Public Policy Column – October 2013

Voter Information

The 2013 NYS General Election is coming up fast!
It will take place on Tuesday, November 5.

Here are some voter-related events leading up to Election Day:

Voter Registration
Saturday, October 5, 9 AM to 5 PM, Wal-Mart, 601 Frank Sottile Boulevard, Kingston. Volunteers are needed! The actual hours will be determined by the number of volunteers available to cover 2-hour shifts. All materials, tables, chairs, voter instruction guides, and “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) will be provided to all volunteers. Contact: Jean McGarry of the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region (LWV MHR) at jfmcg@hvc.rr.com or 845-336-6622.

Deadlines

Fri., 10/11 – Register in person at the Board of Elections (BOE) or by mail (postmarked by 10/11, received by 10/16)

Tues., 10/29 – Apply for absentee ballot by mail (postmarked by 10/29)

Mon., 11/4 – Apply for absentee ballot in person at the BOE
Deliver ballot by mail (postmarked by 11/4, received by 11/12)

Tues., 11/5 – Deliver ballot in person to the BOE or go to your polling place to vote! (6 AM to 9 PM)

Ulster County BOE web page: http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/elections

For other counties, go to this NYS BOE web page: http://www.elections.ny.gov/CountyBoards.html

LWV Voters Guides
I picked up a batch of LWV Voters Guides, which include information about the six 2013 Ballot Proposals, from fellow AAUW and LWV member Anne Needham for distribution. Please call or email me if you’d like one. Also, check out the LWV’s Electronic Voter Guide (http://www.vote411.org).

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Lobbying Meeting

Friday, October 4, 6 PM

At the home of Lydia and Paul Mellos

RSVP to Lydia: lydiasmitmellos@gmail.com, 845-514-2218, 917-596-9632

We’ll talk about how we will proceed and about lobbying our state and national representatives in government on these issues:

– Autism advocacy

– The budget of the Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
(OPWDD) (http://www.opwdd.ny.gov)

Irene Miller and Lydia Mellos are leading this lobbying program to be put into effect by AAUW Kingston. The suggestion is to meet regularly to learn the skills needed for successful lobbying and to develop issues to be included. Suggested future issues are fracking, educational funding, women’s rights, gun control, and funding for the underprivileged. Come and support our branch with this worthy endeavor.

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Fundraiser for ENJAN Kingston

Please join us at a
Fabulous Fall Foliage Fundraiser
for ENJAN Kingston
at 2 PM on Sunday, October 20
featuring a Piano Concert by Irene Miller
at her home in Palenville

Irene will play selected works by Brahms, Faure,
Ginestera, Lack, Ponce, and Saint-Saens

Light refreshments will be served afterward

Donation: $25 per person

RSVP & directions: Susan H.

About ENJAN
The End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN, pronounced “engine”), is part of a growing national movement to end mass incarceration under the so-called “War on Drugs” that disproportionately targets African Americans and Hispanics. This movement began shortly after the publication of Michelle Alexander’s 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness, which clearly documents the history of the “War on Drugs”.

Using the “War on Drugs” as an anthem, the United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world. We spend far more on prisons than we do on schools. Currently, more than 2 million U.S. citizens are in prison, mostly for non-violent crimes, and over 5 million U.S. citizens are on parole. In other words, we now use incarceration as a racial caste system that robs our fellow citizens of their basic dignity and humanity.

In Dutchess County alone, African Americans account for more than half of all those sentenced each year, despite constituting just 10% of the population. The same can be said for other counties as well.

It is well past the time to stop this terrible injustice. We at ENJAN are working to do just that. We hope you will join us at this piano concert on October 20. Come listen to beautiful music, see friends, make new ones, and learn more about us.

For more information about ENJAN, go to: http://www.enjan.org

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— Susan Holland, susan-holland@usa.net, 845-389-3961

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