s a big IF) the post office postmarks it on Nov. 3, it will be valid and counted.  Please DON’T do this!  I wouldn’t mail my ballot at all, but if you must, I’d say do it at least 2 weeks prior to election day – by October 20.
    2. The office building drop-off locations will still be available.  List of locations.
    3. The curbside drop-off locations will still be available.  List of locations.
    4. And there’s the good old In-Person voting at your local polling place.  Your polling place location will be printed on your ballot.  Note that some polling places may have changed since the last election.  To plan ahead, here is the County’s list of 100 polling places.  Better yet, to look up your location using your home address, go to this page on the County website: solanocounty.com/depts/rov/sample_ballot_polling_place_lookup.asp

Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent

Oh, and on a personal note… I am clearly encouraging everyone to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  Donald Trump is unfit in so many ways, a disaster already, and a threat to our democracy if returned for another 4 years.  Dems, GOPs and Independents please unite and do the right thing – Trump and Trumpism have got to go in a landslide victory for Biden/Harris!

2020 elections, 2020 Presidential campaigns, Donald Trump, President Joe Biden

Biden’s campaign assures voters the U.S. ‘is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House’

Yahoo News The Week, by Peter Weber, September 23, 2020

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden assumed reporters wanted to ask him about the lack of charges in the Breonna Taylor killing when he landed in Wilmington on Wednesday night after a trip to North Carolina. They were more curious about his reaction to President Trump’s point-blank refusal to commit to leaving office if the voters reject him in November. “What country are we in?” Biden asked, explaining that he was “being facetious” — and then explaining it again because it’s hard to communicate facetiousness with a face mask on. “Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say about it. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Biden’s campaign had already put out a more pointed statement: “The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”

A lot of people were very disturbed by Trump’s prediction that “there won’t be a transfer [or power], frankly,” if you “get rid of the ballots” — and “it’s a sharply atypical response for a president, certainly,” Philip Bump writes at The Washington Post, trying to parse what Trump meant to say. But “given his rhetoric in 2016, this was not an atypical response for Trump.” But even if you translate Trump in the most generous light, he said, “it’s disconcerting because it reinforces that Trump’s interest in appearing to be victorious remains a primary concern,” certainly more than the legitimacy of America’s constitutional system of government.

2020 elections, Benicia elections, Fair elections, Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC)

How to report illegal political campaign ads, signs, and more

[REMINDER / ORIGINALLY POSTED IN JANUARY…  The AdWATCH story below tells you how to report improper or missing disclosure of who is sponsoring a political sign or advertisement.  The FPPC’s FILE A COMPLAINT page is broader.  It also accepts complaints regarding
• Financial conflicts of interest; • Campaign money laundering; • Over-the-limit gifts and contributions; • Improper use of campaign funds, including personal use; • Campaign mass mailings at public expense; • False, inadequate, or inaccurate reporting on statements of economic interests; • campaign statements and reports; • Non-filing or late filing of such statements and reports; and • Anonymous or cash contributions of $100 or more).  Let’s all be vigilant during the Nov 3 2020 elections!]

Fair Political Practices Commission resumes AdWATCH

Invites residents to participate

By Vallejo Times-Herald | January 6, 2020

SACRAMENTO — The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is reintroducing it’s successful AdWATCH program to provide the public a way to participate in making sure there is proper disclosure on political signs and other advertising, the agency announced Monday.

FPPC launched FPPC AdWATCH for the 2019 election cycle and is now resuming an updated FPPC AdWATCH for the 2020 primary election. FPPC AdWATCH on the FPPC website provides a place where anyone can upload a picture of a campaign sign or video they think may be questionable in terms of the legally required disclosure.

“FPPC AdWATCH is an easy way for the public to help determine who’s behind some of the political advertising around the State,” said FPPC Chair Richard C. Miadich in a statement released by the agency. “Not only does it help the public see who’s doing the advertising, but the public plays a vital role in helping our Enforcement Division do its job of making sure campaigns are following the rules and ensuring a level playing field.”

One of the portals allows you to upload a picture of a campaign billboard or sign, either from a desktop, laptop or from their mobile device. Another portal accepts links to videos of campaign ads, either internet or television.

The FPPC Enforcement Division is then able to quickly view the ads to determine if they contain proper disclosure and take appropriate action if they don’t. The portal allows the public the option to provide their name or remain anonymous and report the ad without filing a complaint with the FPPC.

“One of the key points of the law is the public deserves to know who’s paying for political advertising,” said FPPC Enforcement Chief Galena West in the same press release. “We rely on the public to help us make sure the correct information is out there and that campaigns follow the law.”

In its 2019 run, the public uploaded more than 150 ads to FPPC AdWATCH. In addition, FPPC Enforcement proactively reviewed 600 more ads and combined found more than 120 advertisements that were potentially non-compliant. When the FPPC Enforcement Division determines who is responsible for the ad, they are then contacted for correction or removal of the non-compliant advertisement, if feasible.

This system is now active. Visit the FPPC website www.fppc.ca.gov and you’ll find FPPC AdWATCH both on the home page and on the Enforcement tab www.fppc.ca.gov/enforcement/adwatch.html.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is California’s governmental ethics and campaign disclosure agency.

2020 elections, Benicia elections, Valero PAC

Valero shells out its first $20,000 – for phone calls and polling data

By Roger Straw, September 15, 2020
The Valero Benicia PAC reported on September 12 that it has paid $20,000 to WINNING CONNECTIONS of Washington, D.C. for election polling data and live phone calls.

Brace yourself – OIL INDUSTRY MONEY is about to phone you… LIVE from Washington, D.C.!

A friend asked me, “Do you know whether Valero has yet spent its $250,000 and in what way?”

So I took a look at the City of Benicia’s Campaign Finance Reports page, and the answer is YES:

  • The Valero PAC reported that it spent $8,468 as of June 30 on legal and accounting expenses (Semi_Annual_Form_460_2.pdf.)
  • AND MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY…
    The Valero PAC reported last Saturday Sept 12 that they have laid out their first BIG campaign expense of $20,000, for “LIVE CALLS & DATA, WINNING CONNECTIONS, 317 Pennsylvania Ave, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC” (Form_496_1.pdf_Redacted.pdf)

NOTE that Valero and friends used this same company to provide data and make offensive and disparaging phone calls against Kari Birdseye in 2018.  The company had to defend itself against charges of orchestrating a PUSH POLL.  Documentation: see p. 7 of this 2018 Valero PAC campaign report.

Winning Connections appeared in these five Benicia Independent posts during the 2018 election.