This is What Voter Fraud Actually Looks Like

Via The Voting News

Prosecutors are investigating allegations of voter fraud in Little Armenia, part of a Los Angeles City Council district where two candidates are waging a bitter battle for an open seat. According to a spokeswoman for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, prosecutors are trying to determine whether backers of one candidate illegally filled out mail-in ballots for dozens of voters in the Armenian enclave in East Hollywood. The May 21 election will decide who succeeds Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor. In a complaint sent to Lacey’s office, an attorney for candidate John Choi accused backers of Choi’s opponent, Mitch O’Farrell, of “widespread voter fraud and illegal electioneering activities.”

The complaint alleges that O’Farrell campaign workers filled out voters’ ballots for their candidate while telling them they were voting for Sam Kbushyan, a candidate of Armenian descent who ran and lost during the primary election.

Kbushyan and many of his former campaign volunteers are now working on behalf of O’Farrell.

The O’Farrell campaign rebuts the allegations, saying it was Choi workers who filled out and took ballots from voters. “These are Choi people who are doing this,” O’Farrell spokeswoman Renee Nahum said.

Nahum said the campaign plans to file its own complaint with the district attorney that will include testimony from voters who said they gave their ballots to Choi campaign workers who claimed that they were representing Kbushyan.

Election Words

I'd like to demonstrate one of the many things I did not like about my grad school. I was writing a report with a group of my classmates for a big consulting client and in that report I used the terms "first past the post" and "proportional representation." One of my classmates strenuously objected to me using these terms because they were "jargon" and she didn't know what they meant. First, call me my father's daughter, but I thought we went to an ivy league public policy school where at the very least if you are unfamiliar with a term you look it up. Second, I don't want to live in a world where public professionals not only don't know the difference between a first past the post and proportional representation system, but they assume that the people who work at our most prominent international peace and governance organization don't either. (Spoiler alert: those words wound up all over our report.) So lest you fall victim to my particular brand of snobbery and because as someone who gives you advice, I thought you should know, here are some common electoral system terms and their definitions*:

(Absolute) Majority- More than half.

Plurality (Aka Relative Majority)- Used in elections when somebody gets the most of anyone else, but not necessarily more than half.

First Past the Post- (Aka Winner Takes All or Simple Plurality) The candidate(s) with the highest number of votes win(s).

Single Member Legislative District- A district that returns one member to a body (for example Congress) that has multiple members.

Single Seat Plurality- The winner of the one seat in question is the person with the most votes.

Multiple Member First Past the Post- The first number of candidates, in order of highest vote, corresponding to the number of positions to be filled are elected. (If there are six vacancies then the first six candidates with the highest vote are elected.)

Fusion Voting (Aka Electoral Fusion)- two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate.

Proportional Representation- System in which the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received by that group.

Party List Proportional Representation- System in which parties make lists of candidates to be elected, and seats get allocated to each party in proportion to the number of votes the party receives.

Closed List- A party list proportional representation in which the voters effectively vote for party and do not have any influence over in which the candidates who represent them are elected.

Open List- A party list proportional representation in which the voters effectively vote for party and have some influence over the specific candidates who represent them or the order in which they are elected.

Constituency- in this case voting distict (I know, mind blown.)

Preferential Voting/Rank Order Voting (Aka Preferential Voting)- Voters place candidates in order of preference (1st,2nd,3rd...)

Borda Count- Votes are counted by assigning a point value to each place in the hierarchy, and the choice with the largest number of points is selected.

Instant Runoff Voting (Aka Alternative Vote)- Type of preferential voting in which if no candidate gets a majority of votes, the votes voters cast for the candidate that received the smallest number of first preference rankings are redistributed to those voters' second choice and so on until some candidate receives a majority.

Single Transferable Vote- a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat constituencies. Voters have a single vote that is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, as the count proceeds and candidates are either elected or eliminated, is transferred to other candidates according to the voter's stated preferences, in proportion to any surplus or discarded votes.

Supplementary vote- Voters express a first and second choice of candidate only, and, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of first choice votes, all but the two leading candidates are eliminated and the votes of those eliminated redistributed according to their second choice votes to determine the winner.

Range Voting- Voting method for one-seat elections under which voters score each candidate, the scores are added up, and the candidate with the highest score wins.

Bucklin Voting- System in which all votes on all ballots that are above some threshold are counted, and then adjusting that threshold down until a majority is reached.

Exhaustive Ballots- System in which a voter casts a single vote for his or her favorite candidate. If no candidate is supported by an overall majority of votes then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and a further round of voting occurs.

Open Primary- Primary election in which voters can vote in any party primary regardless of their party affiliation.

