Southern Kind of Life

Short post today as I have 5 things to do over the course of the day!  But, Durham County had 5,391 more people vote yesterday for a total, so far of 11,655.  See the entire breakdown of how many voted at which locations here.

Yesterday was the first day for One Stop Early Voting in North Carolina and it was immediately evident that people really want to vote.  The previous record for number of voters voting in a single day during early voting in Durham was 4,476, set on October 29, 2004.  Yesterday, Durham county had 6,264 people vote.  Durham Board of Elections Director Mike Ashe has been quoted that he thinks this new record will be broken!  You can keep track of each day’s totals at this link (note: pdf file).

Early voting is especially convenient in North Carolina due to the fact that you can register, or update your registration, and vote on the same day.  With that in mind, it’s useful to review who is eligible to register to vote in NC.  Anyone in NC may register to vote provided they sign a voter decleration attesting that:

• They are a U.S. citizen.
• They have been a resident of North Carolina and the county they are registering in for 30 days before the election.
• They will be at least 18 years old by the next general election.
• They are not registered to vote, nor will they vote in any other county or state.
• If they have been convicted of a felony, their rights of citizenship have been restored.

Note that untruthful answers on any of these questions on your registration form is considered a felony, so make sure you answer truthfully!  In addition, the person registering to vote must provide proof of residency by showing the elections official an appropriate form of identification with the citizen’s current name and current address. Note that if you are registering at a One Stop Early Voting location you are only allowed to vote at the early voting election and not in the next general election. I’m not sure why you’d want to leave and then come back to vote, but since you can’t, it doesn’t matter. In any case an “appropriate form of identification” is defined to be:

• A North Carolina driver’s license with current address
• A utility bill with name and current address
  • A telephone or mobile phone bill
  • An electric or gas bill
  • A cable television bill
  • A water or sewage bill
• A document with name and current address from a local, state, or U.S. government agency, such as:
  • A passport
  • A government-issued photo ID
  • U.S. military ID
  • A license to hunt, fish, own a gun, etc.
  • A property or other tax bill
  • Automotive or vehicle registration
  • Certified documentation of naturalization
  • A public housing or Social Service Agency document
  • A check, invoice, or letter from a government agency
  • A birth certificate
• A student photo ID along with a document from the school showing the student’s name and current address
• A paycheck or paycheck stub from an employer or a W-2 statement
• A bank statement or bank-issued credit card statement

You can find out much more about registering to vote at the State Board of Elections website.  In addition, you can look up your own voting information and get both your polling location and a sample ballot for your district.  So, if you want to vote but are not yet registered, go register and vote!  Or, if you don’t want to fight the crowds on election day (although, apparently 25% of all voters in the U.S. voted early in the 2006 election and that number will almost certainly grow for this election), go vote early.  But, whatever you do, please go vote!

One Stop Early Voting in North Carolina starts today.  In Durham County there are 7 locations you can go to vote early in person.  If you are not yet registered to vote, you can register on the spot and vote right away.  Polling places, in general, will be open from 9am to 5:30pm Monday through Saturday.  This Sunday, the 19th of October,  they will be open from 12pm to 3pm and next Sunday, the 26th of October they will be open from 12pm to 5:30pm.  As we get closer to the election, there are extended hours.  Thursday & Friday, October 30 & 31, the polls will be open from 9am to 7pm.  But, beware, the last day the polls are open for One Stop Early Voting, Saturday, November 1, they are only open from 9am to 1pm.

Election officials are expecting a large turnout but officials are planning on staying open to accomodate everyone in line at the time the polls close.  So, with all the options available to vote early, there really is no excuse for not voting.  If you want to know who the candidates are, there are several locations you can go to find that information:

• WRAL Meet the Candidates page.
• IndyWeek Candidates Questionnaires.
• Durham Herald-Sun Elections page.

In addition, unlike during the primary, there will be Kids Voting in the November election.  Find out more information about that at the Kids Voting Durham webpage.

Finally, if you have any more questions about voting in Durham or North Carolina, see the Durham Board of Elections web page or the State Board of Elections web page.

The City of Durham is having another meeting on the Phase E part of the American Tobacco Trail, this time dealing with the trail itself, not the bridge.  Unfortunately, for me, they’re having it on a Wednesday which means I can’t go.  So, if anyone can go I’d love to hear what they say.  Here is the full email I received about the meeting:

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The City of Durham, Department of Public Works, cordially invites you to attend an informational meeting to view the proposed trail location and characteristics for the planned extension of the American Tobacco Trail from NC54, crossing over I-40, and proceeding south to the Durham/Chatham County line. The trail and not the bridge will be the focus of this meeting.

Maps showing the proposed trail will be on display, and comment sheets will be available for attendees.  Our design professional and City staff will be on hand to answer questions concerning the proposed trail. We will post much of the meeting information on or before October 17 on our website at:  http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/works/project_am_tob_trail.cfm

Date:   Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Time:   7:00 to 9:00 PM
Place:  Durham City Hall, 1st Floor, Council Chambers

Should you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Lee Murphy, PE, PLS, Special Projects Engineer, City of Durham at (919) 560-4326 ext. 230, or lee.murphy@durhamnc.gov.

