The Hot Sheet

Everyone knows our Voter Guides rock

Ashley DiParlo at WTAE interviewed our own Carly Dobbins-Bucklad about the League of Young Voters special DIY voter guide website, theballot.org — where you can see all the League non-partisan voter guides (including PA’s!) with information on all of the down-ballot candidates and referendums, as well as upload your own voter guide.

People and organizations can submit guides all over the country, so if you’ve got a friend in another state, pass theballot.org on!

Reasons to Vote 4

We’ve been knocking on doors asking people if they’re registered to vote and getting people to sign pledge cards that get mailed back to the address listed. Here are a few of the reasons people have given us as to why cast a ballot this fall:

“We need a change! Go vote, Mom!” — Gracie, Greensburg, PA

“The wife will shoot me if I don’t!” — D., Greensburg, PA

“My kids can’t vote yet, and there is no jobs, and minimum wage needs to go up some!” — DeMikea, Pittsburgh, PA

“Mom– Register online!” — Carol, Carnegie, PA

“I’m cool and I’m your best friend. Love, Vickie” — Cassie, Washington, PA

“The economy is dying!!!” — Jowett, Beaver, PA

“As a black female, it’s my constitutional right that so many fought for me to vote.” — Sheila

“Hi man, It may be in your interest to vote this year! Joe.” — Ellen, Allison Park, PA

“I can! I’m angry! I’m broke!” — Raymond, Pittsburgh, PA

“A closed mouth can not speak, my vote is my voice.” — Rashida, Pittsburgh, PA

Opinions expressed belong solely to the individuals mentioned and are not necessarily those of the PA League.

“Unlock the Vote” Poster Contest Winner announced!

The winning Unlock the Vote poster design by Janel Ganaway

(click on image for larger version)

Janel Ganaway, age 12, submitted the winning design for the PA League of Young Voters “Unlock the Vote” poster contest.

Pittsburgh student programs were asked to design a poster that said why it was important to vote. The winner was selected at the last PA League Presidential Debate Watch Party by those in attendance. Janel was part of the Mission Discovery student program at the Hill House.

Way to go, Janel! One thousand copies of your poster have been printed and distributed throughout the city in selected neighborhoods. The poster contest was part of the PA League’s ongoing Unlock the Vote program, which encourages inmate and ex-offender communities to know their rights, get registered, and vote.

Janel Ganaway, in front on the far right, with fellow Mission Discovery students and local hip-hop favorites, Wiz Khalifa (left) and Jasiri X (far right).

Training future organizers

It happened in West Virginia

Check our voting machines before the election!

TOMORROW, Tuesday Oct 20th at 10am there will be a Board of Elections Meeting at the County Courthouse, Conference Room 1. We should arrive en-masse to discuss software auditing as well as any other election issues. No one needs to sign up in advance to speak, but if you’d like to carpool down there or meet up early, email terry@theleague.com!

Terry encouraging Pitt students to call County Executive Dan Onorato and ask him to verify the county's electronic voting machine software before the Nov. 4th election.

In a democracy such as ours, when those who represent our interests to our government fall short of doing the work of the people, to whom do we turn? Each other! The PA League of Young Voters has been calling for the people of Allegheny County to address their concerns about the integrity of the operating software in the electronic touch-screen voting machines to our county officials. When Michelle Obama came to University of Pittsburgh campus on October, 16th, Leaguers passed out some 800 leaflets containing the County Executive’s office phone number, instructions for writing a letter to the editor of the local newspapers, and information about our local government to a crowd of hundreds of eager voters. Everyone pulled out their cell phones, began making calls, and passed the information on to each other.

Terry took to the wall, walking along the line of speech-goers, proclaiming the importance of ratcheting up public pressure to direct the County Executive and the Board of Elections to take all necessary and reasonable steps to ensure that the paperless voting machines record and count each and every vote in Allegheny County on November, 4th, and in every election. Consequently, hundreds of people from around the Pittsburgh area who care to have their voices heard have experienced their collective power and the duty to influence the decisions of our elected officials. The flood of phone calls reportedly tied up County Executive Dan Onorato’s phone line for a good portion of the morning.

Now go the the Board of Elections meeting this Tuesday October 21st, 10am, and be there when the County Executive and the two At-Large County Councilmen make the decision. Our presence will influence!

Westmoreland Candidates Forum

1016082006.jpg, originally uploaded by paleague.

Hello from the Westmoreland Co candidate forum! Put together by the League of Women Voters, candidates Anthony Bompiani and John Boyle were in attendance. I submitted a question asking if they would support a reincarnation of the Reach Scholarship; we’ll see what they have to say. TWO MORE FORUMS LEFT!!! -Carly

Trick out the Vote!

Studies show that the most effective way to get young people to vote before an election is to knock on their doors and encourage them to. And what’s the one day when we’re all culturally ready for a knock on the door? Halloween! Just 5 days before the general Election.

This is a great, fun chance to do your part. Trick or Vote is a nationwide nonpartisan costume canvass taking place on Halloween.  So in Pittsburgh, on Oct 31st at 5pm,  costumed canvassers will meet up to get out the vote during Trick-Or-Treat!

Sign up you and your friends for Trick-or-Vote!

PA behind other states in anti-poverty legislation

With the number of U.S. children in poverty increasing, many states are forming commissions and task forces to reduce the ranks of the poor.

Pennsylvania is not among them.

Also, nearly two dozen states - including Delaware and New Jersey - have adopted state income-tax credits, considered by many policymakers to be the single best weapon in the antipoverty arsenal, because the credit rewards working people and raises many families above the poverty line.

Pennsylvania has not created such a credit.

“There’s silence on poverty in Pennsylvania - no serious discussion of poverty reduction at all,” said Sharon Ward, executive director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a research group in Harrisburg.

-The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct 15th, 2008, by Alfred Lubano

Please join the PA League to learn about what you can ask your elected officials (at all levels of government) to do about poverty and the economic struggle!

Poverty/Economy Issues Forum
Oct 23rd, 6pm-8pm
Kiva Han (Craig & Forbes, 15213)
presentation followed by panel discussion and Q&A

What does your Auditor General do?

“The proper role of the state auditor general — Pennsylvania’s designated fiscal watchdog — is disputed by the two major party candidates for the position, who made appearances in Monroe County last week.”

Today the Pocono Record ran a story about the differing views two candidates for Auditor General, Jack Wagner and Chet Beiler, have about what the position is supposed to do for PA.

The two candidates featured in the article also responded to our Voter Guide questionnaire — read their responses here!