Early Voting – Part I
Thanks to a sweeping set of election reforms, Illinois voters will be able to cast ballots in the upcoming March 21 primary between Feb. 27 and March 16. This is a change. Previously, you needed a reason to vote early or cast an absentee ballot; for example if you were going to be out of town. With these reforms, you will be able to vote early for your own convenience. Experience in other states suggests that a large number of people will take advantage and do this. There are a number of implications, and I certainly don’t know all the details yet. Some of the things to watch out for:
I’m sure there will be much more to say about these changes, and I’ll pass along information when I get it.
Cegelis Watch
In 2004, Christine Cegelis fought the good fight against Henry Hyde in Illinios’ 6th Congressional District. In next year’s election, she is running again and she is running hard. Other Democrats are also interested. Peter O’Malley planned a campaign, but was not effective at fundraising. College of DuPage Professor Lindy Scott is also running for the nomination in District 6. There are rumors that the Cook County Democratic Party is looking for a “high profile” candidate. Last year, I saw Christine Cegelis energize the party in a way that hasn’t been done by a candidate for a long time, and I think she deserves a shot against probable opponent Peter Roskam. There are not often primary battles in the Democratic Party of DuPage County, so even though this is just to the east of Warrenville, I will probably follow the race closely. In Christine’s own words, she is a product of the American Dream: “My grandparents came from Lithuania and never learned to read or write in English. But my grandfather was able to get a union job in the steel mills, where he worked for 50 years. That union job was his opportunity to work hard to support his wife and 7 kids. Life wasn't easy though, especially during the Depression. Several of the older children like my dad had to drop out of high school to work. But in addition to hardship he had opportunity. He found work as a heavy-equipment mechanic and eventually started his own shop. I grew up working in the family business. And several of us worked our way through college. My sister is a nurse. My brothers went into the police force, the Navy, and our family business. I paid for college by working as a hotel clerk. After I graduated, my new employer trained me as a computer programmer. In those days, there were no degrees in data processing. So employers were willing to train employees like me who wanted to learn this new skill. What I learned helped me build a career in the IT industry, working for major companies and starting my own consulting business here in Illinois—committed to giving my sons a better life.”
Register to Vote
In Illinois, you only need to register once from your current address. But if you have not registered, you need to do it 30 days before an election. As a result of a new law, committeeman and volunteer registrars can now take the registration of any qualified Illinois resident within the state. If you wish to contact a democratic committeeman registrar, contact register@dupagedemocrats.org
Holiday Party for the Democratic Party of DuPage County
An annual get together of DuPage Democrats will take place Wednesday, November 30th at the Democratic Office - 7-9PM. Holiday treats and drinks will be served. This is a nice time to meet fellow Democrats, meet some of the candidates, Paul Mangieri, candidate for IL State Treasurer will be attending, and have an enjoyable evening before the Holiday rush starts. This is also the time for committeeman candidates to bring in their petitions to have them notarized.
White Sox Fans
DuPage Democratic Chairman Gayl Ferraro is a White Sox Fan. Her grandfather actually played for the White Sox in the early 20th Century. So it was no surprise when the October meeting of the DuPage County Central Committee was cancelled. Committee meetings are usually the 4th Wednesday of every month at the Democratic Party Headquarters in Lombard. However, October 26th happened to be the night of the 4th game of the World Series. Gayl happened to be in Houston. (No surprise there!) So she polled the officers and there was a unanimous vote to postpone the meeting.
Good News from Naperville
Naperville Township Democratic Chairman Rick Klau and his wife Robin are the proud parents of a new baby girl! Congratulations to them. Last year, Naperville Township chairman Tina Beaird had twins. Joe Naper was a Democrat, so we are well on our way to becoming the majority party there again!
Why I hate Bill Gates – Part I
Actually, I admire Bill Gates. But sometimes Microsoft products are exceedingly frustrating. This column is written in Word. When I read the first column in Warrenville Today, I noticed that some mentions of web sites were underlined. This reflects the fact that Microsoft Word tries to make my web addresses into links. When I saw the links, I put my finger down on the newspaper, and nothing happened. You can be sure that I will mention many web pages in future columns. Maybe I’ll figure out how to remove the underlining and maybe not. But I guarantee that I’ll have future complaints about Microsoft.
Upcoming Events
Many events of interest to Warrenville and DuPage County Democrats can be found at http://www.dupagedemocrats.org/dupagenews.html Send information about events that aren’t listed to webmaster@dupagedemocrats.org
Feedback
It is welcomed and appreciated maurygoodman@dupagedemocrats.org