By Jim Lindsay

Election reform activists have a great volunteer opportunity coming up on Sunday March 9th and Saturday March 15th. Gurdwara Sahib Fremont (see next paragraph) is having its biannual board election and has retained Californians for Electoral Reform (CfER) as a neutral outsider to manage the tables during the voting and do the election counting.

"Gurdwara" in the Sikh language means a mixture of "community" and "place of worship". There is a sizable Sikh community in the Fremont area and this is their (using Western terminology) church or temple. Every two years they elect members of a governing board, and two years ago hired CfER to run the election as impartial outsiders. We have again been retained to do this. For us it offers all of the following: fund raising, public relations and practical election administration experience. And we may eventually get to talk to them about choice voting (two years ago, one faction won all five open seats based on about 75% of the vote).

No training is needed. We need a minimum of 85 volunteer hours on March 9th, and 50 volunteer hours on March 15th. March 9th will be in Fremont, and March 15th will probably be in Oakland.

Volunteers who are new to CfER will receive a free one-year membership in the organization (dues are normally $25).

Can you volunteer for 2-4 hours or more for this effort? Every little bit helps. If you can volunteer, let me know the dates and hours at:

Jim Lindsay

510-527-8025 (h), 681-6484 (c)
My Web Site: www.jerel.com/jim
Electoral Reform: www.cfer.org

If you aren't sure, let me know that, and when I should contact you for follow-up. No prior training or expertise is necessary. Thank you.

Jim Lindsay lives in Albany is a past president of Californians for Electoral Reform.

Last revised February 25, 2008