Democratic Blog News

Friday, October 19, 2012

Democratic Candidates For 5th District Court of Appeals

5th Court of Appeals candidates speaking at Parr Library

On Thursday, there was a reception at Plano Parr Library for the Democratic candidates for 5th District Court of Appeals.

The judicial candidates talked about why it is so important that you care about who serves on your Court of Appeals.

The Texas District Courts of Appeals are distributed in fourteen districts around the state of Texas.

The Courts of Appeal have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts. Like the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, Justices of the Texas Courts of Appeals are elected to six-year terms by general election.

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas, which includes one Chief Justice and twelve Justices, has jurisdiction over appeals from both district and county courts located in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Kaufman counties.

No Democrats currently sit on Fifth Court of Appeals. In the 2012 General Election, five Democratic Candidates are running for the 5th Court of Appeals:

Tonya Holt for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 11
Penny Phillips for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 5
Larry Praeger for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 12
David Hanshen for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 9
Dan Wood for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 2

Both civil and criminal appeals are typically heard by a panel of three justices, unless in a particular case "en banc" hearing is ordered, in which instance all the justices of that Court hear and consider the case. (Graphical Guide to the Court System of Texas) (map)

Candidates in picture from left

Lois Parrott for State Board of Education, District 12
Jack Ternan for Texas Senate District 8
Dan Wood for 5th of Court Appeals Place 2
Penny Phillips for 5th Court of Appeals Place 5
David Hanshen for 5th Court of Appeals Place 9
Tonya Holt for 5th Court of Appeals Place 11
Larry Praeger for 5th of Court Appeals Place 12

Friday, October 12, 2012

TDWCC 6th Annual Fundraiser Dinner

Texas Democratic Women of Collin County (TDWCC) will have its 6th Annual Fundraiser Dinner, Moving Texas Forward, starting at 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 21 at Fairview Farms Corral Party Barn. (map) (Details and RSVP)

Keynote Speaker this year is Texas House Representative Carol Alvarado (HD-145), an outspoken supporter for women’s rights and health issues, with invited guest, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa.

Rep. Alvarado speaking about the Texas Transvaginal Sonogram bill on the House floor. Video segment from Texas Tribune.

During the 2011 session of the Texas Legislature Rep. Alvarado spoke against the Texas "Transvaginal Sonogram" bill that the Republican dominated Texas Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Perry to sign into law.

Alvarado stood at the front of the Texas House chamber brandishing a 10-inch trans-vaginal sonogram wand while describing its invasive purpose in graphic detail. "There are two different kinds of sonograms," she said. "The abdominal, which I think most of our colleagues may think ‘jelly on the belly’ that would be done there, but that’s not the case. A woman that is eight to 10 weeks pregnant would have to get a transvaginal sonogram."

Alvarado also strongly opposes Gov. Perry's and the Republican dominated Texas Legislature's efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in Texas. Researchers at George Washington University have found that if Texas manages to exclude Planned Parenthood from participating in the Texas Women's Health Program (WHP), "tens of thousands of low-income Texas women could lose access to affordable family planning services and to other women’s health services. From the GWU study, which looked at five Texas markets, including rural Lubbock, Hidalgo and Midland counties as well as urban Bexar County, which contains San Antonio, and Dallas County:

"If Planned Parenthood affiliates were excluded from WHP, the remaining non-PPFA clinics would have to absorb a massive increase in WHP patients in order to maintain the overall 2011 caseload level. Non-PPFA clinics in Bexar and Dallas Counties would have to double their capacity. Lubbock County providers would need to expand by 250% if the Planned Parenthood affiliate was excluded. In Hidalgo and Midland Counties, the average non-PPFA clinics would have to serve more than five times their current caseloads. In these five markets, the WHP caseloads would need to expand by two to five times their current capacity in order to absorb the patients already served by Planned Parenthood."

This is a situation entirely of Republican lawmakers' drastic family planning budget cuts in 2011 and this year's attempt at excluding Planned Parenthood from the WHP, though pending litigation has delayed the ultimate ruling on Planned Parenthood's fate.