The Duke University String School will be having the first of their 4 yearly concerts this weekend.  On Saturday, 11 October 2008 in the Baldwin Auditorium in the Biddle Music Building on Duke’s East Campus there will be a concert of the beginner 1 and 2 and intermediate 1 groups at 3pm.  Then, at 4pm there will be a Memorial Concert for Wei-Lee Kuo. Finally at 7pm, there will be a concert of the intermediate 2 group and the DUSS Youth Symphony Orchestra.

My son has been taking violin with the string school this fall and will be performing with the beginner 1 group at 3pm.  In addition, when my son started, I mentioned to his ensemble’s group instructor, Stephanie Swisher, that I played double bass and asked if she needed any help.  While they didn’t need anything with the beginner group, she asked if I’d be willing to help with the intermediate 2 group, so I’ll be playing bass with that group at 7pm.

Anyway, if you’re in Durham tomorrow afternoon and are interested in some classical music, consider stopping by!

Update: When posting late at night, double check all your facts. Baldwin Auditorium, of course, is not in Biddle Music Building.  Oh well, here’s hoping I get it right next time. Their next concert will be December 6.

If you want to vote in the November presidential (and local, of course) election you need to make sure you are registered to vote before the deadline this Friday.  After Friday, the only way for you to be able to vote in NC will be to go through One Stop Early Voting where you can register & vote at the same time.  However, even if you think you are registered, you should double check to make sure you haven’t accidentally been purged from the voter rolls.  While I definitely think Durham BOE Director Mike Ashe would not knowingly purge valid voters from the rolls, mistakes are possible.  That’s why it is important for everyone to check their voter registration status.  You can check your own registration status at the Durham County Board of Elections website.  Besides that, a group called Project Vote 2008 has lists of voters recently purged from voting rolls around the country including Durham County.  You can check their online Google spreadsheet for a list of voters recently purged from the Durham County voter rolls and if you see yourself you can fix things.  Or, if you see a friend on the list let them know to go check their registration.  This is something you definitely want to do soon since if you show up on election day and are not registered you won’t be able to vote normally.  You can almost certainly vote provisionally, however, if you aren’t registered the chances that vote will be counted are slim.  So, act now before time runs out.

Again, the deadline for registering to vote is this Friday, October 10, 2008.  Information on how to register can be found here.

Update: As my friend Lisa mentions, my voter registration lookup link only works in Durham County.  You can look up your NC voter registration information for any county in North Carolina at the State Board of Elections website.

The Durham Board of Elections is once again seeking people to act as election officials, this time for the November 4 election.  From their recruiting ad:

“Join a team of committed community members who help maintain the integrity of the election process. This is a non-partisan sport.”

“Along with celebrity status, you will receive full training and compensation.”

“Registered voters and qualified high school students are eligible to serve.”

“Half-day shifts available.”

“Democracy Loves Help”

“Priceless Info Found 4 Ways…”
Call: 919-560-0690
Visit: 706 W. Corporation St.
Search: www.durhamcountync.gov/departments/elec/
Email: wmay@durhamcountync.gov

Here’s the full PDF with all the information:

Durham Pollworker Recruiting Ad

Having worked as an election official in the 2006 election and then as an election judge in the 2008 primary and runoff I can definitely recommend it.  Last I heard they were expecting record crowds for this election so people are definitely needed.  So, if you are at all interested, give the Durham BOE a call or send them an e-mail and sign up today!

October 4 is this year’s IMBA International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.  We had a lot of fun at this last year (my attempting to learn how to “pedal surge” to make it over large logs and instead flipping my bike over and landing on my back notwithstanding) when the local event was held down at Harris Lake park.  This year the local event will be held at Lake Crabtree County Park in conjuction with the Triangle Fat Tire Festival.  It is being put on by TORC and Trips For Kids Triangle.  I’m not sure yet if I’ll be helping out as a member of the mountain bike patrol but at the very least my son and I plan to be there for the event and if you have kids too I’d recommend you bring them out!

Here’s pictures from last year’s festival:

I just got this in my e-mail.  Apparently, there is a “Drop-in meeting” on the I-40 pedestrian bridge for the American Tobacco Trail on Wednesday, September 17 from 5-7pm.  I won’t be able to go, unfortunately, but it looks like it doesn’t really matter as they’ve provided all the information in the letter.  It looks like the really cool “cable stayed bridge” is going to lose out because they are afraid of trying something new (my opinion).  In either case, it looks like they’re aiming to have the “Bid Phase” complete by December 2009 and construction complete by December 2010.  So, there’s still 2 more years to go before we’ll be able to use this.

Anyway, here’s the link to the letter (in PDF format): ATT Meeting Summary