Old Bank Celebration

The Old Bank District had an Election Night Party. Here's the scene at 8 PM PST:



More photos here

Election Eve Thoughts

As I write this, the results from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire are in. Barak Obama received 15 votes while John McCain received 6. I'm hoping that the rest of the nation follows the lead set by the citizens of Dixville Notch.

In the morning, I will be voting for Barak Obama and Joe Biden. Still, while that vote may be considered historic, because I live in California it will not be my most important. That distinction will go to my no vote on proposition 8 (which, for those of you outside of California, would amend the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.) Same-sex couples have had the right to marry in California since May of this year. Has that had an impact on my marriage with Meeko? Absolutely not! Do I feel that our marriage is harmed by same-sex couples marrying? Absolutely not! I feel that denying Californians rights that are considered fundamental according to the state constitution is discriminatory, prejudicial, backwards, and just plain wrong.

As such, my fellow Californians, I'm asking you to vote no on Proposition 8.

Thoughts on my first DLANC Election

Last Thursday, I voted in my first Downtown LA Neighborhood Council election. It was a very simple process. As I was allowed to vote for only three contests, I filled out my ballot in less than a minute. I went into the election with the assumption, that the election was by majority. Now that the unofficial results are coming in, I'm surprised to learn that election is by plurality. In the case of a tie, according to the Unofficial DLANC Weblog, the contest is decided by a coin-flip. That seems ridiculous.

Why not use Instant Run-off Voting? My first exposure to IRV was when I was a student at UC Berkeley. The Associated Students of the University of California has used IRV for its elections for its 5 officers and 20 senators for many years. If the ASUC can pull it off, why can't the DLANC?

It's Time to Vote

Today is election day. Sure, this election is not as sexy as a presidential primary (oh imagine if my fellow Californians had not voted to move up the date for presidential primary), but don't let this let down deter you from going to the polls. On the ballot are a couple of state initiatives that tackle eminent domain (prop 98 could result in the elimination of rent control).

Folks in the second supervisory district of LA county have an exciting race between Bernard Parks and Mark Ridley-Thomas. If I lived on the other side of the street, I would be voting in that contest.

Speaking of that, before going to the polls, check for the location of your polling place on line. It may have changed!

LA County Voters
Other California Counties

One voter living across the street from me told me that he votes in Little Tokyo; This morning I found out that he's supposed to vote at LA CAN.