Because This Is America!
Weekly News, Updates, and Events
We As Democrats Believe:
"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
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NEWS
Resources For Employees and Small Businesses Affected By Covid
Find information about Unemployment Compensation from the NC Department of Commerce here. More information from Port City Daily here.
Find information about Small Business Administration loans here.
How Will Voting Work In Time Of Covid?
This year's vote will be different. Conducting it with business as usual is unthinkable. We know the Coronavirus will still be with us. Anthony Fauci tells us there will not yet have a vaccine. If we are lucky, the number of new infections will be much reduced, but social distancing will still be necessary to avoid spreading infection.
The traditional method of in-person voting is unthinkable. Crowded polling places staffed by Senior Citizens won't work. Voting by Mail is the obvious solution. The question now is whether state and local governments can increase their capacity to do so without creating administrative nightmares.
The Washington Monthly recently published an informative article entitled How Not to Screw Up the Coming Vote-by-Mail Elections. In it, the Monthly’s editor in chief Paul Glastris and digital editor Eric Cortellessa spoke to Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute. McReynolds urged state and local governments to begin to prepare now for massive increases in voting by mail. The challenges include reallocating staffing, equipment and printing and changing public messaging. For the full Washington Monthly article click here.
What does that mean for New Hanover County? In 2016 about 110,000 voted in the Presidential election. Less than 5,000 of those were votes by mail. How many will vote by mail in 2020 - 55,000? 110,00? What will it take to process ballot requests? What will it require to get the ballots in the mail? How will they be counted? What kind of in-person voting will be allowed, if any, and how can it be done safely? Our elections officials need to plan for this change now, so that the election doesn't look like our country's response to the coronavirus - too little and too late.
Unfortunately, Voting by Mail is not as easy as it could be. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger has already signaled that he opposes at least some proposed legislation to make online voting easier. But that doesn't prevent the state and local Boards of Elections from preparing for a higher volume of ballots by mail or an education campaign to help people through the process.
What You Can Do To Help: There are things you can do right now to help the Board of Elections prepare for this change. First, you can Apply Now for an absentee by mail ballot to avoid the crush in October. I have confirmed that our elections staff is accepting ballot requests now. To request a ballot, fill out the request form here, then print it out and mail it to our county Board of Elections. If you need to register to vote, or change your registration to your new address, you can now do that online if you have a drivers license or DMV-issued ID. To register online, click here. Do it now to do your part.
Pressure Mounts as DOJ and SEC Examine Burr's Coronavirus Profiteering
(From NCDP) Last week, CNN reported that the FBI has now reached out to Senator Richard Burr about his stock market sell-off. These actions are part of a new probe from the Justice Department in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission into his pandemic profiteering. This is because about a month ago, after receiving intelligence briefings on the coronavirus, Senator Burr warned a group of donors behind closed doors that the virus was “much more aggressive than anything we have seen in recent history.” In public, he struck a different tone, endangering his constituents by downplaying the severity of the epidemic. Burr used his access to non-public information to profit by selling up to $1.7 million of stock just before the market crashed.
But worse, in a sign of the seriousness of the probe Burr has hired Alice Fisher, a former DOJ Assistant Attorney General under George W. Bush, to represent him. Pressure continues to build in-state for Senator Burr to resign. A Greensboro News & Record column blasted Burr, saying, “When the going gets tough Burr often seems to high-tail it for the nearest window.”
The state’s largest paper said Burr “has not provided adequate answers” about his pandemic profiteering, and wrote that, “At the moment we needed him most, Richard Burr was thinking mostly about himself. One week later, that hasn’t changed.”
New Hanover County Volunteers Helping with Coronavirus Protective Gear
As the threat of health care workers possibly having to care for COVID19 patients without adequate personal protection equipment looms ever nearer, local volunteers are stepping up to help fill in the gaps. The group "Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies - Cape Fear" is following the lead of similar Facebook groups nationwide to provide supplies for medical professionals. Kyle Horton, a physician and candidate for New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, said online last month that the group seeks to bring together medical personnel in need of supplies and volunteers willing and able to supply them. Others interested in helping out can check out the group's
Facebook page.
The group's Facebook page includes information about sewing face masks and creating plastic face shields using 3-D printing. Kyle Horton will talk about the effort on Monday as part of the New Hanover County Democratic Party's weekly Virtual Happy Hour. Details below.
EVENTS
NHCDP Virtual Happy Hour -- April 6
When: Monday, April 6, 7 p.m.
Where: Zoom
Today's happy hour will feature physician and candidate Kyle Horton, who will talk about the Open Source Covid19 Medical Supplies group.
For those who were on the call last week we are continuing to work to improve the experience for participants. Lani Hashimoto offered to be a co-host behind the scenes, which will reduce the awkward pauses. Also we have locked down some aspects of the meeting to enhance security.
Our goal is to continue to build participation during this period when in-person meetings are impossible. On April 20th we expect to hold a Town Hall to welcome all three of the Democratic Supreme Court Justices who are running for reelection in 2020.
To join this week's Happy Hour from your laptop or iPad (recommended) click here: [link removed]
You can also click that link on a Desktop or smartphone if you don't have a laptop or iPad, but the video may not work well.
To connect by phone (audio only):
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,321373830# US (New York)
Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 321 373 830
If you need help logging in to the Virtual Happy Hour, we recommend that you start at 6:30, and we will have two volunteers standing by to help you get in: Jim Fleagle at (919) 426-3355 and Stephanie Fetzer at (704) 309-3918. Learning how to use this technology is important because it is how we will be holding meetings going forward, including the County Convention.
NHCDP Virtual Happy Hour -- April 13th
When: Monday, April 13th, 7 p.m.
Where: Zoom
How To Support Democratic Candidates Using Social Media -- April 14
When: Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. (Signups start at 5:45 p.m.)
Where: Zoom
The Leslie Cohen campaign will host an event: Learn How to Help Our Democratic Candidates on Social Media! Organizers will share tips and tricks that can increase our reach and engage more voters using social media. All technical levels welcome. Leslie is a candidate for County Commissioner.
Sign up and immediately receive a link to join the Zoom meeting on Tuesday, April 14. The meeting will open at 5:45 PM and start at 6:00 PM to give everyone time to access the meeting. Sign up here.
NHCDP Supreme Court Town Hall -- April 20th
When: Monday, April 20th, 7 p.m.
Where: Zoom
All three of the Democratic Justices running for re-election in 2020 will join us on this call: Chief Justice Cherie Beasley, Justice Mark Davis, and Justice Julie Inman. The Justices are asking us to submit questions in advance. If you have a question, please click here to send it to us.
New Hanover County Democratic Party Convention -- April 25
When: Saturday, April 25 (tentative)
Where: Online
7th Congressional District Convention -- May 16
When: Saturday, May 16 (tentative)
Where: Online
State Convention -- June 6
When: Saturday June 6
Where: TBD
We need to elect At-Large delegates to the Democratic National Convention at this meeting. For details about becoming a Delegate, click here. We will be in touch about plans for the convention.
Best,
Richard Poole, Chair
News Content by James Cummings
If you have any announcements, comments, questions or concerns regarding this email series, please contact the Editor here.
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| Paid for by the New Hanover County Democratic Party |
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Mailing Address:
NHCDP
PO Box 3036
Wilmington, NC 28406
Office Address:
5041 New Centre Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
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