Closed Primary- People may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Non-affiliated voters cannot participate.

Semi-closed Primary- Registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Unaffiliated voters can vote in any party's primary.

Parallel Voting (Aka Mixed Member Majoritarian)- System in which voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other. For example, in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies and Chamber of Senators some Deputies and Senators are election in first past the post election and some are elected in a proportional representation system.

Plurality at Large Voting (Aka Block Voting or Multiple Non-Transferable Vote)- A non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multi-member electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election. Although multiple winners are elected simultaneously, block voting is not a system for obtaining proportional representation; instead, the usual result is that the largest single group wins every seat by electing a slate of candidates.

Direct Election- A system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person, persons or political party that they desire to see elected (as opposed to voters electing electors who then cast a vote for the office holder.)

*Note that these definitions were crossed referenced with Wikipedia and sometimes ripped or paraphrased therefrom.
** In full disclosure, some of these I did not know before I went to grad school.

Sh*t Non-Campaign People Say

The day after this past general election I got a gchat from one of my best friends from high school. This was our conversation:

Him: Last night was so much fun! My friend had an election watch party at her house and we had the cupcakes with donkeys on them. We stayed up all night partying and when he won it was insane people were crying and dancing and hugging each other, even if they didn't know each other.

Me: That's awesome...you know my candidate didn't win.

Him: Oh, I didn't realize that.

Me: I'm glad you had fun. Why did you have a party? Did you wind up volunteering with the Obama campaign?

Him: No, I was too busy. We were going to have a fundraiser at the law school but I decided it was too much work.

Me: Okay, I gotta go meet my coworkers. I'm glad you had fun.

If you're like me and you work on campaigns, the above conversation made you cringe. It feels like a Highlights Magazine, "Can you spot the mistakes?" I've often teased (and fought with) this friend over his sometimes oblivious behavior, but I also know he is the last person in the world who would intentionally say something hurtful to me. I've been meaning to tackle this issue for a while and last night's loss in conjunction with some recent scandals in New York politics reminded me that it is long overdue. If you have friends or family who do my job or something like it check out these common campaign scenarios for what we do and definitely don't want to hear:

IF YOU'RE NOT SURE HOW IT WENT...
Don't Say...
Did you win? In today's age of google and google alerts, there is virtually no excuse for you not to know the answer to that question. If you are close enough with me to be getting in touch during such an emotional moment, then you are close enough to have learned my candidate's name and find out this information yourself. If the answer to your question is "no," the last thing I want to do is have that disappointing conversation with over and over again while I am still trying to comfort my candidate and my staff and tie up the inevitable loose ends. Even when the answer is yes, it's hurtful that at one of the most important moments of my professional life, you couldn't put in the minimal effort to check the local paper or set up a google alert.

Congratulations! It seems obvious not to congratulate someone until you know whether or not they've won an election, but it happens. I can't tell you how many congratulatory texts I got when we lost last November. I was extremely relieved and proud of our Senate and Presidential victories, and excited for and and proud of my friends who worked on them. I also did feel that I had a personal stake in these races, thanks to the organizers I'd mentored and campaigns for whom I'd volunteered and who read my blog. When I got congratulatory texts that acknowledged my work on these races as well a "better luck next time" in Texas, I was touched. When I got blanket congratulatory texts, I was annoyed mostly because I knew my compatriots who had been working much longer and harder than I had were getting them too. These texts, however well meaning, felt like they were saying, "well but in the grand scheme of things that little Congressional race isn't important." All elections are important especially the ones I work on or I wouldn't work on them. My efforts in Texas were valid, and more importantly my friends' were.

What you can say: (Since you will have looked up the election result...) I just saw that you won! Congratulations! (see below for what to say for a loss.)

IN GENERAL...
On or off a campaign, I can't stand when someone says one of the following sentences:
Someone called/came to my house the other day and I was polite to them because of you. Really? You weren't polite to them because you are a good and decent person? You would be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) how cruel and smug people can be when you're just calling them to ask for their vote. Field organizing can be incredibly draining and degrading, but we do it because we believe passionately in these candidates and causes--candidates and causes that will improve your lives as well as ours. It's pretty disheartening to imply that the only people who are obligated to treat us with respect are people who happen to know someone in the campaign world.

I find those phone calls really annoying. Great. No one asked you. That's what I've chosen to do with my life and you might not like it, but it's a necessary evil of my job. I find flossing really annoying, also homework, legal bills, nutrition advice and any form of artistic angst, but that's not the first thing I say to people I care about when it comes to their jobs, because that would be rude.

