By Beverly Wallace
Weld County’s Central Committee meeting on the 29th of January, with more than 60 people in attendance, makes it clear that we have some great momentum started for the coming election season. It has been said that 90% of success in life is just showing up. I have found that to be true. Those that show up are people with willing hearts and conviction, which is exactly what we need this year. We have our work cut out for us in keeping Colorado Blue and in keeping and taking the majority in the House and Senate, of the U S Congress.
We need leadership in local elections too candidates are needed for many of our new districts, County Commission, Sheriff, DA, and County Clerk. If you have a desire to serve your community, or know anyone who you think would like to be a candidate, please contact me, our office, or our Candidate Committee Chair, Jerad Sutton. We are getting close to some deadlines and we need people to step up.
“The harvest is great but the workers are few…” The key to success will be the hard work of our precinct leaders. Getting-Out-the-Vote is a primary effort for this year. We are looking for someone who would be willing to spearhead our efforts and coordinate and connect with the state party and other counties, someone who can create training events and voter registration drives. Registering people to vote and getting people to turn in that ballot, will be the most important activity this year, especially in the new House District 8. If you or someone you know would be great at directing this democratic fundamental effort, please contact me at the Weld Dems office, Website or my email of bwdonkeypower@gmail.com.
POs…(Precinct Organizers) are the backbone, legs and feet of democracy, and your help is desperately needed by candidates to make their efforts succeed. We have several candidate campaigns that will need your help, which can come in many forms, including donations, canvassing, phone and text banking, letters to the editor, and positive posting on social media.
We need people who are trained and able to register people to vote. We need people who can get people to Caucus and Assembly. There are a lot of job, events and activities that will need your help this year, including election judges and poll watchers. If you have good ideas for platform, or see a problem that needs addressing by legislative action, you need to bring these to Caucus.
Caucus is March 5th of this year, and will be virtual. If you are a registered Democrat, you will be sent information on how to join the virtual Caucus meeting for your district. If you are not a registered Democrat you cannot participate in Caucus, but if you choose, you can come to observe. Only registered Democrats can participate. February 11th , is the last day you can register as a Democrat, or change your affiliation, if you would like to be a part of this basic first step in the democratic process. Unaffiliated voters may vote, but they have little to no say in what appears on the ballot, especially on a local level. Local elections effect your life more than national elections, so if you know someone who is not registered to vote, or who is not registered as a democrat, tell them that their voice is severally diminished by not joining a party.
Our County Clerk has updated us on precincts and redistricting. Weld County, due to 33% growth as indicated by the Census, and Greeley growing by 19%, now has increased the number of precincts from 156 to 203. Nearly every precinct is now re-numbered, and most boundaries are redrawn. If you are interested in seeing where you are in relation to CD, SD, HD, Commissioner Districts and your precinct number, you can go to the Weld County Government web page, Home – Weld County (weldgov.com), click on the box in the third column that says maps. On the next page click on the middle box that says interactive maps. When that opens, click on election themed. Or, click here:
https://www.co.weld.co.us/maps/precinct/When the map opens, to the left is a legend. Make sure that the little boxes to the left of the words Layers, Labels and Election are checked. A set of options will then appear. Check what you would like to see. Be sure you scroll down to precincts and select that little box. Above precincts are options for the CD, SD, and HD options. You can then go to map and zoom bigger and bigger until you find your street and neighborhood. A 10-digit number will be in the same color area as your address. Another way to locate your precinct number is to do the steps above then go to the top tabs on this page and click on the address icon. To the left will be a box that asks for your street number. Enter your street number, it should pop up below your entry if it is found, then scroll down to the search button. When you click that, the map will show your property and neighborhood, and your 10 digit number in an area to the left of your property.
The 10-digit number refers to: The first number is your Congressional District…probably an 8 a 2 or a 4. The next numbers, probably a 01, or 13, or 23, indicates your Senate District. The next numbers, most likely 19, 48, 63, 64, 65, indicates your House District. The next number 62 is the number for Weld County and the last three digits indicate your Commissioner District and Precinct number. I hope this is helpful because many people have been having trouble negotiating these maps. You will be receiving a letter from Weld County this month that will also confirm the 10-digit number and what districts and precinct you reside in.
Just to reiterate, Caucus will be a virtual meeting, March 5th , a Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. Pre-registration will be necessary to get the link to participate. You will have an email sent with the information, and reminders will be posted all over local media. Please see our Caucus and Assembly page for further information:
https://www.weldcountydems.org/caucus/Anyone who comes to Caucus will be eligible to go to the virtual County Assembly. If you however do not go to Caucus, you will not be able to go to Assembly. There will be no alternates, and no proxies. At Assembly, we will vote on candidate preference and pick delegates to go to the Multi-County Assemblies that will occur the first week of April. The State Assembly is April 9.
Please plan on going to Caucus. It is the first step to keeping Colorado blue, and to preserving our Democracy and any progressive gains we have made.
