Don't let the vampire Count My Vote suck you dry

Protect Our Neighborhood Elections, bringing sunlight (and wooden stakes) to Count "My Vote".

Mr. "My Vote" is a lobbyist and a paid political consultant who has turned into a vampire wanting to suck on taxpayers $$. Count "My Vote" will cost taxpayers almost $1 Million and then again almost $1 Million every 2 years.

Count "My Vote" will take away your neighborhood's current ability to help decide who is on the ballot, creating a primary election system with unlimited candidates paying media BIG money to win your vote.

We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, the wealthy or the famous. This is a good thing, and should be protected. Don't let Count "My Vote" suck on your money or your your neighborhood's voice.

To help bring sunlight to Count "My Vote", sign up and donate at:
http://www.neighborhoodelection.org/

Neighborhood Elections

Neighborhood Elections allow candidates who are not famous or wealthy to run for office. Utah chooses candidates based on ideas & strong community values, while other states choose their candidates based on who has spent the most money to reach people with sound-bites, talking points and buzzwords.

Neighborhood Elections ensure that the names on the November ballot have been carefully and fully vetted by elected neighbors that we trust; not by big money special interests.

 Neighborhood Elections have added many civic minded people to the grassroots spirit for which Utah is known. Often these people later become candidates themselves for everything from City Council and School boards to US Congress and Governor.

Neighborhood Elections ensure that our elected officials are held accountable by individual citizens and not special interests. Only in Utah can we find a US Senator in a person’s living room answering questions from everyday people like your elected neighborhood representatives.

Neighborhood Elections force candidates to pay attention to rural areas of Utah. Direct primaries encourage candidates to ignore rural areas and communicate only by paid advertising. A direct primary would create fly-over areas of Utah that will rarely get to meet their candidates face to face. Our Neighborhood Elections benefit everyone in your area, whether they are registered with a party or not. Losing the voice of rural Utah with a direct primary would change our state forever.
Neighborhood Elections ensure that our elected officials are held accountable by individual citizens and not special interests. Only in Utah can we find a US Senator in a person’s living room answering questions from everyday people like your elected neighborhood representatives.

Count My Vote or Swipe my Vote

By state law, the Legislators in each of the counties represented as well as the county commissioners, etc. are to be invited to attend the public meeting for the Count My Vote initiative.

The Count My Vote group has scheduled the two meetings representing the Bear River region - Box Elder, Cache or Rich County along with the Mountain region - Summit, Utah or Wasatch County during monthly Legislature Interim Session.

This month the Legislature Interim Session includes a special session called by the Governor of Utah to fund the National Parks staying open, keeping our rural economies alive and also to provide funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

The Count My Vote has complained that not everyone can attend their neighborhood elections, and so they have scheduled 4 of their 7 public statewide meetings at noon during the week with 2 of those during a Special Session of the Legislature.

They also scheduled 2 of the required regional public meetings during UEA, so they don't seem to want the UEA teachers or their invited parents to attend their Count My Vote public meetings.

http://www.elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Initiatives/Notice%20of%20Public%20Hearings.pdf

Update2: It appears the meetings are not cancelled.

Update:
It appears they have seen the light and cancelled the the notice of the 7 public meetings.

http://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/notice/183017.html

Do you like Sen. Mike Lee

Whether you like Sen. Mike Lee or not you should consider the following. The delegates almost eliminated him at convention.

re: Sen. Bennett in 2010. He was not in the top 2 coming out of convention. In fact the more moderate  of the two, Tim Bridgewater was selected by 57% of the delegates in the last round of voting by the delegates. If he had received 60% Tim Bridgewater would have been the party nominee and Mike Lee would have been eliminated.

Sen. Bennett endorsed Tim Bridgewater during the primary, but with voters ticked at TARP and ObamaCare, they went with Mike Lee.

Sen. Mike Lee was the party nominee after the primary

The Neighborhood Election and Convention system in Utah is the best way to make sure a grassroots process can win over large amounts of money. It is the only way someone with $100,000 can go against someone with $2 million in election funds.

We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, the wealthy or the famous. This is a good thing, and should be preserved.

At only one time for 10 years in Utah’s history did the state depart from the Neighborhood Election, Caucus and Convention System. In 1937, a powerful democratic state senator convinced enough of the legislature to switch to an open primary. He had had two losses, a US Senate race and also for governor, because the majority of the convention delegates disagreed with his legislative voting record. But he was well known and had money.

Many at the time felt like an open primary was his ticket to the governorship, and he did win. But the change in the system only lasted for a decade. After public and media disillusionment, and even worse voter turnout, Utah restored the Caucus and Convention System. Why go back?

Our current problem with voter turnout is it has not kept up with the population increases. The voter turnout keeps going up but not as fast as the population. Some of that is the younger voters, where Utah has a larger percentage of them and they aren't, as a group, as involved. We need to educate those moving in and not understanding our system.