Those calls can't possibly do anything. You're right. I've devoted my life to something completely stupid and useless because I love getting chewed out by ignorant strangers on a daily basis. Phone calls work. There are studies to prove it. They probably work on you and you just don't realize it. It is a fact, not a matter of opinion or your individual experience. I don't tell doctors what treatments are effective, or sommeliers what wines go with fish. I'm the expert here, not you and I'm telling you they work. End of discussion.

What you can say: I got a political phone call at the house and it made me think of you. You're amazing to put up with all those rude people.

WHILE HE OR SHE IS ON A CAMPAIGN...
I don't have time to volunteer because... If we ask you to volunteer, that's one thing, but if you're in Ohio and I'm Florida in and you're just trying to assuage your guilt, take it somewhere else. Fundamentally we get that not everyone is going to volunteer on a campaign, I promise we do. On a day-to-day basis, however, the average field organizer spends about four hours straight making phone calls asking people to volunteer and another two hours doing so in the office or at events. It is enervating, humiliating work where people lie to your face and smirk about it. In order to do what it takes to win, we have to temporarily convince ourselves that volunteering on a campaign is the most important thing in the world and that people who don't do it are either ignorant or selfish. We don't want to think of you as "one of those people." When it comes to the issue of friends and family receiving volunteer recruitment calls, it's best to operate on a don't ask don't tell basis.

But you have to have ONE night off to hang out... No, I don't! I wish I did! I don't even have time to shower! I know you miss us, believe me, we miss you too, but it's bad enough to think about what we're missing back home without being made to feel guilty about it. Some things like engagements, break-ups, medical emergencies, deserve our attention and it's on us to be there for you at least via phone call no matter what, but for the most part we are under an enormous amount of pressure and it hurts when the people who we most count on for support don't get that.

What you can say: I miss you, but I am so proud of how hard you're working. I can't wait to do (activity you enjoy together) when you're done!

AFTER HIS OR HER BOSS RESIGNS OR DROPS OUT IN SCANDAL...
Unfortunately, a topic with which I have first hand experience.
What's going on? If I'm in a position to know, I can't tell you.

Did you know? Yep! I packed up my entire life and moved to the middle of nowhere at great peril to my relationships and health to work at less than minimum wage for John Edwards knowing he was a lying bag of garbage and that if he were to get the nomination it would be an irreparable disaster for the Democratic party. No, of course, not! How could you know me and think I would knowingly work for someone who would cheat on his wife while she had cancer, not to mention risk another four years of Republican presidency? I think of all the DON'Ts on this list, this one hurts the most. Really? Really?

I never trusted him. Well aren't we Holly Hindsight? I was wrong. I get it. It's embarrassing enough on its own without other people pointing out how "obvious" it was.

Politicians are all scum. Okay, to some extent, yeah. But I still do this job and so I have to believe that there are good guys out there somewhere. Look, in a democracy we get the leaders we deserve. A lack of faith in politicians and the political system is exactly what I'm fighting against big picture, and exactly why sleazy people get ahead. So while I know this is meant to make me feel better, it doesn't.

What you can say: I have no idea how you must be feeling. I love you and I'm sorry you're going through this.

AFTER A LOSS...
The system is broken. Please see above.

Well what do you expect? It's Texas, South Carolina, etc. I have been guilty of saying this myself. "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown." The thing is a) as a campaign nomad I've already heard enough regional stereotypes to last me a lifetime and b) if we only worked safe races nothing would ever change. Campaign people should be commended for giving it their all in enemy territory, not treated like they've just returned from a fool's errand.

What you can say: I just saw. That's such a bummer. I hope you are proud of all your hard work and celebrating that tonight even though the result blows.

I get it. Campaign people can be narcissistic, one-track-minded pains in the butt. I should know; I am one and I live among them. Please understand though, we live our lives as public commodities all day every day. We take a lot of abuse and we CAN'T fight back because we are representing our cause or candidate. That's why we can be extra-sensitive in the brief interactions where those things are not at stake. The upside is if you can put up with us, we tend to reward you by extending the same passion and dedication we have for campaigns into our personal relationships.

Campaign Love and Mine,
Nancy

Ask An Election Nerd: Frequently Unsanswered Questions

I'm finally done with grad school!!!! I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep until like 8:00 AM and I have been watching episodes of the Nanny on YouTube since I woke up. I haven't been this unproductive in....well, never. I'm never this unproductive. Anyway, I am trying to get through my inbox (which I'm sorry, please keep submitting things, I love to hear from you) and I realized two themes keep coming and I keep deleting them. Please see below.

