I attended one of the training sessions last night in the Aldine area. Yeah, quite a drive from my coastal paradise but I wanted to tell you about it and i wanted to learn what I could. The presenter was Felicia Cravens, founder of the HTPS. Her trusty sidekick, Josh Parker, was also in attendance. It was a small gathering, as are most meetings that involve hard work.
As is typical for Felicia, the presentation was completely non-partisan, with the exception of a couple of personal experience anecdotes. She explained the difference between a Precinct Chair and an Election Judge, described the general duties of each and gave a few statistics about each party.
One of the statistics that stands out in my mind is that in precincts that do have chairs, the turnout is 7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} higher than in those that don’t. I’m at a loss to understand that because in my precinct, # 377, the chair has done nothing in my eight years of living there that would remotely impact turnout. At least on the Republican side. Perhaps the Democrat in my precinct has a more active role I suspect that the turnout is higher because the population is overall more politically active but again, I don’t know.
She also talked about the vacancy levels, providing these numbers:
| 874 Total Precincts | Democratic | Republican |
| # of Vacancies | 245 | 425 |
| {997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} Vacant | 28{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} | 49{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} |
That is a large difference between the parties and illustrates yet again the ineptness of the current leadership of the Harris County Republican Party. It is important to note that if there is no Republican representation in a precinct at election time, there could be situations where two Democrats are in charge, which could lead to questions of ballot integrity.
As I noted, the presentation was non-partisan. But that is what I’m for! This is the perfect opportunity for conservatives to take back control of the HCRP. If ‘tea party’ protesters get involved at this level, and manage to get elected to Precinct Chair, they will be a part of the Executive Committee. In that role, they can begin to make a difference. Perhaps they force changes to the candidate questionnaires, taking out the questions on what church you attend and how many times you go a week. Or change the focus from social issues to fiscal issues. Or force transparency in the financial dealings of the party. Believe me, party leadership has something rolling down their legs when they think what could happen if a bunch of ‘tea partyers’ invaded their territory and it isn’t a thrill. So much so that they sent one of their ‘rapid responders’ to the first training session to find out what the heck is going on.
Okay, back to the non-partisan meeting. The focus was not on taking over a party, that is mine. The focus was on two things regarding elections:
- Preventing Fraud
- Promoting Integrity
There are many resources available. The first of course would be these training sessions. Interestingly, you have to hunt for information on them on the HTPS website because they aren’t on the events calendar. You’ll need to read this article, which is a call for information. In that article, the meeting dates and sites are listed, as well as vacant precincts. Remember, if the precinct doesn’t have a chair, and you are the only one to file for it, your it! How simple is that? But don’t let the fact that a precinct already has a chair stop you. He/she has to file and run just like you. Even if you were to lose, other people would hear a true conservative message and perhaps make a change later.
Here are a few links that might interest you regarding precinct chairs.
Harris County Republican Party 2008-2010 Precinct Chairs – Good information on the Republicans.
Harris County Democratic Party VOTER INFORMATION AND PRECINCT ORGANIZING TOOLS– Excellent information, especially on what a precinct chair does.
Voter Precinct Street Guide – find your precinct
Voter Registration Database Searches – Leo Vasquez’ site, very good
Are you willing to do the hard work and make change happen?
