Page A3
A p ril 9, 2008
Clinton-Obama Vote for Democrats Only
co n tin u ed
fr o m F ront
On the Republican side. Sen. John
M cCain has already locked up his party's
nom ination, and the O regon vote will have
little national im portance for the GOP.
State Sen. Avel G ordly, an African-
American lawmaker who represents north­
east and southeast Portland, has changed
her party affilia­
tion to vote in
th e
O bam a-
Clinton contest.
H aving been
an independent
fo r th e p a st
couple o f years,
G ordly decided
to reregister as a
Democrat so she
can participate
in th e v o tin g .
She announced her decision last w eek at
a rally in support o f O bam a at a podium
with 25 otherO bam a-backing elected offi­
cials on S alem ’s Capitol steps.
G ordly also joined more than 1(),(XX)
O regonians who have re-registered to vote
in the past tw o months.
The enthusiasm over the election will
continue to increase, predicts Vicki Paulk,
a M ultnom ah C ounty Elections m anager
w ho has returned from retirem ent to aid in
the transition o f a new departm ent director
from Virginia. The elections office has had
to hire tem porary staff to open stacks o f
voter registration cards and plans to co n ­
tinue expanding in the com ing days.
“ It feels like we really m atter this year,"
Paulk says. "T h ere's ju st an additional
level o f excitem ent even for those o f us
photo bv R av mond R endleman /T hi : P ortland O bserver
Voter registration cards get sorted by Paula Johnson, office assistant at Multnomah County Elections in southeast Portland.
who are putting on the election in knowing
that there is going to be a high level o f
interest and hopefully also participation."
G ord ly ’s path back into partisan poli­
tics began when she met O bam a during his
first visit to Portland as a presidential'
candidate last Septem ber. "A s we were
talking and as he found out I was an
independent and longtim e m em ber o f the
O regon Legislature, he said to me that he
was going to need my help and the help of
other independents. I let him know then
that he could count on my support,” she
says.
Dem ocrats and Republicans in Salem
last year opposed a plan of G ordly grid
some other "third-party" activists to give
the state an open-prim ary elections law.
She now hopes that O b am a's vision of
unity will help find ways to unseat parti­
Rose Court Changes
co n tin u ed
fr o m F ront
Pacific N orthw est, junior classes
will add to the pool o f princess
candidates.
T o stay in the program , the 14
participating high schools in Port­
land each m ust find at least five
fem ales that possess at least a 3.0
grade-point average or "significant
m itigating circum stances,” and that
have perform ed a minimum number
o f hours o f verifiable com m unity
service.
A fter helping to organize an es­
tim ated 2,849 volunteer hours last
year, Clint acknow ledges that the
court o f princesses represents the
most com plicated, strenuous and
high-profile element of the 101 -year-
old June festival. Nevertheless, she
argues that schools will elect to
participate more actively.
“ It w ould be surprising if the
schools cou ld n 't com e up with five
students from their ju n io r and se­
nior classes,” she says. “ In the
unlikely event that we h aven't re­
ceived at least five qualified candi-
dates from any o f the participating
schools, w e’ II be in com m unication
with them and say, ‘Look, we know
there are more girls out there.” '
As to why expansion o f the pro-
gramexcludes Vancouver,Clintcites
surveys show ing m uch m ore en ­
thusiasm from W ashington and
Ç lackam as counties for the 15 th at-
large position. T he suburbs have
previously particip ated through
private inner-city high schools St.
M ary's and Central Catholic, which
have designated spots on the court
and d on’t draw enrollm ent based
on residence.
The proposed changes shaking
up the city include marking this year
as the last time that high-school stu­
dents choose representative prin­
cesses. Long recognizing the poten­
tial for a popularity contest. Rose
Festival organizers are still looking
into this change, according to Rich­
ard Jarvis o f public relations.
M oreland-Capuia thinks that the
educational value o f students' vote
is underestim ated in the proposal.
“ You takeaw ay some elem ent of
Saturday Event
to Register Voters
An invitation is extended for
the public to convene to regis­
ter to vote in Oregon May 20
Primary on Saturday, April 12,
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at C al­
vary Christian Center, I26N.E.
Alberta St.
