theCLog

Today is the last day to register to vote on Election Day. Mailed applications must be postmarked Oct. 10, and the Board of Elections will accept on-site registration until 5 p.m. Here’s a
map to the Mecklenburg Board of Elections office on Kenilworth.

If you forget to register, you can still register and cast a ballot at one-stop early voting, which begins Thursday. Here’s how, courtesy the state Board of Elections:

The process is sometimes referred to as “In-Person Registration,” but it is important to recognize that it not permitted on Election Day itself.

To use this process, a citizen must (1) go to a One-Stop Voting Site in the county of residence during the One Stop Absentee Voting period, (2) fill out a voter registration application, and (3) provide proof of residency by showing the elections official an appropriate form of identification with the citizen’s current name and current address. The new registrant may vote ONLY at a One-Stop Absentee Voting Site in the county of registration during One-Stop Absentee Voting period and not on Election Day.
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Every once in awhile, I check out Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control’s Web site to see the latest euthanasia numbers. I volunteer there occasionally, so I see all the good work the shelter does. These numbers, however, drive home what a woeful job our community (read: those among us who are irresponsible pet owners) does in controlling the pet population.

In August, about 68 percent of dogs and cats brought to shelter were euthanized. More than 83 percent of cats were killed; about 55 percent of dogs were. And that’s not an atypical month. Most of these animals are unwanted — the product of someone’s failure to spay or neuter a pet.

Free and reduced-cost spay/neuter services are available through animal control and the Humane Society of Charlotte

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For what it’s worth, this Web site wants to get prayers for Palin and her family from every zip code in America.

Hmm.

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As little as a month or two ago, the idea that a Democrat could carry North Carolina was near-laughable. But with polls now giving Barack Obama a slight edge in the Tarheel State, I’m wishing I’d placed a few bets on the prospect.

Pundits are crediting the state’s high number of new registrations. It also has to do with Obama’s organization. He has far more offices (some pretty remote ones, at that) in North Carolina than John McCain, whom until recently could regard the state as a given. Obama has three offices in Charlotte alone: Elizabeth, West Boulevard and University City.

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The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg announced its endorsements yesterday. Here they are:

-President Of The United States: Barack Obama
-US Senator: Kay Hagan
-Congress, District 8: Larry Kissell
-Congress, District 9: Harry Taylor
-Congress, District 12: Mel Watt
-Governor: Bev Perdue
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Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be in Greensboro on Saturday. The rally’s scheduled to be on Washington Street in front of the J. Douglas Gaylon Depot. Gates open at 10 a.m.; the program is supposed to begin at 12:15 p.m.
Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged.

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… within reason, of course. You can’t violate normal standards of decency, I suppose. But you won’t get thrown out simply for wearing an Obama — or McCain — T-shirt. The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections has been inundated with calls about this. Yesterday Democracy North Carolina issued a statement debunking the rumor.

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Democracy North Carolina just sent out this statement asking for help in squashing a rumor. Just last week I talked with their executive director, Bob Hall, for this story.

Apparently, a rumor is circulating that you won’t be allowed to vote if you wear a campaign button or other election-related attire to the polls. Not true.

Here’s an exact reply to the question from State Board of Elections attorney Don Wright:

From: Don Wright  
Subject:  another elections myth???

This is a false rumor that is growing like wildfire. Of course it is false.

The rumor started from statements made on the Steve Harvey Radio Show. I visited their website and looked at the e-mails and this rumor was there.

Our position is and always has been……

A voter may enter a voting place to vote wearing political items as long as they proceed to vote in an orderly and timely manner, and do not attempt to electioneer within the voting place. A voter wearing a T-shirt saying “Vote for X” who shouts “vote for X” or places his T-shirt in the sightline of voters asking support for “X” is obviously electioneering and will be asked to refrain from the conduct at once, and if they continue will be removed.

A voter who is wearing a political cap, T-shirt, or button and does not electioneer within the polling place will be allowed to vote in a normal matter.

Democracy North Carolina urges people who are mistreated at the polls to call Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, Democracy North Carolina at 1-888-OUR-VOTE or the SBOE at 866-522-4723.

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Drinking Liberally and Charlotte Energy Solutions have planned a party Friday for folks to gather and watch Obama and McCain debate. It starts 7:30 p.m. at 337 Baldwin Ave., where 2007 CL Hero Mark Englander has kindly offered to host the festivities. Free beer.

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According to Grassroots Leadership, it could. Organizer Bob Libal writes in an e-mail that the investment banking firm has been “one of the largest, most consistent financial backers of the private prison industry.”
Grassroots Leadership, the national Charlotte-based advocacy group, has a top priority of abolishing privately-owned prisons. Like other activists, it chiefly opposes the prisons because of their human rights record and for using their influence to promote expanded incarceration.

Libal writes:

Lehman Brothers became something of a fairy godmother to the private prison industry, bailing out struggling private prison corporations for much of the last decade. Lehman underwrote billions of dollars in bonds and credit for private prison corporations, financed the construction of dozens of private and public prisons, and provided a safety net when for-profit prison companies fell into financial instability.
Lehman Brothers has financed major deals for the three largest private prison firms, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections) and Cornell Corrections.

He adds, “One thing is for sure: if another company picks up Lehman’s role as lead private prison financier and cheerleader, they should be prepared for a divestment campaign.”

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