Tx House Rep. Carol Alvarado

Rep. Alvarado has served in the Texas House as a Representative from Houston since 2009. Prior to moving to the House, she was a 3-term member of the Houston City Council. While on the Council she was on the Board of Directors of the Texas Municipal League.

She is a native of Houston, and graduated from the University of Houston with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Business Administration. Her Committee assignments include Vice Chair of Urban Affairs, Public Health, and Redistricting.

Dinner Details and RSVP

Related Video:

Voter Empowerment And Poll Greeters

by Deborah Angell-Smith

Join us for Democratic Network Educational Forum discussion on the role and importance of poll greeters, at 10:45am this Sat., October 13th, at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney. (John & Judy Gay Library - 6861 El Dorado Parkway, McKinney - Map)

If you're reading this, you're someone who is probably going to be on the "front lines" of this election. Whether you're going to be a poll greeter, election worker, poll watcher or campaign worker, it's important that you know the "rules of engagement" and how to be most effective at whatever you do. Our next Democratic Network Forum will help!

This Saturday morning, October 13th, Barbara Walters, President of Texas Democratic Women - Collin County, veteran activist and professional trainer, will present a program designed for poll greeters (the dedicated folks who stand outside of polling places encouraging voters to vote for Democratic candidates), but it will also be helpful for election workers, poll watchers and campaign workers. If you're not sure which role suits you best, Barb's presentation will help you figure it out! Regardless of where you fit into the election picture, she'll fill you in on the basics of behavior in and around polling places so you don't get yourself (or your candidate) in trouble, and make the best use of your time.

Saturday
October 13, 2012

Don't forget, the King Street Patriots, local Tea Party groups and conservative activists of all stripes are actively recruiting and training followers to "True the Vote" in ways that are clearly designed to intimidate legitimate voters and suppress votes from ethnic and religious minorities, young people and other targeted populations. On the heels of months of conflicts and court fights, confusion and errors in the election process are virtually guaranteed, and many voters still have concerns about the electronic voting machines. There WILL be problems, and as an activist, you'll want to be ready to help in any way you can.

Our program will be held at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney, 6861 El Dorado Parkway, just east of Alma. There's plenty of room, and we need as many Democrats as we can find informed and ready to step in wherever they're needed, so PLEASE BRING OTHERS WITH YOU! Join us for coffee and breakfast goodies at 10:45 am and the program will get started at 11. We'll wrap up by 1 pm and those who care to continue the discussion can adjourn to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

Like most activists, the Democratic Network Forum will take a break in November and December. We encourage you to recuperate from the election, rest and spend time with your family and friends. We'll see you at various holiday parties and be back in January with informative programs to educate you about issues that affect us here in Collin County, and what we, as Democrats, can do to make things better. Keep in mind that the Texas Legislature starts back up again in January, and local candidates will be filing for city council and school board elections, so we'll have plenty to talk about!

As always, we invite your input on topics, speakers, format and other options - and encourage you to get involved in growing our network. We'll have sign-up and comment sheets at the event, but if you aren't able to attend, please e-mail us at info@collindems.net, or call (469) 713-2031 to leave a voice message.

FOLLOW ON TWITTER

FRIEND ON FACEBOOK

FORWARD TO A FRIEND

Democratic Network Educational Forum

Role and Importance Of Poll Greeters

Join us for another Democratic Network Educational Forum discussion on Voter Empowerment and Election Protection, at 10:45am this Sat., October 13th, at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney. The Forum this month will provide training on the role and importance of poll greeters, including what we all can do to protect voters' rights. LOTS of poll greeters will be needed so ask your friends to attend this Forum presentation. There will also be additional discussion about the duties of poll watchers. (John & Judy Gay Library - 6861 El Dorado Parkway - Map)

Remember 2000? Hanging chads, voter suppression, overwhelming confusion and voting machines that may - or may not - have counted the votes as they were cast. There were critical failures at many key points along the way that resulted in a stolen election and eight long years of regret.

