Read on Twitter
thread: last week the @LACityClerk's office informed me they have no intention of allowing electronic signature gathering in order to get on the ballot for local elections
even before the threat of COVID, gathering physical signatures is a process that inherently leaves out certain groups of people-- our neighbors with disabilities, our elders, non-English speakers, and others who are routinely left out of the electoral process
this article came out over a year ago to address just how difficult it is to actually get on the ballot as a candidate in los angeles (shout out @DavidZahniser) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-09/election-ballot-signatures-los-angeles-2019
in this pandemic, we have learned how to digitize huge aspects of our lives in order to protect ourselves and our communities. allowing digital signature collection should be a no-brainer. however, the city has no incentive to make getting on the ballot easier
and because the city of los angeles at its core hates people-driven grassroots campaigns, insurgent candidates, and progressive politics, they would rather their constituents have to risk COVID for a shot at democracy
i love knocking doors and i can't wait to get back out there once it's safe. but in light of how our local leaders have handled this pandemic, we can't count on it being safe for everyone for a bit longer
and the answer shouldn't be, cannot be, that the most vulnerable among us are even more pushed into the shadows for an election cycle, so our profit-driven and corrupt leaders are free to stack the deck yet again