Why do you hate OFA?
I don't hate OFA! I love OFA! I especially love my amazing friends and followers who have worked for OFA! I am enormously aware of and grateful for the huge contributions both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns made to our field. Plus, you know, the President. What I don't love is when some people who have only ever worked for OFA totally discount the contributions of campaigns prior to 2008 or feel that they are entitled to something because they work/ed for the President. I don't like when former staffers or activists try to apply some of the principles employed by the Obama campaign that are inappropriate to more local races. In most cases, you're not gonna get a Neighborhood Team Leader to give up all of her weekends to work on an Assembly race. I recently posted two articles that were great at acknowledging what the Obama campaign did and didn't do. One is by Bryan Whitaker and one is an interview with Jim Messina.

What are the rules on campaign hookups/locationships?
There are rules? Whenever I think of a "rule" (don't do long distance, don't date someone who works for you...) I always come up with an exception. I know two great campaign couples who broke those rules and are now happily married. Every relationship is different and I can't give you advice without knowing a lot about you or your specific circumstance. I could tell you "don't do it" and save you the heartache, but then you would never have any fun. I also don't like to talk about my own or my friends' relationships on the blog because, you know, people read it. Be professional and treat other people with respect, but those are things you should probably do in or out of a campaign or a relationship.


All this not doing anything today is weirding me out and making me sleepy. Let's talk more tomorrow. Keep sending questions for me not to answer!

Love,
Nancy

Sweet Home Maps and Data

(Karaoke version for your sing along pleasure)

So here's what happened, in case you don't obsessively reload your Twitter feed like I do. One of my followers tweeted "I just got @NGPVAN access again today. It's like coming home." Then I got Sweet Home Alabama stuck in my head and decided a great use of time instead of writing my paper would be to write a Lynyrd Skynyrd parody about VAN access, because you know #good decisions. The rest, as they say, is history. I'm sincerely not sure if I'm proud or ashamed of this one... Turn it up!

Election season is coming
Taking me far from my own kin
I’ve gotta go to where they need me
I’m in a swing state once again!
(Not votin’s a sin)

Well you know I love some VoteBuilder
But the County Chair puts it down
Well, I hope these slacktivists remember
A good field team don't need them around, anyhow

Sweet Home Maps and Data
Turning States Red to Blue
Sweet Home Maps and Data
I Love Logging Into You

Let’s elect a brand new Governor (Blue, blue, blue!)
I’ve gotta do all I can do
So if we lose it will not bother me
Does your flake rate bother you? (Tell me true)

Sweet Home Maps and Data
Turning States Red to Blue
Sweet Home Maps and Data
I Love Logging Into You

(Like comin’ hooooome, Like comin' hooome, hoooome)

You tell me how to hit my numbers
And I’ve been known to make an ask or two
Campaign jobs don’t make me so much
But they’re much easier with you
(And my broworkers too)

Sweet Home Maps and Data
Turning States Red to Blue
Sweet Home Maps and Data
I Love Logging Into You

Sweet home Maps and Data
(Oh sweet home baby)
Turning States Red to Blue
(And the Senate race too)
Sweet Maps and Data
Lordy
VAN, I'm coming home to you
Yea, yea

I've Been Meaning to Talk to You About That

My Quick and Dirty Thoughts on What's Been Happening in Election and Advocacy News

Oh my God you guys, I miss you so much! I seriously think about blogging the way you think about cupcakes when you're on a diet: I can't have it and I want it all the more!!! The good news is operation no-blogging-until-I-finish-finals is working. I have one paper (on the definition of women's political participation as a human right) left, plus a whole bunch of editing. However, the list of things I want to blog about has been stock piling out of control and before they become irrelevant and/or consume me, I wanted to share them with you. Below are some articles and issues I've been collecting along with one or two of my witty and incisive comments each. Hopefully this will tide us all over for the next couple of days. Here we go!

Obama-rama:
Marshal Ganz from the "too good to accept Nancy" Harvard Kennedy school talking about values vs. issues for FOCS the New Organizing Institute. I'm not always a fan of the hippie-dippier aspects of the Obama campaign, but I love this because it highlights the impact and importance of empowering volunteers to take agency not just in the context of the campaign but in their own lives.
DNC Director of technology, Bryan Whitaker, on the role of technology in President Obama's election. I love this article because it gives credence to contributions and advances made from 2004 to 2008 that made the historic use of technology on the 2012 Obama campaign possible.
Jim Messina on what's next. My favorite part of this interview is that he distinguishes between what is an isn't transferable from OFA 2012.
Speaking of technology...my friend posted the Dole Kemp website on his facebook wall recently. I'm sure the Clinton '96 site was equally visually appealing. I believe the term the kids use is LMFAO.