Today, the King Street Patriots, Tea Party groups and conservative activists of all stripes are recruiting and training followers to "True the Vote" in ways that are clearly designed to intimidate legitimate voters and suppress votes from ethnic and religious minorities, young people and other targeted populations. On the heels of months of voter photo I.D. court fights, deputy voter registrar court fights, redistricting court fights, plus a last minute purge of dead voters who are not dead, confusion and errors in the election process are virtually guaranteed, and we still have concerns about those machines.

Saturday
October 13, 2012

Being informed about these intimidation tactics and failure points before the first votes are cast allows you to defend vulnerable voters and protect the interests of candidates you support. You'll able to share important information with your network and identify potential issues anywhere and everywhere you see them.

The program will be held at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney, 6861 El Dorado Parkway, just east of Alma. It's centrally located in the county and offers plenty of room, so please encourage Democratic friends and neighbors to come with you. Join us for coffee and breakfast goodies at 10:45 am and the program will get started at 11:00 am. We'll wrap up by 1 pm and those who care to continue the discussion can adjourn to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

As always, we invite your input on topics, speakers, format and other options - and encourage you to get involved in growing our network. We'll have sign-up and comment sheets at the event, but if you aren't able to attend, please e-mail us at info@collindems.net, or call (469) 713-2031 to leave a voice message.

FOLLOW ON TWITTER

FRIEND ON FACEBOOK

FORWARD TO A FRIEND

Democratic Network Educational Forum

We invite you to get "fired up and ready to go" for the rest of the campaign Thursday evening, October 11th by attending a Debate Watch at Rugby House Pub, in north west Plano ~ 8604 Preston Rd., Suite 100, Plano, Tx 75024. (map)

Come watch the October 11th VP debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan with your Democratic friends and neighbors. The debate telecast starts a 8:00pm, but you are welcome to come early to order drinks and food and chat with your friends and neighbors.

This 90-minute debate, moderated by ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent, Martha Raddatz, telecast from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, will be broken up into nine 10-minute segments focused on Foreign and Domestic Policy.

The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, Democratic Network, Democratic Blog News, Plano Drinking Liberally and McKinney Living Liberally are co-sponsors of this debate watch event at Rugby House Pub media room. This debate watch event is in lieu of the regular Plano Drinking Liberally meeting that would be on the 12th and the McKinney Living Liberally meeting that would be on the 11th. Debate schedule posted below the more jump...

by Michael Handley

Today, October 9, 2012, is the deadline to be registered to vote in the 2012 Texas General Election. Are you registered to vote? Even if you think you are registered you should double check your registration status RIGHT NOW, because your registration could have been suspended or completely purged.

To vote early, starting Monday, October 22, 2012, or on Election Day, November 6th, you must be registered to vote or have mailed your new (or change of address) voter registration form to the election office for the county in which you currently reside so that it is postmarked before 11:59pm, October 9, 2012.

I have worked every election as Early Voting and Election Day Election Clerk, and more recently Alternate Judge, for the last ten years. In the last two hours of every November Election Day too many last minute voters, who may have waited in a line for up to an hour, check in to vote only find they are not registered. Waiting until 5:00pm on Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to discover a problem with your registration status is too late - if you check your registration status NOW and find a problem, you can fix it.

My polling place always calls the county election office to ask them to search their records to determine why a person who thinks they are registered vote is not on the polling place list of registered voters. Sometimes the election office finds that a properly registered voter is not on the polling place list of voters due to a clerical error, in which case the person can vote a regular ballot. More often, would-be voters not found in the polling place list of voters are not properly registered and their only option is to vote a provisional ballot, as provided under the federal Help America to Vote Act.

There are several typical reasons would-be voters find they are not registered. Top on the list of reasons is that people think they were automatically registered when they changed, renewed or applied for their Texas driver's license at the Department of Motor Vehicles office - but that DMV voter registration did not occur.

As required by the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, better known as the ‘Motor Voter’ law, Texas DMV workers are suppose to ask everyone they process if they want to register to vote or to update their registration information. If the client replies yes, state employees ask eligibility questions and enter that information directly into their computers.

