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Did citizens lose when Councilman McCann won?
The law in California is "The elections official is required to count the ballot if the voter's signature on the provisional ballot envelope matches the signature on the voter's prior registration form." "Both federal and state law permit any voter who cast a provisional ballot to find out if their ballot was counted and Elections Code section 2142 gives voters the right to go to court in order to compel county elections officials to register them to vote and to count their ballot." "No provisional ballot is counted or precluded from being counted until the elections official goes through the detailed process to determine whether a voter's provisional ballot should be counted. (Elections Code sections 14310-14311, 15350, and 15100-15112.)" "Equally important, every provisional ballot -- whether it is counted or rejected -- and provisional ballot envelope is kept by the the elections official for a minimum of 22 months for every election in which a candidate for federal office is on the ballot. (Elections Code sections 17300-17506.)" The above excerpts are from the Secretary of State information on provisional voting. There is no mention of matching addresses to validate the ballot, only that the signature must match.— March 25, 2016 9:15 a.m.
Did citizens lose when Councilman McCann won?
One of the commenters on this story said *“The fact that poll workers are religiously instructed to lie to anyone out of place, to pacify them with a provisional ballot and the false promise that their vote will still count so long as they haven't voted twice, should be making headlines.”* I have been a poll volunteer for 10 years. I have worked most elections as an assistant precinct inspector. No matter how many times we work the elections, poll workers must take online and in person training before each election. In the past decade, through numerous training sessions and work with various poll workers, I have never been told to “pacify” or “lie” to any voter who was a candidate for (needed) a provisional ballot. We would obviously prefer the voters name was on the roster so it would be an easier transaction. However, some people are new to the area, loose their mail-in ballot or just drop in the closest poll they see. Whether people of color tend to have a higher use of provisional ballots, I cannot attest. We usually tell the voter that they may want to visit their polling place to make sure they get to vote on all the issues in their jurisdiction, but that they can use a provisional ballot if they choose to. Most people that use provisional ballots seem to be busy, time-starved and probably are struggling to balance their work, family and responsibilities and voting is something they want to do but are not savvy about. The provisional ballot comes with a tear-off unique identification number and a phone number of the Registrar of Voters. Both the ballot stub and the peach colored provisional ballot stub are handed to the voter. The voter is told that they can call the ROV office to make sure their vote was counted (after all votes are counted at the ROV). Knowing what I have experienced, I would be shocked to learn the ROV does not count provisional ballots. I would like to know where this commenter came up with information to make such a statement. Though I agree if it is a true statement, backed by facts and witnesses, then it should be headline news. On another note, about 60% of all votes cast in the county are mail-in ballots. That trend is growing. I believe one of the most effective ways to get low-income, transportation challenged and people of color to vote, is to educate and encourage them to use the mail-in ballot. (Many people still call it an "absentee" ballot and that label makes people think it is for a special purpose). Everyone is eligible for voting by ballot, you do not need any special reason to request a mail ballot.— March 24, 2016 9:13 a.m.
City bucks for “twinkle lights”
Now the chewing-gum covered, cigarette littered sidewalks and potholed streets will be visible 24/7.— March 21, 2016 8:29 a.m.
Will Faulconer dare touch Trump's third rail?
"almost 20,000 American-educated degree holders are forced to leave our country to take jobs elsewhere,” said Fletcher at a March 13, 2013, news conference at Qualcomm headquarters." I would like Fletcher to cite his sources. Sounds like he just pulls numbers out of thin air. Unless is his talking about his companies shipment of Americans to India to train and supervise their huge offshore workforce. If you apply for and can't get a job at Qualcomm in San Diego, try applying in India....were Qualcomm is always hiring.— March 15, 2016 9:01 a.m.
Will Faulconer dare touch Trump's third rail?