Today in Voter Suppression:
Voter ID bill passes North Carolina house. Booooo!
Nebraska decreases in-person early voting by five days.
Conservative Colorado Group Photoshops Out Minorities In Mailer Opposing Pro-Voting Legislation Wow. Tell me that part again about voter ID laws not being racist?
Trevor Potter of Stephen Colbert/John McCain fame makes the case for electronic voter registration. Yes!
Oregon Secretary of State pushes for automatic voter registration. A thousand times yes!
Florida bill lowers the mandated number of early voting days and hours, expands the number of early voting sights Oh, Florida...
Special interests and conservative Democrats are going after fusion voting and the New York State Working Families party, again. Fusion voting is such a good idea. You know you're doing it right when the real estate lobby hates you. For more info on why I love Fusion Voting and the Working Families Party and what those things are, click here.
And....This.

Women:
People keep asking me what I think of those new Dove commercials. Here is what I think.
Women and organizers are both socialized to say "yes" when someone asks us for something, even at the expense of our own professional priorities. Great piece by friend Cole on the right way to say "no" when someone asks you for a favor.
Lindy West's response to men asking for 'the rules' after President Obama called Kamala Harris a hottie. Is it possible to get naked and roll around in a blog post? Because that's how much I loved this. For the record, I don't think what President Obama did was that bad, but I do understand where the people who do are coming from. It's all about privilege, a topic I've thought a lot about in grad school and intend to explore on this blog going forward. Seriously, read this piece. Lindy West NAILS IT.

Candidates:
Super PAC, Ready for Hillary started galvanizing support and heavily hinting at a Clinton 2016 run. People ask me if I think she'll run all the time and I always say I hope so, but after the way the media treated her in 2008, we sure as s**t don't deserve her.
In a case of art imitating life, the Onion agrees. I thought they were supposed to do satire...
Anthony Weiner is considering a run for mayor. He acted like an idiot, but I still don't think he should have resigned. I also don't think he should run for mayor.
Roll Call reports that the Hawaii Senate race is split along Clinton/Obama lines. It's called a primary, you assholes, it happened in 2008. Find something else real and not baselessly damaging to the Democratic party to report on.
Speaking of Fusion Voting and Working Families Party, did I mention I'm going down to South Carolina to volunteer for Colbert-Busch? I am.
Because her opponent does crazy things like debate cardboard cutouts of Nancy Pelosi.
Oh, and posts the phone numbers of voters who call his office. I'm not gonna say I've never fantasized about doing this, but that's what a GFY list is for.

Advocate from Where You Stand:
Ignore the tone of this article by John Hawkins who once asked me if I was going to "accuse him of patriarchy" after he pointed out that I was the only woman a panel we both sat on. (Well, now I am...) Kid wears shirt with pro-gun slogan on it to school. Kid gets in trouble. Hundreds of classmates wear shirts with pro-gun slogans on them the next day. Good for them. If anything we should be encouraging kids to engage in the process. I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Momsdemandaction.org came up with these moving and provocative ads in response to the absolutely insane failure of the gun control last week. Well, damn.
Everyday Sexism Project launches in the USA. The project gives women a space and a voice to identify the myriad ways that male privilege impacts our lives on a daily basis. I'm already blowing up their twitter feed.

Republican Operatives:
Gingrich campaign worker charged with blackmailing women, dressing up as an elephant. Argh! You're making us look bad!
Former Pawlenty aid supports equal marriage. My friend who tweeted this article editorialized, "If I had a dollar for every Republican staffer or former elected who supports gay marriage..." So, true! It's clear the direction we're going on this issue...now can we just get there?
Because speaking of which...The FEC ruled that same-sex couples can't give to campaigns like straight couples. The FEC's hands were tied. They were just interpreting a shitty, discriminatory law.

And that, my friends, is what I have to say about that. As I signed my email to my volunteers the night before the Iowa caucus, see you in victory!

(Hopefully this goes better...)

Campaign Love And Mine,

Nancy

Watch This!

Hi all! I'm finishing up grad school and I am trying (emphasis on trying) to put all my energy into that so I can graduate and get back to what I love best! That would be working with you guys.

In the meantime, I wanted to share the video above. I am thrilled and surprised that I'm getting more and more questions not just about how to organizer, but how to be. I'm looking forward to summarizing for you both my research in grad school about women in the public sphere as well as sharing what I've learned about myself in the 2 years I've been "out of the game" (and arguably more in it than I've ever been.) I think the talk above is a really required viewing for well, anyone.

Enjoy!