Election November 5th 2024
Progressive Voter Action Guide
On this page
Once again, we're facing arguably the most important election in our lifetimes to date.
This is the tightest national election in decades. On this razor's edge, any factor or group could be decisive; turnout, 3rd party canidates, Arab Americans in Michigan, native Americans in Arizona, Black men, Cheney republicans...and also by how much cheating and dirty tricks are prevented.
If you know any swing state voter (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) who might be persuadable...Ezra Klien on What is Wrong with Donald Trump is the most obviously accurate, insightful, and compelling critique I've ever heard, by far. I feel like this is the conceptual framework and language that has been missing for the last 10 years...
Young people, brown people, and democrats don't bother to vote as much as old, white, republicans. Besides voting yourself, broadcast the call for everyone you know to vote, donate—even if you never have before—and take action for critical races around the country.
In California, we should vote, but the most critical actions we can take are to donate and help with calls to get out the vote in swing states where democracy is quite literally on the ballot, with among other things, control of the senate, the house, and elections.
Republicans are using formerly obscure offices like Secretary of State to suppress voting, the supreme court to tilt the playing field their way, and take over school boards to misinform children.
VOTE-early in person, on election day, or drop your mail-in ballot in a drop box.
- RIGHT NOW Register to vote...last day Oct 21st 2024...if you miss it, you can register up to the same day of the election!
- Or...Confirm your voter registration is current—in California, or anywhere else in US. Not tomorrow…do this now, while there is capacity to process any changes.
- Sign up NOW for tracking your mail in ballot (link for California)
- VOTE—drop your mail in your ballot in an OFFICIAL drop box, or turn it in at a polling place—having your vote counted by election day, rather than after will help reduce chaos. Critical local elections with lasting impacts have been decided by as little as two votes, so your vote really can matter. If your mail-in ballot is post marked November 5th and received by the 12th, it will count. If you don’t have your mail in ballot, you can go to an In Real Life polling place, ideally in the precinct you are registered to vote in, and vote with a provisional ballot (the ballot for the location you are registered in will have all the races on it you are registered to vote in, other polling places have a computer with all ballots in California in it).
More info
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Voting deadlines
- Early voting: varies by location
- Return ballot by mail (postmarked by): Nov 5
- Return ballot in person: Nov 5 by 8:00 pm. PST
- California starts sending ballots to all active registered voters: Oct 1
- Vote 411—A complete guide to how to vote, by mail or in person, early or on Election Day
Endorsements
Focused on Santa Barbara, CA. You can figure out much about other local races by checking the sources.
Explanation is given only where the choice was not obvious, or the effect of particular interest. I went with Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee endorsements except for items that have an asterix at the end, for which they had no endorsement(*).
If you have a case for a different endorsment, please Email us.
- United States President and Vice President: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
- United States Congress – District 24: Salud Carbajal
- California State Senate – District 21: Monique Limón
- California State Assembly – District 37: Gregg Hart
- Santa Barbara Unified School District – District 2: Sunita Beall
- Santa Barbara Unified School District – District 3: William Banning
- Santa Barbara Unified School District – District 5: Celeste Kafri
- Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees – Area 2: Kyle Richards
- Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees – Area 3: Sebastian Aldana Jr. I like his realism about measure P and creative idea of using surplus structures for student housing.*
- Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustee – Area 4: Dave Morris
- Santa Barbara County Board of Education – Trustee Area 2: Nadra Ehrman.
- Santa Barbara County Board of Education – Trustee Area 3: Sarah Anne Read
- Santa Barbara County Board of Education – Trustee Area 6: Katya Armistead
- Carpinteria City Council – District 2: Natalia Alarcon
- Goleta City Council – District 3: Jennifer Smith
- Goleta City Council – District 4: Stuart Kasdin
- City of Goleta Mayor: Paula Perotte
- Santa Barbara City Council – District 1: I'm going with Wendy Santamaria; a better advocate for keeping car traffic off of State, and Alejandra Guitierrez has missed 70 meetings (the third canidate dropped out).*
- Santa Barbara City Council – District 2: Mike Jordan.*
- Santa Barbara City Council – District 3: Oscar Gutierrez. Oscar has really been showing up.
