Two Chickens in Every Pot?

As most of you know, I'm mounting a last minute write-in campaign for council. I'm sure most are wondering...why now? Well, it wasn't a vast secret conspiracy or some kind of brain seizure. Simply put, I had work-related complications at one of my two jobs, which evolved over the summer and left me in a tenuous situation for longer than I'd have liked. My part-time position is being re-evaluated by the board of directors and the plan is to create a new position with more responsibility to replace the job description I now hold. I will have to re-interview for the position along with new applicants. I feel confident I'll be selected but I can't guarantee anything.





Therefor, I didn't want to commit to a campaign that a lot of people wanted me to run if the chance existed for me to lose that job in mid-campaign. That would have required me to drop out of the race and look for a new job ASAP and would have wasted the hard work of a lot of volunteers and discouraged a lot of voters. As things have turned out, the job situation has yet to resolve itself but it became academic last week when it appeared that any decision wouldn't resolve itself until after the election anyway. So, I had nothing to lose by making a hard run at it one more time.




I'm not a politician so I won't give you any election double-talk. Will I be happy if I win? Yes. Will it be easy. Not really, but that doesn't matter. Will I be disappointed if I lose? A little, but I'd be more disappointed if I didn't try at all and allow the first district election in the West Ward to occur with no alternative to Mr. Fleck. By definition, that really isn't an election.



I'd like to clear up a few things I've read on other blogs about the write-in process.




First: You don't have to have the exact same spelling for every vote cast and Mr. Fleck can't have all those voters' name variations thrown out. I've already gone over the process with the County Election Board. All they required from me was a letter of intent with my correct name, the office I am running for and a list of possible name misspellings, nicknames, etc. that may show up on the ballot. They will figure out the rest. I trust their experience to tell what people were trying to do.




Second: If you wish to vote for me the write-in process is not difficult, as many people believe. Here is how it works:





1) Enter the booth and look along the left hand column of the ballot screen for the proper office. Lighted arrows will appear next to each office...in this case it will be Easton City Council-District Two. There will only be one name on that line: Mike Fleck. There is a square next to his name. Ignore it.




2) Trace across that row to the far right side and there will be a box that says "Write-in".



3) Press the "Write-In" square next to the box.



4) At the bottom of the ballot screen is a keypad with all the letters and two arrow keys. Just type in Dennis Lieb. You can leave a space between the names by using the right arrow key. If you make a spelling error you can back up and erase it by using the left arrow key.



5) Don't worry about making a mistake or voting for the wrong person by accident. When you are sure you have the spelling right, press the "Enter" button on the Write-in keypad and you are done. If you accidentally vote for the wrong candidate by hitting the square next to Fleck's name, an arrow will light up next to his name but the vote isn't recorded yet...just hit the square again and the arrow disappears.



6) Your vote is cast for all offices when you hit the "Cast Vote" button when you are done voting for everyone.



That's it.



I will have hand-out instruction postcards at the polls too.



Have a Happy Halloween. Don't forget to set your clocks back (my least favorite day of the year). See you at the polls!



DRL


























http://www.lwvlv.org/