Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Elections

REPORTS: Executive & Full Committee Meetings (11/27/2023)

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The Executive Committee met and, after a few minutes of discussion, approved January 6, 2pm as the date and time for the biennial Reorganizational Mass Meeting (location to be announced soon). That meeting adjourned immediately and the Full Committee meeting began, with these highlights:

  • Jim Nix’s “after-action report” on the 2023 election (see below).
  • Brainstorming about 2024 (e.g. how to reach younger voters, who has announced or may announce soon as a candidate to run against Bob Good, Republicans outstaffing us at polling locations on Election Day and Early Voting).
  • Every two years, in accordance with overarching DPVA rules and our bylaws, we elect new officers. This is happening on Saturday, January 6, at 2:00pm (location TBA). See above for more on this important function, but now’s the time to start considering what role you want to play in defending democracy in 2024!
  • Fifth District report by Erin Monaghan: determined Democrats from each county and city in the Fifth gathered in Lynchburg at the district-wide 9/30 Extravaganza to make new friends and honor community contributors from the District. Senator Creigh Deeds and former congressional candidate Dr. Cameron Webb were speakers, and former Congressional candidate Josh Throneburg gave the evening’s invocation and dinner blessing. Charlottesville was well-represented! The Charlottesville community contributor honored was Leah Puryear (nominated by Erin). Erin brought back for Leah a certificate of recognition and small token of the Fifth District Committee’s gratitude and esteem for her career of service to the youth of Charlottesville, and to the entire city as an appointed City Council member.
  • Albemarle Dems’ representative Madison Cummings thanked the many Cville Dems who (1) came out to their pre-election canvassing event featuring Senator Warner and (2) helped in various ways get Allison Spillman and other County candidates elected.There will not be a December meeting, so the next meeting will be the 1/6 biennial Reorganizational Mass Meeting.

Post-Election Summary Data from the Electoral Board

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Jim Nix was kind enough to provide this data about the November 2023 election and a write-up from his presentation at our 11/27 meeting:

Spreadsheet screenshot showing each precinct and the percentages of registered voters and when they votedSpreadsheet screenshot showing each precinct and the percentages of registered voters and when they voted

Turnout for this election was much higher than expected at 41% of active registered voters. Early voting was slow until the final week before the election but ended up almost the same as in the June primary when Election Day voting, and Early Voting were both around 4000.

The chief election officials at each precinct report turnout at 9am, 1pm, and 4pm, and experience has shown that the city-wide total at the 9am report is generally 20% of the turnout for the day with 50% voting by 1pm. We were expecting 800 by 9am, and when that report was nearly 1400, we knew that we needed to print additional ballots.

Another surprise was the high volume of same-day registrations. There were 771 provisional ballots cast, nearly all of them for same-day registration. Of these, 759 were approved, surprisingly more than the 673 in Albemarle County. Only 6 were rejected for being in the wrong precinct, a big improvement over last November when, in the first election with this option, there were 28 out of 950.

Voter registration has declined since the last presidential election, falling from over 33,000 to little more than 30,000 active voters. Registration normally peaks in Presidential election years, declining as voters move and students graduate. Voter registration must be a high priority this coming year.

With a Democratic majority in both houses of the General Assembly, no significant changes in election law are expected for the 2024 elections. There will be three elections next year: a Presidential primary March 5, a U.S. House and Senate primary June 18, and the Presidential general election November 5. Early voting in the Presidential primary will begin on January 19.

We need to recruit additional election officials, especially for the November general election. Republicans are in especially short supply, and we are required by law to ensure that both parties are represented among the election workers at each precinct.

Trump and Republicans Continue Embrace of Fascism and Autocracy

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Two concentration camp guards, dressed in gray uniforms reminiscent of World War II German soldiers, are at Trump Camp #74695 guarding hundreds of people imprisoned behind a barbed wire fence. One guard says to the other "This camp's for all the vermin who compared The Boss to Hitler"

  • “Former president Donald Trump has crossed a red line into championing what we’d recognize as full-flung fascism if it came from the mouth of a foreign leader. It demonstrates just how inured we’ve become to Trump’s despicable despotic rhetoric that he’s not ostracized or treated like a renegade to the US Constitution and American democracy. Instead, he remains the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.” Boston Globe, 11/14/23
  • “It’s now clearer than ever that Trump, if elected, will use the federal government to go after his political rivals and critics, even deploying the military toward that end. His allies are hatching plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on day one. The US then “would resemble a banana republic”, a University of Virginia law professor [Ed– Saikrishna Prakash] told the Washington Post when it revealed these schemes. Almost as troubling, two New York Times stories outlined Trump’s autocratic plans to put loyal lawyers in key posts and limit the independence of federal agencies. The press generally is not doing an adequate job of communicating those realities.” The Guardian, 11/09/23
  • “In Ohio, after voters on Tuesday approved an amendment to the state constitution protecting abortion rights, Republicans are calling the amendment “ambiguous” and trying to remove it from the jurisdiction of the courts. They want to make the legislature—which they dominate thanks to gerrymandering—the only body that can decide what the measure means. They are openly trying to override the decision of the voters. In Washington, Republicans have empowered Christian extremist Mike Johnson (R-LA) to lead the House of Representatives as speaker, and today we learned that outside his office he displays a flag associated with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) network that wants to place the United States government under the control of right-wing Christians.” Prof. Heather Cox Richardson, 11/10/2023

Kudos to the Voter Protection Team!

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graphic headlined "Voting in Virginia is Protected" listing some of the protections voters have

Jeremy Jones and his Voter Protection Team did a great job making sure voters in our heavily Democratic districts were able to cast their ballots from sunup to sundown. Having fewer competitive local races than in most other surrounding areas, members of our C’ville-based team were able to help out in Goochland, Fluvanna, and Henrico. We’re already collecting our learnings from these experiences to make sure we’re even more effective in 2024.

If you might be willing to get involved in these very important voter empowerment efforts, or have any questions, please reach out to Jeremy: hijeremyjones@gmail.com .

REPORT: Senator Mark Warner’s 10/28 GOTV Visit

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Senator Mark Warner speaking to a crowd of Charlottesville and Albemarle County Dems on Sunday October 28 2023 at a Pen Park get-out-the-vote pre-canvass lunchLast weekend the Albemarle Dems hosted a Sunday pre-canvass get-out-the-vote (GOTV) event at Pen Park with Sen. Mark Warner as guest speaker. The Senator was in fine form, flagging the many ways that Democratic policies over the past few years have benefitted Virginians:

  • Preserving abortion and reproductive rights
  • Infrastructure improvements under Biden (massive job-creating investments)
  • Internet access for more people
  • Efforts to address climate change and Environmental protection
  • Democracy and rule of law (our election systems and Justice Dept withstood Trump’s/Republicans’ lawlessness)

All this progress (and more!) disappears if we lose our razor-thin majority in the Senate; Creigh Deeds’ seat is critical!

Roughly 90 Dems came out to hear his inspiring remarks; they asked questions, took pictures, and then went out to hit lots of doors in the canvass afterwards. Buoyed by the nice weather and provided lunch, spirits and energy were high! Thank you Albemarle Dems chair Karen Combs for organizing this great gathering.

 

Crowd of Charlottesville and Albemarle County Dems on Sunday October 28 2023 listening to Senator Mark Warner at a Pen Park get-out-the-vote pre-canvass lunch