Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley

From: Spandan Chakrabarti, Co-Chair, Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley and Netroots Nations Scholarship Round 1 winner.

I'm spreading the word at the request of Mary Rickles, Communications Director, Democracy for America.  First, a few words about Netroots Nation, from Netroots Nation:

"Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Through our annual convention and a series of regional salons held throughout the year, we strengthen our community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere."

Netroots Nation standard registration is $275 (student registration is $50), and then there is the cost of room and board.  Netroots Nation is partnering with Democracy for America to offer scholarships to deserving activists.  These scholarships will cover your registration fee and your room and board.  How do you become a Netroots Nation Scholar?

Go to DFA's Netroots Nation Scholarship page and apply!  DFA is making decisions in at least 3 stages, and the Round 1 winners have already been announced.  But there are still two more rounds to go.  Here are the deadlines still coming up:

You can see the stories of the Round 1 winners on DFA's website.  You may notice that yours truly (Deaniac83) is among the winners.  Thank you all for reading, and if you feel you are qualified, please apply.

At the members meeting of the Dean Democratic Club on Monday, May 18, 2009, Blair Bobier of the New America Foundation made a presentation for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), a concept of voting where voters would rank the candidates in order of preference rather than vote for just one candidate.  After the first choices are counted, if no one gets a majority, the candidate receiving the least first choice votes will be dropped and his or her votes will be distributed according to the voters' second choice.  The process would continue until there was a clear winner.  A modified version of this process will also work for seats where multiple candidates are elected on the same ballot.  You can learn more about it on FairVote.org.

Santa Clara County voters had already approved Measure F to institute IRV pending available technology, and the technology has now become available. San Francisco has had IRV since 2004.  The League of Women Voters and Common Cause are among the groups that support it. You can contact your Santa Clara County supervisor and ask them to support IRV; San Jose residents can also contact their city council members.

On June 11 there will be a panel on this topic with several speakers including Steve Chessin at the MLK Library in San Jose at noon; lunch will be provided. If and when there are more details, those will be added to our calendar