Local com m unity activists
Rev. R enee’ W ard and Pastor
Frederick W oods will host the
second-annual Legislative Edu­
cational Day, a nonpartisan
voter registration party to in­
crease the num ber o f regis­
tered voters and to increase
the activism o f residents con­
cerning local issues impacting
theircom m unity.
“W e hope this event will
provide a venue to increase
voter registration among ex­
offenders, wom en, m inorities,
students and hom eless c iti­
zens,” W oods said.
Participating community part­
ners include the Bus Project.
North Northeast Business As­
sociation, Oregon ActiQn, Ur­
ban League o f Portland, O r­
egon Assem bly o f Black Af­
fairs, Office o f Neighborhood
Involvem ent- Restorative Lis­
tening Project, Oregon C om ­
m issio n on B lack A ffa irs,
N A A C P, KBM S 1480 AM
Radio, The Portland Observer,
Sen. Avel Gordly, and Rep.
ChipShields.
Oregon Black
Political Convention
This y ea r's O regon Black Politi­
cal Convention will he held at the
Em bassy Suites. 9(XX) S. W. W ash­
ington Square Road, Tigard, from
Friday, April IX to Sunday, April 20.
Theevent will mark the 16th time
that the O regon A ssem bly o f Black
Affairs has prom oted a conference
targeting A frican-A m erican issues
during the spring o f election years.
Political candidates sensitive to the
issues o f the state's black popula­
tion will also be endorsed over the
weekend.
ow nership for being proud o f th<
product o f your environm ent,” she
says. "This is one thing that Port
land Public Schools have alway
had in term s o f a shining point, ant
it's been good enough for a te n
tu ry .”
san politics' tendency to dim inish partici­
pation, especially from minority view ­
points.
“ Although I have made this choice to
re-register," she says, “ I'm going to be
looking very closely at the leadership of
the Oregon D em ocratic Party and at o th­
ers w ho hold pow er within the party."
Former members of the Democratic Party
are n 't the only ones making the switch.
A self-prolessed "conservative in ev ­
ery w ay," Sally Dick of southeast Portland
says she re-registered from Republican to
D em ocrat last week, saying, "I feel I have
a vested interest in w ho’s running, and I
want to be part o f that choice."
She expects to support M cCain in
N o v em b er's general election but plans to
vote for O bam a in the Primary.
Paulk w elcom es the increased activity
around the election office and strives to
m ake it as sim ple as possible to register to
vote. Extra confusion am ong v oters arose
from President Bush’s"H elp America Vote
Act o f 2002" that requires a d riv er's li­
cense num ber or the last four digits o f a
Social Security number.
Ten to 20 percent o f registration forms
are sent back for more inform ation, esti­
mates Paula Johnson, who sorts all the
elections mail for the county. She always
tries to figure out incom plete addresses,
but she legally cannot decide a voter's
political party when the section is left
blank or when more than one party is
marked.
C u rren t addresses are req u ired . If
y o u 'v e moved, you must reregister to
vote. Ballots cannot be forw arded by the
U.S. Postal Serv ice.
V oter registration cards can be filled
out at the M ultnomah County Elections
office, 1040 S.E. M orrison St., or printed
from O regonvotes.org and mailed in. Bal­
lots will be mailed to residences early in
May.
Registration forms are also available at
post offices, com m unity centers and Sis­
ters o f the Road, 133 N.W. Sixth Ave.,
w hich offers its address so hom eless
people can participate in the election.
Hillary: ‘I’m a Fighter’
“I have never voted
before. In ju n io r high, I
troops from Iraq within two months. decided I w ouldn't vote
Though polls show Oregon tilt­ until a w oman ran," said
ing toward Obam a. H illsboro and Hillsboro resident Olivia
other Portland suburbs could prove . Leon, who ow ns a small
fertile territory for her, with a more business. "A nd here I
moderate population than in the am. I have waited 50years
dow ntow n urban core.
for this."
co n tin u ed
fr o m F ront
Leon said she remembered Bill
C linton's presidency with affection,
and said she had ad­
mired Hillary C linton's
" p a tie n c e " as F irst
Lady, and her loyalty to
her husband, even in
hard times.
Hillary
Clinton
u Communication broke down...
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and positive."
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