Software processes the registrant’s information — name, age, address, citizenship, etc. — and automatically prepares a voter registration application with all the registrant’s identifying information. The DMV employee then ask the registrant to review the application for correctness, and sign it using a pen. The voter registration application is then scanned, where the signature is electronically captured as an electronic image file. That image file is then combined with the voter’s other digitized information and electronically sent to election offices where the application is processed. If all the application information is verified, the registrant is added to the voter registration data base in the county where they reside and to the Texas Secretary of State's statewide TEAM voter registration data base.

Other common reasons people may find they are not registered in this election include:

If you haven't voted in the last two federal elections, you may no longer be registered to vote.
If you did not receive a yellow 2012-13 Voter Registration Card (VRC), you may no longer be registered to vote.
If you moved, but you did not go to your county's election registration office to file a voter registration form for your current residence, you may no longer be registered to vote.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Social Media Debate Sentiment Favors Obama

The immediate consensus by early polls, the conventional press and even the blogosphere that Mitt Romney won Wednesday's presidential debate eroded significantly as social media fact-checkers weighed in, according to analysis of the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and blogs by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and NBC News.

On both Twitter and Facebook, the conversation was much more critical of Mitt Romney than it was of Barack Obama during the debate. And when the criticism of one candidate and praise of another are combined, the conversation on Twitter leaned Obama's way. On Facebook it was something of a draw.

Only in blogs, which tended to offer more of a post-debate summary of the event than a moment-to-moment reaction, did the sentiment resemble that of instant polls or press analysis, which have tended to see Romney as having the better of the debate.

For both candidates in social media, however, immediate praise of their performance in general was hard to come by.

Twitter

On Twitter, an examination of 5.9 million opinions posted from the beginning of the debate through the next morning finds more of the conversation leaned Obama's way (35%) than Romney's (22%). But those who favored Obama tweeted not so much to praise him as to criticize his opponent. Of the entire conversation, 9% praised the president and 26% was critical of Romney. Of those favoring Romney, 7% praised him and 15% criticized Obama.

Not every tweet about the debate was an evaluation of candidate performance. Another 17% of the conversation involved people offering jokes with no clear opinion about either contender. A smaller component of the conversation, 9%, involved people sharing information or news. And 16% of the conversation talked about other things, such as evaluating the moderator, Jim Lehrer, or people tweeting that they were watching the debate-or not watching.

If the conversation that did not evaluate the candidates is removed from the tally, the Twitter numbers would show 61% leaning Obama's way and 39%, Romney's.

Facebook

On Facebook, the results were more evenly split. An analysis of 262,008 assertions on public Facebook posts during the same period found that 40% of the discussion leaned toward Obama compared with 36% toward Romney. Joke-telling was marginal. Information-sharing made up 8% of the conversation, and 17% was not about the candidates.

Here, too, the conversation favoring Obama tilted more toward criticism of Romney (30%) rather than praise for Obama (10%). The conversation favoring Romney was more even, with 17% praising him vs. 19% criticizing Obama.

Blogs

The blogosphere was the one component of social media that more aligned with the sentiment found in instant polls and in press coverage. An analysis of 6,313 assertions in a broad sample of public blogs favored Romney by roughly 4 to 1. Fully 45% of that sentiment leaned Romney's way and 12% toward Obama. Here, almost all of the conversation for Obama was criticizing Romney. Of the conversation going Romney's way, more of it actually praised his performance (26%) than criticized the president's (18%).

One difference in the blog conversation, the analysis found, is that much of it came toward the end of the debate or later, and tended to involve more of a summary evaluation of the whole event rather than a reaction to a single exchange or moment.

Except for blogs, these findings about social media offer a contrast to what people generally saw in the immediate aftermath of the debate in polls or in mainstream media coverage.

A CNN poll of debate watchers taken immediately after the debate found that 67% of registered voters thought Romney won the debate vs. 25% for President Barack Obama. A CBS poll of undecided voters who watched found 46% for Romney and 22% for Obama.

A look at political analysis in mainstream media found something similar. "Romney takes fight to Obama," read the headline of the Washington Post lead story. The Denver Post was more direct: "Round 1: Romney."

Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

NBC News

Even as Romney was being hailed as the victor in the minutes immediately after the debate on Wednesday, a small question was already being raised about "Facts" across all the social media channels.

By late Thursday afternoon, those questions had become prominent, as commenters cited analyses by partisan and nonpartisan fact-checkers. Particularly influential was a commentary Thursday morning by the liberal blog Think Progress:

Pundits from both sides of the aisle have lauded Mitt Romney's strong debate performance, praising his preparedness and ability to challenge President Obama's policies and accomplishments. But Romney only accomplished this goal by repeatedly misleading viewers. He spoke for 38 minutes of the 90 minute debate and told at least 27 myths.

Arguments like that planted the idea that Romney had "lied his way to victory."

By Friday morning, the counterargument that Obama had actually won on substance had taken root, with online sentiment now favoring the president.

The analysis suggests that Twitter and Facebook can be powerful disseminators of opinion once commenters have time to digest the news and marshal their arguments.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Mobile Digital Communication

The era of mobile digital communication has crossed a new threshold. Half of all U.S. adults now have a mobile connection to the web through either a smartphone or tablet, significantly more than a year ago, and this has major implications for how news will be consumed, according to a detailed new survey of news use on mobile devices by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) in collaboration with The Economist Group.

At the center of the recent growth in mobile is the rapid embrace by Americans of the tablet computer. Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22%, now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier. Another 3% of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home. And nearly a quarter of those who don't have a tablet, 23%, plan to get one in the next six months. Even more U.S. adults (44%) have smartphones, according to the survey, up from 35% in May 2011.

News remains an important part of what people do on their mobile devices-64% of tablet owners and 62% of smartphone owners say they use the devices for news at least weekly, tying news statistically with other popular activities such email and playing games on tablets and behind only email on smartphones (not including talking on the phone). This means fully a third of all U.S. adults now get news on a mobile device at least once a week.

Mobile users, moreover, are not just checking headlines on their devices, although nearly all use the devices for the latest new updates. Many also are reading longer news stories - 73% of adults who consume news on their tablet read in-depth articles at least sometimes, including 19% who do so daily. Fully 61% of smartphone news consumers at least sometimes read longer stories, 11% regularly.

And for many people, mobile devices are adding how much news they consume. More than four in ten mobile news consumers say they are getting more news now and nearly a third say they are adding new sources.

Read the full report at Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

More:

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Just 7 Days To Voter Registration Deadline

by Michael Handley

The deadline to be registered to vote in the 2012 General Election is October 9, 2012. Are you registered to vote? Even if you think you are registered you should double check your registration status, because your registration could have been suspended or completely purged.

If you haven't voted since the November 2008 election, you may no longer be registered to vote.
If you did not receive a yellow 2012-13 Voter Registration Card (VRC), you may no longer be registered to vote.
If you moved, but you did not go to your county's election registration office to file a voter registration form for your current residence, you may no longer be registered to vote.
If you checked the voter registration box at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles office when you changed, renewed or applied for your driver's license, but you did not sign a registration form and/or you never a receive a Voter Registration Card, you most likely are not registered to vote.

To vote early, starting Monday, October 22, 2012, or on Election Day, November 6th, you must be registered to vote or have mailed your new (or change of address) voter registration form to the election office for the county in which you currently reside so that it is postmarked before 11:59pm, October 9, 2012.

State and federal HAVA laws require the nation's voter rolls be regularly reviewed and cleaned to remove duplicates and eliminate voters who move or die. This clean up cycle occurs every three months in Texas. Statewide in Texas, more than 1.5 million voter records could be suspended and eventually purged if people fail to vote or update their voter registration records for two consecutive federal elections.

One out of every 10 Texas voters' registration is currently suspended. Among voters under 30, the figure is about one in five. More than 300,000 valid voters were notified they could be removed from Texas rolls from November 2008 to November 2010 because they were mistaken for someone else who moved or died and failed to receive or respond to generic election office form letters.

