Welcome KTRH morning news listeners in Houston! Even up here in the Big Apple we say everything is bigger in Texas. Well, perhaps not the skyscrapers. And yet, when it comes to early voting that certainly is true.

Moreover, in 2004 over 2.4 million Texans or nearly 30% of voting eligible population voted early. So far in 2008, over 2 million Texans have voted early, quickly approaching 25% of the vote eligible population – and there are still 2 days of early voting left. By all accounts, Texas’ 2004 record early voting turnout will be shattered this year. Look here at Galveston County turnout numbers and Lubbock turnout, for example. (more…)

Posted in Absentee ballots, Early voting, Election 2008, Election administration, Houston, National Holiday, Texas, WT? in the news, Weekend voting | Comments Off

AUSTIN, TEXAS — I got into NN08 late last night to speak on the Creating Political Community Around Film panel, and to do some vlogging for NPR Sunday Soapbox.

Al Gore just got here. And P.S. — I have no idea why the picture is backwards. I tried to flip it.

* UPDATE 2:15PM CDT: Check out this picture of my panel mates, Wendy Cohen and Tracy Fleischman (not pictured: Jim Gilliam). The panel is in progress right now. Just showed the video of U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, the newest Why Tuesday? Correspondent.

Posted in #NN08, #Netroots, Texas | Comments Off

Will you be at Netroots Nation in Austin, Texas on Saturday? If so, come say hey at the “Creating Political Community Around Film” panel, I’ll be showing some Why Tuesday? vids and sharing our nonpartisan message: our voting system is broken and our elected leaders must do something to fix it.

Here’s the info about my panel.

Here’s the blurb from Netroots about Netroots:

Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Within that campus, we strengthen community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for progressive ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.

Posted in #Netroots, Election Reform, Netroots Nation, Texas | Comments Off

Tuesday night in Houston, Texas the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University held a screening of HBO Films’ RECOUNT, which we discussed here yesterday. The screening reunited the namesakes of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

While this RECOUNT is for fun and profit, the Houston Chronicle reports it’s also a wish of the filmmakers and those involved to spark a discussion about the state of our voting system, much like we try to do.

“There’s still a degree of unfinished business out there when you look at the election system in our country,” Baker said.

Carter said the most important change would be requiring the use of a “paper trail” — receipts of a sort, that would help voters verify that their ballots have been cast as they intended on electronic voting machines. Paper trail equipment has been put to use in some states; Texas officials have resisted it.

Baker said the nation most urgently needs unified voter registration lists and the photo ID requirement. Democrats in the Texas Senate shot down a photo ID proposal last year; this year the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the requirement in Indiana.

Still, Carter said the country has made progress on the issue since 2000, if for no other reason than the commission headed by the two men made recommendations that can still serve as an election reform bible. Baker proudly pointed out that Supreme Court justices mentioned the commission report in some of their opinions on the Indiana case.

For more information about RECOUNT, click here.

Posted in Election 2000, Election 2008, Election Reform, Texas | Comments Off

Friend of Why Tuesday? Noah Kunin of TheUptake.org is in Texas covering the primacaucus, and he’s uncovered something very interesting, if not disturbing. On election eve, the Texas Democratic Party was unable to provide a list of where it does and does not have precinct chairs — the individuals who will run the Texas caucus. (more…)

Posted in Election 2008, Election Reform, Election administration, Friends of WT?, Texas | 1 Comment »

Barack Obama has been declared the winner of the Wisconsin primary, but he’s giving his speech tonight from a packed house in Houston, Texas. The first order of business? Not announcing the Wisconsin results. Obama asked the crowd of what he called 20,000 to pick up a pamphlet on the way out the door to learn how to vote early. In Texas, although the votes are tallied in the primary election and a caucus takes place on March 4th, folks can be casting ballots from today until Election Day. So in Texas, it’s not Tuesday or bust. (more…)

Posted in Early voting, Election 2008, Election Reform, Texas, Why do we vote on Tuesday?, Wisconsin | Comments Off

Of all the wild scenarios spun out for the 2008 presidential campaign, perhaps the least likely was the one we face: a Republican contest that was effectively over the morning after Super Tuesday, and a Democratic cage match that could go on and on and on — all the way to a tumultuous and unpredictable convention in August.

I, for instance, offered an unconventional convention scenario back in July, noting that the uniquely early start (called “front loading”) of the primary process, combined with the compressed schedule, could provide a formula for an extended, pitched battle, with no candidate getting close to a majority after Super Tuesday. But I made it clear that this was more likely to happen on the Republican side, where many plausible candidates were running against one another and none seemed to be getting more than tepid support.

The Democrats, on the other hand, already had a front-running candidate, highly regarded by most Democratic partisans, and an enthusiastic electorate that wanted to pick a nominee and get on with the big battle — ending the Bush era once and for all. (more…)

Posted in Convention, Election 2008, Election Reform, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Primary schedule, Super Delegate, Texas | Comments Off