Many citizens who attend their neighborhood elections and caucus meeting become interested in politics and get involved in their communities, the state and the nation. They meet and help candidates become elected. Some then later become candidates. This should be encouraged through education.

The system and the experience attending the meetings can always be improved, but the “Count My Vote” initiative isn't the way to do it. Any changes to the system the political parties use to determine their nominees should be determined by the political parties. 

Why Neighborhood Elections in Utah

The purpose of our current neighborhood election system is for parties to nominate their best candidates and not necessarily their richest ones. It provides an opportunity for the average voter to help decide their party's nominee (along with their party officers, platform, constitution and bylaws). We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, the wealthy or the famous. This is a good thing, and should be preserved.

Changes to the 2014 Utah Republican Neighborhood Election Meeting

As you know from 2008 to 2010 neighborhood election meeting attendance doubled. From 2010 to 2012, meeting attendance doubled again. There is hope that in 2014, it will double again and 250,000 will attend. I know that The State GOP has a committee that is working to make sure we don't have the same growth problems for 2014 and that the system can handle the volume of those interested and still allow time to meet candidates and ask questions.

New proposals for 2014 include a better system for check in, including optional preregistration. The ability to optionally pre-file to run to represent your neighbors as well. The meeting will be designed to last for 2 hrs. or less, from 7pm to 9pm. There will be a pre-meeting from 6pm to 7pm to allow you to personally meet candidates to represent your neighborhood that have decided to run and for you to ask one on one questions. Even with large groups, changes to make sure members can agree on questions to ask neighborhood representative candidates with more time to hear from them.

I hope you will come again in 2014 and make the meeting better.

[Update] Can't come that night? CMV has totally ignored and refuses to even admit that the Utah GOP has Same Day Ballots for 2014, which solves the mom with the sick kids or the firefighter that had to work or the military/mission voters.
See: http://fairelectionsutah.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-same-day-ballot-for-neighborhood.html 

 

A Resolution to increase Voter Participation and defend the Utah Neighborhood Election, Caucus and Convention Candidate Nomination Process

The following passed the Utah Republican State Central Committee on September 21, 2013 with none of the members voting against it.
 ------
A Resolution to increase Voter Participation and defend the Utah Neighborhood Election,
Caucus and Convention Candidate Nomination Process

We call upon Citizens of Utah , the Utah Legislature, and Political Parties in Utah to protect the
Utah Neighborhood Election, Caucus and Convention Candidate Nomination Process.

We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, the wealthy or the famous. This is a
good thing, and should be preserved.


The Neighborhood Election and Convention system in Utah is the best way to make sure a
grassroots process can win over large amounts of money. It is the only way someone with
$100,000 can go against someone with $2 million in election funds.

We want neighbors discussing the best candidates and finding ways to improve this state and
the nation. If the system is changed, we would be dropping off votes, but not meeting and
discussing candidates and issues. That is what is wrong with Washington, D.C. They don’t listen
to each other in a meeting. They watch from their offices. We need to change that, not
perpetuate it.

We already have a "bypass" system, filing as an unaffiliated candidate. A candidate can go
straight to the general election ballot. Someone who doesn't think they can win if vetted by
average citizens asking one on one questions can still run and spend their money. Why should
they be a political party nominee if they are going to bypass their political party?

At only one time for 10 years in Utah’s history did the state depart from the Neighborhood
Election, Caucus and Convention System. In 1937, a powerful democratic state senator
convinced enough of the legislature to switch to an open primary. He had had two losses, a US
Senate race and also for governor, because the majority of the convention delegates disagreed
with his legislative voting record. But he was well known and had money.

Many at the time felt like an open primary was his ticket to the governorship, and he did win. But
the change in the system only lasted for a decade. After public and media disillusionment, and
even worse voter turnout, Utah restored the Caucus and Convention System. Why go back?

Our current problem with voter turnout is it has not kept up with the population increases. The
voter turnout keeps going up but not as fast as the population. Some of that is the younger
voters, where Utah has a larger percentage of them and they aren't, as a group, as involved.
We need to educate those moving in and not understanding our system.

Many citizens who attend their neighborhood elections and caucus meeting become interested
in politics and get involved in their communities, the state and the nation. They meet and help
candidates become elected. Some then later become candidates. This should be encouraged
through education.

The system and the experience attending the meetings can always be improved, but the “Count
My Vote” initiative isn't the way to do it. Any changes to the system the political parties use to
determine their nominees should be determined by the political parties.

Keep Fair Elections in Utah. Reject the Count My Vote initiative.

Submitted by Fred C. Cox, Salt Lake County

http://www.1888932-2946.ws/ComTool6.0/ckfinder/userfiles/files/A%20Resolution%20to%20increase%20Voter%20Participation%20and%20defend.pdf