- Goleta Water District – District 3: Lauren Hanson
- County of Santa Barbara Measure H: Vote Yes
- City of Carpinteria Measure B: Vote Yes
- City of Santa Barbara Measure I: Vote Yes
- Santa Barbara City College Measure P: No. Give SBCC the message and time to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan to better maintain the buildings they have, and adapt them for changing climate, changing educational needs and declining enrollment.*
- Hope School District Measure Y: No Endorsement
- City of Goleta Measure G: No Endorsement
- California Proposition 2 : Vote Yes. Funds Public Schools and Community Colleges.*
- California Proposition 3: Vote Yes. Establishes a Right to Same-Sex Marriage
- California Proposition 4: Vote Yes. Funds Water Infrastructure and Wildfire Prevention*
- California Proposition 5: Vote Yes. Lowers voting threshold for Affordable housing*
- California Proposition 6: Vote Yes. Ends involuntary servitude in prison
- California Proposition 32: Vote Yes, maybe. Raises the minimum wage. Complicated, but lean yes.*
- California Proposition 33: Vote No. Allows local governments to adopt rent control. Rent control in general seems like good intention that makes the problem worse unless very well crafted. This proposition seems like a an ill-crafted attempt likely to make an urgent problem even worse. This analysis captures the complexities.*
- California Proposition 34: Vote ..Maybe. Targets the political spending of one guy, the well-connected non-profit executive Michael Weinstein, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation he runs. An abuse of the political process for a good outcome?
- California Proposition 35: Vote Yes, maybe. Make permanent a tax on certain health care plans and require that the money go toward Medi-Cal, California’s public health insurance program for low-income residents
- California Proposition 36: Vote No. increase penalties for repeat offenders of certain theft- and drug-related crimes, reclassifying them as possible felonies instead of misdemeanors. More info.
sources below
Donate
At this late date, weeks from the election, I recommend donating to get out the vote efforts and selected down ballot races—it is too late for donations to indivdiual national canidates to be effective
- Oath's final push slate—They do the research, analysing thousands of races, and let you know where $ will maximize your impact. The higher the Impact Score, the greater the value of your donation in that race, which is especially important in the final weeks and days. In the current climate, any obscure elected office could be of national significance...think of the elections officials that blocked Trumps steal in 2020. Moreover, they don't spam you or sell your contact info.
- Focus for democracy—another bundler that directs donations for maximum inpact, who's activities include get out the vote.
- Arizona Native Vote—A good last minute donation for max impact. Note: Act Blue will BURY you with political emails and texts. Best to use a dedicated email that's just for deflecting spam.
- Rideshare to Vote—note, for donating through Act Blue. Note: Act Blue will BURY you with political emails and texts. Best to use a dedicated email that's just for deflecting spam.
Note: I am excited about Oath; I sugges you sign up. They seem to be the platform I was wishing for. I did most of my early donating through them this cycle, and plan to use them in future cycles. This is their pitch: Every cycle, Democratic donors waste millions of dollars giving too much to long shot candidates, safe seats, or donating too late to make a difference. Oath gives you a better option. Political fundraising is broken. We all receive way too many spam texts and desperate emails without any clear indication of how donating will actually help. Oath is the solution for YOU - donors, activists, and everyday people who want to make a difference in our political system.
Activism
- Contact everyone you know in swing states, and suggest they contact everyone they know,Find those few remaining voters and let them know—
- If you know any swing state voter who might be persuadable...Ezra Klien on What is Wrong with Donald Trump is the most compelling, obviously accurate critique I've ever heard by far. I feel like this is the conceptual framework and language that has been missing for the last 10 years...
- Drop off their ballot if they have not yet mailed it—too late for mail!
- They can check online if their vote has been recieved...if it has not they can vote with a provisional ballot
- If they are not registered they can still vote with a provisional ballot in some states if they are eligible
- Why they really, really should vote if they are not planning to— until they hear this is the one time in their life to try it out; they don't have to ever vote again if they don't like it
- especially ones who may not have voted, and also suggest they contact all their friends, too. You may know someone who just turned 18, or 80, and is bewildered by the whole thing and may need just a little nudge to get them to the polls or to be inspired to vote
- Indivisible—Effective local actions around the country
- Phone bank—with Move On
- Phone bank now through Indivisible. Phone banking tutorial
- Wellness check
- Listen, don't interrupt
- Make empathic connection
- End on positive note
- Record notes/ outcome in phone bank software
Stay informed
- Voting With Your Middle Finger: Two Views On The White Working Class—This is the best explanation yet for how the *%@# anyone could have voted for Trump. Listening to this made me a better person.
News is vital for democracy...subscribe to support reporting and research!
- The Daily—free podcast from New York Times...usually in depth on one topic. "The Base pt 1" is illustrative of the republican mindset.
- New York Times, Washington Post—Middle (note: reality has a liberal bias)
- Rachel Maddow—Middle left
- Santa Barbara Independent—Local
- Democracy Now—Far left
Sources
I find the State voter guide pretty useless; it's just competing sales pitches, which are often totally misleading. More instructive is who is supporting what, and why:
- Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee endorsements
- SB Independent endorsements - not posted at press time for this page...check their web page
- Progressive Voter's guide
- CA Sierra Club
- SB Democrats
- SPUR
- Politico
- SF green party
- OPPOSITE DAY: Sometimes when it is confusing which way to vote, it can be helpful to see what people with different views are thinking.
- http://www.electionforum.org—Evangelical Christian's recommendations, which are especially helpful for the judiciary
- California Republican Party