By Miriam Raftery

March 2, 2020 (San Diego) – If you still have a mail-in ballot but want to change your vote (for instance, if you marked a candidate who later dropped out of the presidential primary, or simply changed your mind on a measure or candidate), there are two ways to change your choice, according to San Diego County Registrar of Voters Michael  Vu.

“If they still have their ballot, they can cross out their initial choice and vote another candidate,” Vu advises voters in an e-mail response to ECM. “If they cross out and select another…and we can determine their intent, we will count the [choice] that they did not cross out. “

There is a second option. Vu says a voter can also “surrender their ballot and receive a replacement ballot. It is important that they go to their assigned precinct in order to receive a replacement ballot that matches the one they have in hand.”

March 1, 2020 (San Diego) – Georgette Gomez, San Diego City Council president, is the California Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate in the 53^rd Congressional District, where Congresswoman Susan Davis is retiring.

Daughter of immigrant parents, if elected, she will be the first LGTBQ Latina in Congress, where she wants to focus on needs of working families and communities. On the City Council, she’s worked to expand affordable housing and protection for renters, as well as implementing the city’s climate action plan.  She holds an environmental degree from San Diego State University and as former associate director of the Environmental Health Coalition, led a campaign to protect children from toxic chemicals in neighborhoods.

The 53^rd Congressional district includes the heart of the city of San Diego as well as La Mesa, Lemon Grove, part of El Cajon, Jamul, Chula Vista, and more.

Hear our interview, originally aired on KNSJ 89.1 FM Radio, by clicking the audio link, or scroll down for highlights.

141 people are being monitored in San Diego County for possible exposure

By Miriam Raftery

March 1, 2020 (San Diego) – Over 85,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide on every continent except Antarctica, causing approximately 3,000 deaths, the World Health Organization reports. The first U.S. death has occurred in Washington state and at least 30 cases have been identified in California, the Los Angeles Times reports. These include cases among people who did not travel overseas recently and it is unknown how they were exposed to the virus.

San Diego County has 141 people  being monitored who may have beene exposed .  Mexico also reported its first case this week.

Now, a broad study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals that the COVID-19 virus has a death rate nearly as high as the 1918 influenza epidemic, which killed 50-100 million people worldwide and infected a third of the world’s population, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The standard flu kills only about 0.1% of those infected. By contrast, the 1918 epidemic had  fatality rate of 2.5%.  As for COVID-19, out of 72,314 cases in China studied, JAMA reports a death rate of 2.3%--but much higher in older people and patients with underlying health conditions. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Tom Steyer, cc by SA

March 1, 2020 (San Diego) – Tom Steyer announced yesterday that he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary, though his name will still appear on California ballots.

The billionaire businessman stated after a third place finish in South Carolina, “I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency.”

Our radio shows from October, November and December 2019 are now online.  For links to listen plus an index with full list of topics and interviews in each show, click here or click the "read more" link and scroll down for audio links below the index. (Audio files may take a few moments to load.)  

Our interviews included Craig Reed from Envision La Mesa, representatives from the U.S. Census, biologist Renee Owens from Wild Zone Conservation on mountain lions, San Diego Foundation representatives on their Opening the Outdoors program, and Susan Neiman, author of Learning from the Germans.

The East County Magazine Show airs Mondays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. on KNSJ, 89.1 FM.  Our shows rerun on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.