California Primary today: Go cast your vote
Today is the California Primary, when the residents of the Golden State can raise their voices, through the ballot box, for the candidates they would like to see run for president, senator, Congressman and a host of other state and local offices.
The big news now is the race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Yesterday the Associated Press declared Hillary Clinton already had enough delegates to win the Democratic Primary. Both campaigns as well as the Democratic National Committee pushed back and said it wasn’t accurate to call anyone the nominee until the delegates cast their votes at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July. We should ignore what is being reported and cast our votes.
Both Clinton and Sanders have been campaigning hard here in California and they want your votes. It’s an modified closed primary so you can vote for one or the other if you’re an independent. Residents who have declared themselves to be No Party Preference voters will get ballots that do not have presidential candidates listed. If you are one of those people and wish to cast your vote for a presidential candidate, you can request a ballot to do so. According to the office of the Secretary of the State of California, NPP voters can, “vote the presidential ballot of the following parties: American Independent Party, Democratic Party [and] Libertarian party.” Just ask for one at your polling location.
If you are an NPP voter but wish to vote for the Republican primary, you can’t. According to the California Secretary of State, “Each political party has the option of allowing NPP voters to vote in their presidential primary election. 135 days before the election, political parties must notify the Secretary of State’s office whether or not they will allow NPP voters to vote in their presidential primary election. The above three parties notified the Secretary of State that they will allow NPP voters to request their party’s presidential ballot for the June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election.”
Locally, there are three county supervisor seats on the ballot, districts 2, 4 and 5, plus the District Attorney. In Long Beach there’s a run off for District 2 of the city council. In Torrance the entire city council is on the ballot.
For a complete list of what’s on the ballot in your local area, Click Here on the Voter’s Edge website to see who and what you can vote for today. Just enter your zip code and address in the appropriate boxes and get your ballot.
If you have a mail-in ballot you can still cast your vote, as long as the post mark is for today. You can drop it off at any local post office to be sure it will be included in the counting, or you can drop it off at your local election office.
Don’t sit this one out, regardless of what the national polls say about the presidential candidates. There are many other state and local offices and issues that need your vote.
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