Across Texas, identifying people who should (and shouldn't) be purged relies on outdated computer programs and faulty procedures. The result is that sometimes the wrong people are flagged and sent a voter status inquiry letter that many people discard as junk mail. If you ever received a status inquiry letter or post card from your county's election office, and you did not respond, your voter registration record likely has been purged.

To check your Collin Co. registration status - click here. To check your registration status in any other Texas county - click here. If you find you are not registered to vote, you can find the Voter's Registration application by clicking here.

(More details available at Your 2012 Collin Co. Voter Registration Card ~ Are You Ready For Voting To Start In Just 34 Days? ~ NPR: Texans Bereaved Over 'Dead' Voter Purge ~ Ignore A Letter From The Elections Office And Get Purged From Voting.)

We Invite You To Get Fired Up And Ready To Go

We invite you to get "fired up and ready to go" for the rest of the campaign Wednesday evening, October 3rd by attending a Debate Watch at Rugby House Pub, in north west Plano ~ 8604 Preston Rd., Suite 100, Plano, Tx 75024. (map)

The October 3rd debate between Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama is going to be an enormous event. Some 200 million television viewers worldwide are expected to focus on the debate held at the University of Denver in Colorado.

The 90-minute October 3rd debate, moderated by Jim Lehrer, will be broken up into six 15-minute segments. Three of the segments will focus on the economy, with the remaining three segments focused on health care, governing and the role of government.

The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, Democratic Network and Democratic Blog News have reserved the Rugby House Pub media room for debates on October 3rd, October 11th and October 22nd. Watch for information about the October 16th debate watch location. Debate schedule posted below the more jump...

Penny Phillips For 5th Court Of Appeals Video

Penny Phillips is an Air Force JAG Veteran and 20-year experienced attorney with a long history of dedicated public service.

Penny Phillips, Democratic candidate for 5th District Court of Appeals, Place 5, is out with a very well done campaign video on YouTube.

Penny served the state of Texas as an Assistant District Attorney in the 1990s. She also served the United States as a JAG officer in the Air Force. She current has her own law office in Plano.

Civil and criminal cases from district and county courts in Collin, Dallas, Kaufman, Rockwall and Grayson counties are appealed to the 5th District Court of Appeals, which includes one Chief Justice and twelve other Justice "places." No Democrats currently sit on Fifth Court of Appeals.

In the 2012 General Election, five Democratic Candidates, including one other woman, Tonya Holt for Place 11, are running for place seats on this appellate court:

Tonya Holt for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 11
Penny Phillips for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 5
Larry Praeger for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 12
David Hanshen for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 9
Dan Wood for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 2

The Texas District Courts of Appeals are distributed in fourteen districts around the state of Texas. The Courts of Appeal have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts.

Like the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, Justices of the Texas Courts of Appeals are elected to six-year terms by general election. Graphical Guide to the Court System of Texas) (map)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Biggest Problem Faced By Texas Democrats

by Michael Handley

The biggest problem faced by Texas Democrats is that too many Democrats don't vote because they have been fooled into thinking that their vote does not count. They have been convinced by the popular media that Texas is a RED state that Republicans will win because the state has more Republican than Democratic Voters. Democrats, don't believe the Republican propaganda.

Texas is the only minority/majority state in the Union where Democrats are not winning statewide elections.

If every voting aged person who rejects the Republican Party's platform agenda for Texas and America will register and vote in the coming election, President Obama will win Texas' 37 electoral college votes and Paul Sadler will be Texas' next U.S. Senator.

Do the addition - it adds up - Texas is a blue state by voting age population!

Whoever wins in November will likely have the opportunity to appoint at least one and possibly up to three justices. And remember, it is the U.S. Senate that confirms the president's court appointments. So think about that before you skip the U.S. Senate ballot position, when casting your vote.

Are you a voting age person who believes every woman should have the right of privacy to make her own health care and family planning choices? If Romney wins, he will certainly nominate extremely conservative justices to appeal to the Tea Party elements within his party. President Romney would appoint conservative justices who support Justice Scalia's position that women have no constitutional right of privacy to choose to use contraception or choose to have an abortion, even when her life is at risk from a pregnancy. If you are a voting age Texan who rejects these Republican policy positions, then you must make sure you are registered to vote and vote a straight Democratic Ballot.