Throughout the technology industry, when an H-1B is, for lack of a better word, emancipated, he/she (usually he) may found a start-up. When they do they almost exclusively hire other Indians or Chinese. They don't obey employment discrimination laws. But if an American run business were to do the same they would be sued or fined by the government. Another fallacy of the H-1B visa is that the worker is "temporary." That is invariably not the case. Most apply for residency and get it. (H-1B lets these foreigners skip to the front of the line). Then they often use their "special technology skills" to open a restaurant, corner store or perhaps start installing solar panels. In other words, the H-B visa lets the camels nose get under the tent and they spawn a wave of job takeovers. Using the Family Reunification Act, they bring over family (that are usually not as "skilled" or educated). This set forth the pattern of more job competition as these people will soon be in the workforce. Or on welfare. The temporary H-1B worker is anything but temporary.— March 15, 2016 9 a.m.
Will Faulconer dare touch Trump's third rail?
In the beginning it was grapes, then apples, strawberries and the rest of agriculture. Then it was domestic gardening, digging ditches, pouring concrete, masonry, then framing and drywall. Those once good paying construction jobs that were middle class soon became low wage jobs. The narrative from the powers-that-be was that Mexicans were taking jobs that "Americans did not want to do." Then teenage America was under assault. The paper-boys, lawn mowing, fast food serving kids were now competing with adults. Immigrants legal or not, that we have absorbed were now taking the kids jobs. Once upon a time, businesses needed a sushi chef (when it was very new to America), a scientist, a specialist, or other individual with a lot of *experience* is a profession. That is what the H-1B program was designed for. What it has become is a backdoor immigration scheme that is highly abused. Students right out of college are NOT what the H-1B visa were meant to go to. It is highly skilled and experienced individuals. Few people come out of college with the experience, wisdom and knowledge that are superior to the many folks who have already been employed in the respective field for years. I worked in the high technology filed for the past 35 years. I have witnessed first-hand the explosion of various visa schemes which bring over foreign nationals from Asia. I have worked with and supervised these people. My experience is they are no better, no smarter, no more skilled than the American labor pool. In fact many times I had the displeasure of working alongside H-1B visa programmers who had to be trained. I left two companies because I disagreed with their new policy of hiring H-1B's. If Americans want to make America great again, they need to focus on educating Americans again and also stop the bogus narrative that we can't find qualified workers within our shores. They are here.— March 15, 2016 8:47 a.m.
Sushi the size of a burro
Outstanding Ian. This review is out of the park.— March 14, 2016 10:38 p.m.
Judgerella
I love it!— March 9, 2016 10:31 p.m.
Big Khosla is Watching
He's an H-1B advocate. Deep inside he believes American are stupid and that Indians are superior. If you think that is racist, then just watch *his* actions. He publicly speaks ill of American engineers and how they "can't keep up." His "diversity efforts" are aimed at bringing over more foreign students and more foreign engineers. Our universities have been hijacked by that agenda because it invariably leads to collecting higher tuition which means more in the pot for the administrators to share. I consider people like Khosla traitors. If private universities want his kind of "vision" that's their business. But when it comes to a pubic university where the goal is educating the children of the state, the taxpayers, he doesn't fit in. I reason that almost everything he does is a conflict of interest to the goal of our public education system when he hijacks it for his personal agenda. Why do e even permit our public university system to accept foreign students when we have a narrative that says America doesn't have enough engineers? Yet American students who apply are not accepted because they do not score as high as the foreign applicants. If the public universities are going to operate they way, perhaps they should all be privatized.— March 8, 2016 7:39 a.m.
Lawyer sues Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Unless Alaburda's lawyer is pro bono, she will lose or the case will stall and get dismissed. Since it isn't class action, it doesn't offer a good reward. If an individual is suing, they have to pay. When you are David suing Goliath it usually works like this. You file a complaint...they respond... you spend a dollar... they spend 10 dollars.... Whoever runs out of money first loses. Oh, and never ask a low-ball figure like "$125,000"... ask for the moon.— March 7, 2016 9:22 p.m.