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Presidential Primary Election | March 3, 2020

Why is there an election March 3, 2020?

March 3, 2020 is the scheduled election date for the Presidential Primary Election.  In this primary election, voters will choose candidates to run against each other in the November 2020 general election. 

The March primary election will determine candidates for the Office of U.S. President, and for voter nominated offices, including U.S. Senate, Congress, State Senate and State Assembly. Your ballot will also include contests for local nonpartisan offices and questions affecting state and local laws.

Don’t miss these dates!

Monday, February 3, 2020

• Early voting begins at the Registrar of Voters office (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday)
• Mail ballots start being sent to mail ballot voters

Monday, February 17, 2020

• Register to vote by this date

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

• Last day registered voters may request a mail ballot

Saturday, February 29 and Sunday March 1, 2020

• Weekend voting at the Registrar of Voters office (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

For more information call 858-505-7217 or toll-free at (800) 696-0136. 

 Not sure how you are registered or if you are registered to vote?
You can check your registration, re-register and register to vote at sdvote.com.                                                                                                                                             

Free all Political Prisoners!

Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier, a 74 year old indigenous man, part Anishinabe, and part Lakota and Dakota, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa (English misnomer for the Anishinabe) Nation has served forty-three years in prison for the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 which he did not commit. He is a political prisoner who was convicted as part of the FBI’s Cointelpro action to destroy AIM.

After the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, a corrupt tribal chairman, Dick Wilson created a period of political violence on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He was trying to get the US government into mining uranium in the Badlands for its nuclear programs. The more traditional members of the Lakota nation were firmly against this destruction of the environment. Dick Wilson hired groups of vigilantes, called GOONs for Guardians Of the Oglala Nation, who initiated what became known as the Reign of Terror on the reservation. Known traditional opponents of Dick Wilson were stopped while driving on the reservation, pulled out of their cars or trucks and severely beaten. Then matters got worse and GOON squads started driving around the reservation shooting into dwellings and indiscriminately killing elders, women, and children and setting some places on fire! John Trudeau, a noted poet and artist, lost his wife, three children, and his mother-in-law in one of these fires. Over a three-year period over 67 people were murdered and the FBI refused to investigate even one of these murders. Violent crimes like murder and rape were what the FBI had jurisdiction over on reservations. Instead the FBI was busy arming the GOON squads because the US government wanted the uranium mining project to go forward. Finally, the traditional people asked AIM to provide protection for the elders, women, and children. Leonard Peltier was one of the AIM leaders who set up camps near family compounds to protect the people.

Moms United to End the War on Drugs

www.momsunited.net

November 25, 2019                                                                       

The 7^th Annual “Empty Chair at the Holiday Table” Campaign Highlights Human Stories of Loss Caused by the War on Drugs: Incarceration, Overdose Death, Stigma, Drug War Violence 

Mothers from the Moms United to End the War on Drugs International Campaign Speak  Out About the Devastation Caused by Punitive Prohibitionist Drug Policies 

The holidays can be a particularly painful time for families who are missing a loved one at their holiday gathering. This holiday season mothers across the globe are joining  Moms United to End the War on Drugs “Empty Chair at the Holiday Table” Campaign by sharing photos of the empty chair with a picture of a lost or missing loved one due to the War on Drugs. These photos represent the tens of millions of families that have been ravaged by punitive prohibition policies, whether it is separation due to a loved one’s incarceration; an accidental overdose; their being harmed or killed by drug war violence; or their being lost on the streets due to drug problems. 

The Spirit of San Diego

In 1992, with the construction of the 54 freeway at the south end of the City of San Diego, the bones of a mastodon were discovered that are estimated, by the archeologists who discovered the bones, to be more than 100,000 years old. They also found what they believe to be stone tools used by humans to break the mastodon bones. Prior to this discovery, it was believed that humans came to what would become known as the North American continent only 14,000 or so years ago - the Clovis hunters.

Notwithstanding this remarkable discovery, when it comes to the first cultural groups to settle in what is now called San Diego County, this land is the land of  the Kumeyaay Indians. The website for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians states, “The Kumeyaay engaged in total environmental management of their land and water resources.” The Kumeyaay established a harmonious and environmentally balanced relationship with this land that lasted more than 100 centuries. They took care of the land and the Spirit of this land took care of them. 

With the invasion of Kumeyaay lands by colonizers and settlers the balance and harmony established by the Kumeyaay was violently interrupted and the beautiful spiritual relationship between humans and the land was broken. When I moved to San Diego the city prided itself on being “America’s finest city”. But events like the infamous “Enron by the Sea” incident, the crumbling of the city’s infrastructure, persistent police corruption, the poor performance of schools, traffic congestion, unplanned urban sprawl and the many regressive, discriminatory and oppressive policies and practices of government entities have shown that the spiritual goodwill of San Diego is not in good health. The spirit of San Diego is not at its finest. The Spirit of San Diego is broken. 

If we are to return to a time when this was truly a land at its finest, we will have to have an honest conversation about how we who live here now will restore balance and harmony to this land and its people. 

Clovis Honoré

Social Justice Editor