Are you a voting age person who believes every child has the right to a quality education in an adequately funded public school system and who rejects the Republican position that our American school system should be privatized and corporatized with vouchers? If you are a voting age Texan who rejects this Republican policy position, then you make sure you are registered to vote and vote a straight Democratic Ballot.

Are you a voting age person who believes that every American, particularly retired Americans who have spent a lifetime building a better America, have a right to life guaranteed by access to health care and who rejects the Republican policy position that the Affordable Care Act must be repealed and that Medicare and Medicaid should be privatized and corporatized with vouchers? If you are a voting age Texan who rejects these Republican policy position, then you must make sure you are registered to vote and vote a straight Democratic Ballot. And, by the way, don't believe the Republican lie that Medicare is going bankrupt - it's not.

More Differences Between Texas Democratic Party Platform and Republican Party of Texas Platforms

Reception For Democratic Candidates On The Ballot For 5th District Court of Appeals

Today, there is a reception at Plano Parr Library for the Democratic candidates for 5th District Court of Appeals. This is your opportunity to talk with the judicial candidates to find out why it is so important who serves on your Court of Appeals. The reception is sponsored by Democratic Precinct Chairs of Collin Co. The reception is today, Thursday, September 27, 7:00pm at Plano Parr Library, 6200 Windhaven Pkwy, Plano, Tx. (map) For more information, contact Barb Korman at silverfox1026@aol.com.

The Texas District Courts of Appeals are distributed in fourteen districts around the state of Texas. The Courts of Appeal have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts. Like the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, Justices of the Texas Courts of Appeals are elected to six-year terms by general election.

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas, which includes one Chief Justice and twelve Justices, has jurisdiction over appeals from both district and county courts located in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Kaufman counties. The Court hears both civil and criminal appeals.

No Democrats currently sit on Fifth Court of Appeals. In the 2012 General Election, five Democratic Candidates are running for the 5th Court of Appeals:

Tonya Holt for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 11
Penny Phillips for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 5
Larry Praeger for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 12
David Hanshen for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 9
Dan Wood for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 2

Penny Phillips talks about Court of Appeals Justice. Penny is an Air Force Veteran, 20-year attorney, and dedicated leader. Penny is an experienced lawyer with a long history of dedicated public service.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Women At Risk Of Being Disenfranchised

Women add to the list of voters who are potential casualties of disenfranchisement from restrictive voting laws, as reports show that women have an increasingly difficult path to obtaining proper photo ID.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news,
and news about the economy

Discrepancies over a voter's legal name and the name displayed on their photo ID could stand in the way of their ability to cast a ballot in states that have enacted strict photo ID laws. That means if a woman's name or address has changed due to marriage or divorce and her photo ID does not reflect the change, she could be turned away at the polls.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as many as 34% of voting-age women—who have proof of citizenship—do not have documents with their current legal name.

And as MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry points out, in Pennsylvania where a controversial voter ID has returned to a lower court, recently married or divorced women face an uphill battle in order to vote.

In an asterisk section at the bottom of the Pennsylvania Department of State Voter ID rules, the requirements reads:

* In this example a voter who recently changed her name by reason of marriage presents a valid Pennsylvania driver's license or Pennsylvania ID card accompanied by a PennDOT update card, which is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Voter ID law regarding proof of identification.

"You need not one, but two forms of ID if you are a [woman]—there is officially a tax on being a woman in Pennsylvania if you want to vote," Harris-Perry said.

Ari Berman, who has covered voter ID laws extensively for The Nation magazine, added that Pennsylvania voters would also be subject to the individual discretion of workers at over 9,000 different polling places. "We're talking about, at the very least, a lot of chaos on election day," he said.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Sarah Silverman Explains Voter Photo I.D. Laws

Caution - It's Sarah Silverman! You will hear words some might consider "inappropriate."
Comedian Sarah Silverman explains why 12 states have passed laws requiring voters to present select government issued photo I.D. photo identification before casting a ballot. She explains that new voting laws passed by Republican controlled state legislatures since 2008 require voters to present select photo I.D that up to 25 percent of some population groups do not hold. And those population groups, including African Americans and young people of every ethnic and racial group, voted predominately for Pres. Obama in 2008.

