CITY, COUNTY SEE SHIFTS TOWARD DEMOCRATIC COLUMN - OCT. 20 DEADLINE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION

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Countywide,
new voter registrations have been running ten to one Democratic over Republican
for the past several months, even in traditionally “red” conservative
areas including Santee and El Cajon. 

According to an October 1, 2008 report issued by the San Diego County Registrar
of Voters, Democrats now outnumber Republicans by 249,338 to 189,012 in the
City of San Diego, while a whopping 151,659 voters are listed as decline-to-state
(DTS) party affiliation.  Whether the latter trend reflects dissatisfaction
or merely independent thinking is unclear, though nationwide polls have found
DTS voters trending Democratic. A small percentage of local voters belong to
other parties including Libertarian, Green, American Independent, and Peace
and Freedom.

La Mesa recently flipped to a Democratic majority (11,576 to 10,965) with
6,169 DTS voters.  Lemon Grove has a solid 5,259 to 3,785 Democratic majority.  The
Republicans remain the majority party in El Cajon, but the lead has thinned
with 15,460 Republicans, 12,737 and 7,514 DTS.  Santee, Poway and Escondido
remain Republican strongholds, however. 

Unincorporated areas of San Diego County remain heavily Republican by a nearly
two-to-one margin (112,698 Republicans, 63,815 Democrats, and 44,476 decline
to state.)  The 52nd Congressional district, which encompasses most of
East County,  has a roughly 3-to-2 Republican to Democratic registration
advantage (150,618 Republicans, 106,767 Democrats, 70,888 DTS), though the
adjacent 51st seat held by Bob Filner (which includes the Southern portion
of East County and the South Bay) has a hefty 104,036 to 62,212 Democrat-over-Republican
registration.

October 20 is the last day to register to vote in the November 4 election.  
Check to see if you’re registered to vote:
http://www.votersunite.org/info/RegInfo.asp

Even if you’ve registered before,  the Registrar of Voters
cleans its list and regularly drops off people who have moved or not voted
recently
.  Even people who haven’t moved and voted are
occasionally dropped in error, so it’s best to check this site and
make sure your registration is current—and reregister if you’ve
been dropped: 

Voter registration drives will be held at:
October 17-21:  Parkway Plaza, El Cajon, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-7
p.m. Sunday
Every Tuesday until Oct. 21:  Grossmont College, El Cajon, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Every Tuesday until Oct. 21: Cuyamaca College, El Cajon, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Or go the Registrar of Voters, which will be open until midnight on October
20.

Mailing Address
Registrar of Voters
P.O. Box 85656
San Diego, CA. 92186-5656

Street Location
Registrar of Voters
5201 Ruffin Road, Suite I
San Diego, CA. 92123
San Diego County Registrar Voter registration and general information:  (858)
565-5800.
For more information, visit the San Diego County Registrar of Voters website.  

You can register to vote in California, if you are:
•A U.S. Citizen
•A California Resident
•At least 18 years of age on or before the next election
•Not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction
•Not declared mentally incompetent by court action

If you have an absentee ballot, it must be received (not postmarked)
by Election Day, November 4th.
   Don’t be fooled
by dirty tricks; in some areas voters have been falsely told to mail ballots
to an out-of-state address or to give ballots to campaign representatives.  Ballots
may only be returned to the Registrar’s office or dropped off at a
polling place. 


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