DC Primary Next Tuesday, Feb 12

Does anyone know if the Lutheran Church of the Reformation (212 East Capitol Street, NE) has parking available for voters?

Being a registered Independent, I’m totally bummed I can’t vote in the primary. But, I’m doing my part to express who I support with my own little project here…:
http://www.danaellyn.com/presidents/presidents.html

I bet you can you guess who I would vote for if I could. 😉

Hopefully candidates for council will address the egregious gerrymanding of Penn Quarter for DC elections. Is it a coincidence that residents of the city’s most vibrant, fastest growing neighborhood are split between two wards, multiple ANCs and have to travel almost all the way to Eastern Market to vote? If this were occuring in Anacostia instead of downtown there would be heck to pay, and rightfully so. All of us should support candidates who support creating a PQ ANC and unifying our neighborhood as part of a single ward.

I can’t believe I have to schlep all the way to this “Lutheran Church of the Reformation” to vote. Wherever the heck that is. Somewhere in NE. Hope I won’t get shot 😛 My friends in Woodley Park have to travel exactly 2 blocks!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I think it is annoying that we have to go all the way to Lutheran on the hill.. it is kind of cool that we will be voting for the next president of the US in the shadow of the capitol building! (The church is 2 blocks directly east of the Capitol)

Yes, I looked at the location on a map and was much relieved. I saw the “NE” part of the addressed and sort of panicked.

CARY for COUNCIL! We will be at all polling places on Tuesday including the Martin Luther King Jr. Library handing out leaflets, buttons for WARD 2 DC Council candidate, Cary Silverman; say hello!

Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama

There’s no parking available for voters. If you’re lucky you can find a spot on the street.

Do our votes in the primary even count??? This is being billed as a Presidential PREFERENCE Primary. Are even the parties ignoring us????

@ Peter –
yes, at least for the Democrats, DC is worth 15 ‘committed’ delegates and, judging by how close the race is, every last one counts.

OBAMA 08!!

Peter, this is the first time in voting since I started to vote that the our metro area votes are really important.
Hillary 2008 and Hillary 2012!!!

Go Dems!
Go Carry Silverman for Council!!

Are “committed” delegates also “counted” delegates? Do our votes count for more than our just opinion even in the Democratic Primary. My understanding is that our Preference Primary is not a real primary like the other states. So tell it to me straight. No spin.

Peter, this is a real primary. Get your butt out and vote.

Why is it called Preference?

Please vote Carry Silverman for Council. He lives in the area, relates much better to many of our issues than the incumbents and is actively trying to reduce crime.

Go Hillary!!

I thought the DC Primary was in September for Council with the final vote in November? And I keep getting told by different that we don’t get REAL votes at the convention (which is why the Post probably didn’t even mention DC in its front page story about the election tomorrow — just Maryland and Virginia). I’m new to the area. What is the real story folks????

#15: Preference is used in the name of some, if not all, state primaries as well (e.g., MO, MA, RI, WI, etc…). The DC Primary is real and results in delegates to the conventions.

Since Washington is 65 to 70% Black, the assumption is that Obama will carry D.C.
Maryland and Virginia has more Hispanics and both Democratic candidates need the Hispanics to carry MD and VA, especially VA.
Therefore they are campaigning more in these states. Meaning more new coverage.
IMHO

Just fyi, DC demographics from 2006 can be found here.

Black: 56.5%
White (including Hispanic): 38.4%
Asian: 3.2%
American Indian: 0.4%

Even with the adjusted demographics that gpliving quoted, I still think there is an assumption that Obama will carry DC. Also Keep in mind that even if this assumption was true, we have an obligation to get out and vote and make our voices heard. The candidates need to know our opinions (and votes) to figure out how to proceed futher in the race. This is first time if ever that DC MD & VA have their primaries at the same time, causing the candidates to take notice of us and not just treat us as an afterthought.

Obama or Hillary I don’t care both good DEMOCRATS to lead this country.
However there is only ONE good DECMOCRAT for Council –CARY for COUNCIL

Exercise your most important right today – VOTE!

I know it’s too late for today, but for everyone who was supposed to shlep to the Lutheran Church–don’t! Go early (this round it was late Jan. until 2/11) to the Board of Elections. It’s SO CLOSE at 441 4th St NW. Just show up with a photo ID b/t 8:30 and 4:45 (even on some Saturdays) and be done with it. I did it yesterday and I’ll never go back!

We went to vote this morning on Capitol Hill. This is really ridiculous. I love Tommy Wells, and I love Capitol Hill, but I don’t live there, and I shouldn’t have to go there to vote. Sorry to vent, but that polling place is entirely out of the way for Penn Quarter residents.

#20 and #21: while DC may be 56.5% Black, the more relevant percentage is the number of Black residents in DC who actually vote. My guess it that figure, as it does for most of the population, drops considerably. It would be interesting to see, however, how that deviation compares to other racial groups. Don’t count Hillary out just yet in DC.

Does anyone have any tips on the best transportation method for getting to the Lutheran Church from Penn Quarter?

Not everyone in this part of downtown votes in Capitol Hill. The folks at 555 Mass vote at an elementary school — 100 L Street NW. Closer but still not very convenient.

If we can encourage more of our neighbors to register to vote with their current Penn Quarter address then it will be much easier for us to convince the politicians that we need our own ANC and to revisit the Ward designations. It is very important for us to vote in this and all elections. If we have a lot of voters in our neighborhood then the politicians should address our concerns.

I think it’s everyone south of E Street, but I’m not exactly sure where the division is. I took a 30’s bus. It drops you off a few blocks from the polling place.

Wait, so I could have gone to the Board of Elections to vote?! I didn’t know that.

I was going to take a 30 series bus this morning, but now I have to go after work instead, so I plan to go to Capitol South and walk the 5 or so blocks. The Lutheran church is supposed to be opposite the Folger Shakespeare Library.

I agree that the location is, for us, TOTALLY RIDICULOUS! My friends in the Gallery Place condos only have to walk 2 blocks west to the library at 9th & G.

Update: I just got back from voting at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. I am cold, wet and covered in icicles, but I voted. I didn’t have to wait very long in line, and the volunteers were very nice and friendly. There was only 1 electronic voting booth, but I only had to wait like a minute b/c the process of electronically voting took about 10 seconds tops.

It’s still RIDICULOUS that that is our polling place.

I called the DC Board of Elections to let them know how silly it is that many Penn Quarter residents are asked to walk 35 minutes, take a bus, or change trains to vote. I did not get to vote Tuesday — for the first time in my life –because after falling on my 20-minute walk home from work (in completely the opposite direction of the polling place) I didn’t have time to get to the Lutheran Church of the Reformation (212 East Capitol Street, NE) after stopping home to change my trousers. While the person I spoke with at the Board of Elections was nice, he pretty much said they can’t do anything. They said they have to get permission from closer location to use their sites. Why couldn’t we persuade Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammouth, some other public place to use their place?? Please people let DC’s Board of Election (202. 727.2525) know that we are upset about this, and that the current system of living in NW and voting in NE is unacceptable. I feel like I — and my fellow Penn Quarter condodwellers are being disenfranchised!

Cathy

I’m totally behind you, Cathy. Maybe we can get the DNA to help in this effort too! There must be a closer location that would let us use their facilities. The Lutheran Church of the Reformation was using its basement for the polls – and that was not a huge space. The DNA meetings have been held underneath the Navy Memorial (the Naval Heritage Center) – I wonder if that space is a possibility???