Bluntly, Silverman said that “lawmakers are trying to fuck you in the asshole” and ended up recommending everyone buy guns, because states like Texas and Tennessee have passed laws that say gun permits work as voter IDs, but Social Security cards and student IDs do not.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Polls That Include Cell Phone Only Voters Give Obama A Big Lead!

Fox News released a new poll Thursday showing that President Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney in three battleground states, topping off a week of bad-news polling for the Republican presidential nominee in toss-up states.

The poll, which covered Ohio, Virginia and Florida, shows Obama leading Romney by seven points in both Ohio (49 to 42 percent) and Virginia (50 to 43 percent). In Florida, Obama leads by five points (49 to 44 percent), which is within the poll's margin of error. Obama won all three states in 2008, marking the first time Virginia voted for a Democratic president since 1964.

In Michigan and Wisconsin, Obama has also opened up a lead against his rival: A CNN poll puts him up eight points in Michigan (52 to 44 percent), and one from Marquette Law School has Obama leading Romney by 14 points in Wisconsin (54 to 40 percent). In August, Obama led Romney in Wisconsin by only three points.

New York Times pollster Nate Silver notes that Obama tends to do better against Romney in polls that include cell phones and use live interviewers instead of automated questions. Silver writes that Obama has shown a clear lead in the 16 cell phone-inclusive polls of seven top battleground states taken since the convention. (The Fox, CNN and Marquette Law School polls all included cell phone respondents.) On average, Obama has a 5.8 percentage point lead in surveys that include properly weighted cell phone (only) respondents.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted September 12-16, 2012 among 3,019 adults, including properly weighted cell phone only respondents, finds that Obama has an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters on which candidate gets their vote. Not only does Obama enjoy a substantial lead on Pew's ballot preference question, he tops Romney in a number of other key categories, too. Obama continues to be the more likable candidate by a substantial margin; his favorability rating has risen to 55% from 50% in late July, with only 42% now expressing an unfavorable view of him.

Pew Research Center leads other public polling organizations for polling expertise in our increasingly cell phone only society.

The number of Americans who have no landline phone service, who rely solely or mostly on cell phone service, has been growing for several years. The cell phone only trend poses an increasing likelihood that public opinion polls conducted only or mostly to landline phone respondents have a conservative bias.

Analysis by Pew Research Center in 2010 shows support for Republican candidates is significantly higher in polls calling only or mostly landline respondents, than in dual frame surveys that combined properly weighted landline and cell phone respondent polling.

Pew Research found in 2010 up to a 10 point conservative bias gap between those who could be reached by landline and those who could be reached only by cell phone. Those who have gone cell phone only hold significantly more progressive / liberal political views than those who can still be polled by landline live or automated robo calls. This gap has likely widened over the last two years.

Click here for details, to RSVP and to purchase tickets.

Presidential Debate Watch, October 3rd

Texas Judge Halts Faulty Dead Voter Purge

State Court Judge Tim Sulak in Austin temporarily barred the Secretary of State's office from ordering county election officials to purge voters from registration rolls, who are listed on the state's highly inaccurate dead voter report. Judge Tim Sulak agreed with plaintiffs that the purge this close to election day may violate state and federal election code.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed today by four very much alive Texas voters who were told they would be purged from the voter registration rolls as deceased. They asked Judge Sulak to stop the state from striking about 77,000 names from the rolls, arguing the plan violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act and Texas election code.

The secretary of state is “restrained from further instructing the counties to remove any other names from the voter rolls,” Judge Sulak said in his order. “Plaintiffs are entitled to temporary injunctive relief.” He also barred the secretary of state from ordering county officials to remove from the rolls any voters who failed to “timely comply” with the dead voter notice letters already mailed out.

Pages