http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/group_rss/DisabilityRightsColorado A group of individuals committed to promoting and defending the Americans with Disabilities Act and the proposed ADA Restoration Act.   There's an election on Tuesday!  If you vote by mail and haven't turned your ballot in yet, hand-deliver your ballot to your County Clerk's office Monday or Tuesday to ensure that it's received in time for your vote to count. Your county may have more than one possible drop-off location for your convenience. If you haven't received your ballot yet, contact your county clerk to find out how to obtain a replacement ballot. Below, we've included some other information that may help. Whether you're liberal, conservative, progressive, libertarian, or a completely unaffiliated free spirit,  vote . The elections in odd years involve local issues from school boards to city council to county commissioner. There may also be bond issues, initiatives, and referenda--all very local to your city or county. Although elections call to mind voting for President, Governor, and legislature, the fact is that most of what affects our daily lives happens locally. Our schools, our city streets, our zoning boards, even our trash collection are all local issues. If you don't exercise your right to vote in these local elections, you will miss the best opportunity you will have this year to affect change for yourself and your family. Helpful Information According to the Secretary of State, there is an election in every Colorado county except Archuleta, Hinsdale, and Phillips. Most Colorado counties have an all-mail election this year. If you have not received a ballot or information on where to vote, contact your county clerk right away. Your ballot must be  received  by your county clerk no later than 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd for your vote to be counted. Postmarks don't count. If you already voted by mail, you can make sure your ballot was received on the Secretary of State's secure voter lookup website: https://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter/secuVoterHome.do If your county has a polling place election, your polling place may not be in the same location as last year. Contact your County Clerk if you are not sure where you should vote. If you need to contact your county clerk for any of the above reasons, you can find your county clerk's contact information here: http://www.elections.colorado.gov/Default.aspx?PageMenuID=1397 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZR8 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZR8/commentary#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:58:07 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZR8 Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZR8/ If Initiative 300 in Denver passes, and you forget your wallet and get pulled over, police officers will be forced to impound your car leaving you stranded. Which is why we're asking for your help. We need you to vote  No on Initiative 300 if you live in Denver County. It's deceptive. It's scary. It's expensive. And it's unnecessary. Police officers already have the ability to impound vehicles if they are concerned about public safety. The Denver Post , Mayor Hickenlooper, ten members of the Denver City Council, House Speaker Terrence Carroll, and a long list of Denver community organizations and individuals oppose Initiative 300 . And the proponents of this nightmare are counting on low turnout in an off-year election to sneak this one past us. What can you do? Send an e-mail to 5 friends in Denver and ask them to vote no. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers in person about how important it is for them to return their ballots, and ask them to vote no on Initiative 300. Sign up to volunteer . As for voting, the 2009 Election will be Mail-In Ballot only. Voting couldn't be easier-- it just takes 2 stamps to return, or you can drop it off to the Denver Election Commission in person. So please Vote NO on Initiative 300 and help spread the word. If you live in Denver, you should have received your ballot in the mail. To check on your voter registration and on the status of your ballot, click here to look it up at the Secretary of State: http://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter If you believe you are registered to vote and you have not received your ballot, call 311 today . http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR/commentary#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:34:37 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnR/ In each of our lives, we experience moments of shock that we will never forget. When Kennedy was shot in 1963. When the Challenger exploded over Florida in 1986. For me, it was when 21 year-old Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence, and left for dead on a cold October night in 1998. Matt was killed because he was gay. It sent chills of terror through the gay and lesbian community because the message was clear: you're next . Matt's murder sparked a national movement to amend the federal hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability. After ten years, that change in law is finally in sight. Tonight, the U.S. Senate will vote on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Both Senator Mark Udall and Senator Michael Bennet are cosponsors of this bill. The House version of the bill passed earlier this year with the support of six Colorado Representatives, and President Obama has committed to signing it. Will you sign our virtual thank-you card to the members of the Colorado delegation who support this important law? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/HateCrimesThanks Angie Zapata was an 18 year-old transgender woman from Greeley who had just moved into her first apartment on her own. She was murdered--in her killer's own words--because " all gay things need to die ." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZNv http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZNv/commentary#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:43:14 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZNv Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZNv/ A ballot initiative by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Sen. Ken Gordon is designed to free public education from the chains that strangle funding of our public schools. TIME IS SHORT! - 120,000 signatures are needed by July 18th (this month). To sign and/or to help circulate petitions click here>> http://www.coloradosafe.org Hoping the link works. If not, copy and paste, please. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/Cq7D http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/Cq7D/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:47:18 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/Cq7D Andy Lewis http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f1f3dc07f085ce5e0b_axm6ibfzb.jpg Andy Lewis 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7D/ The health insurance industry is hard at work to protect their profits in Colorado. I've been getting "Push Poll" calls from a place called "Datapolres" on my caller ID, showing this number, 7033788323, which when dialed, is met with a message saying, "this number has been disconnected." Here's a site about this number: http://whocalled.us/lookup/7033788323 Upon answering the call, a series of leading questions are asked, starting with, "Are you in favor of, or against the government having complete access to your health care records?" They aren't, of course, looking for or recording a response. They are planting a seed, so to speak. The clear implication is that my privacy is being threatened in some way. Gosh- what could be then source of this threat? Let me guess. Health care reform? Further proof that these people are out of control, and need to be neutered like a pit bull. After that, I utter an expletive, and hang up. I haven't heard the rest of the questions. I'll be more patient next time. Anybody else been getting these calls? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/CqlF http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/CqlF/commentary#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:05:59 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/andylewis/CqlF Andy Lewis http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f1f3dc07f085ce5e0b_axm6ibfzb.jpg Andy Lewis 162 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqlF/ (Click for a larger image) Given the large numbers of e-mails that legislators receive, it's understandable that they would want to weed out spammers by using some sort of challenge-response system on their contact forms. Personally I think it's counterproductive, as they can install software like the rest of us that will simply blacklist spammers or shunt their messages into junk mail folders. But Allard's web staff has gone to the extreme, by forcing people to interpret a skewed set of letters and numbers presented in the form of a graphic, and then type them back in. This completely shuts out the blind, because screen reading software will not interpret those letters. This is in direct violation of Section 508 , which mandates that government web sites be accessible to those using assistive technology. Specificaly, it mandates that "individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by such members of the public who are not individuals with disabilities." Just because Allard was one of only 7 Senators to vote against the law in 1998 doesn't mean that he gets to flout it at will. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CqnB http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CqnB/commentary#comments Mon, 14 May 2007 19:01:22 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CqnB Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqnB/