School Board Cross Filing Means Candidate Name Recognition is Very Important
Cross Filing 101
In the Hatboro-Horsham School District, during a Primary Election, candidates are allowed to 'Cross File' as members of the opposing party. This allows candidates of one party to gather votes from the Primary of the other party. Those votes count, and can lead to a situation where a candidate wins a position on the ballot in the general election, even though they are a member of the other party.
To illustrate this situation, here is a mock up showing the positions of the candidates on the Democratic ballot for Hatboro-Horsham School Board in the May 21st Primary:
There are four positions open in this race: each person voting can vote for four candidates.
The first candidate who will appear on the ballot, Susan Hunsinger Hoff, is an endorsed Democratic candidate. The next three ballot positions will be occupied by Republicans who have cross filed to appear on the Democratic Primary ballot. This means that if a person goes into the voting booth and picks the first four names on the ballot, three of their votes will go to Republicans!
As Democrats, we do not want this to happen. We want people to know they should vote for Susan Hunsinger Hoff, then skip the next three names, vote for Denise DJ Schultz and Theresa Brown, then skip yet another name and finally vote for David P. Brown Sr. to round out the endorsed Democratic ticket.
This is a tall ask: we need voters to be informed about the candidates, and be able on election day to choose the genuine Democratic candidates from a list of names they may not be familiar with. How do we make sure that happens?
This is where you come in
The only sure way to ensure we get the votes we need to secure the places of the endorsed Democratic candidates on the ballot in November is to make sure people know who they are. The best way to communicate that information is directly. That means going door to door, reaching out to Democratic Voters, and telling them about the candidates and the need to vote for them on May 21st.
We're going door to door this weekend: will you join us?
The gathering place this and every Saturday is Peggy Leiby's barn at 524 Cedar Hill Road. We will provide current Walk Sheets, Clipboards, and Palm Cards, and any training required if you have not done this sort of thing before. We will meet at 10am to pick up materials, which may be returned at any time during the weekend to the provided drop-box.
Nothing is as effective as door to door outreach. As little as an hour can make a big difference in a Primary vote total.
Will you help us make a difference by telling Primary voters about our candidates on Saturday?
Wait, there's more!
We're going to knock on every door we can between now and May 21st, and people will still show up at the polls and not know who the candidates are. What can we do about that?
At every Polling place, during election day, we ask people to serve as 'Greeters'. What does a greeter do? Just what it sounds like: Greet voters, answer any questions they may have, and ensure they know who the endorsed Democratic candidates are who they should vote for.
There are 14 polling places in Horsham, and they are open from 7am -8PM. Covering that many places for that long is difficult, but with your help, even of ran hour, we can do it.
To schedule volunteers to perform this important task, there is a signup genius (of course there is :-)). Please go there now and sign up for a shift as a volunteer greeter and hep us ensure that voters know who to vote for on Primary Day!
In these ways we can ensure that that even though cross filing means that Republicans are on the ballot for Democratic School Board election spots, voters at the polls will know who to vote for, and who not to vote for, making sure that we elect endorsed Democratic candidates on Primary election day May 21st.
Will you help us? Please sign up now.
Meet the Candidates
These are the local candidates running in the election this year:
Horsham Council:
Hatboro-Horsham School Board:
If for some reason you cannot participate in our activities, you can still support the Horsham Democratic Committee in our efforts to elect Democratic Candidates. Elections are costly and even a small contribution can make a big difference. Please make a donation today to support our candidates and our efforts to elect them.
Horsham Dems 2019 Meeting Schedule
Horsham Democratic Committee meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Our agenda includes presentations by candidates for public office, updates by elected officials, and practical information for committee members and guests. Our 2019 meeting schedule is as follows:
April 16th
May 21st (also Primary Election day, so this may turn into an after-party, stay tuned!)
June 18th
July 16th
August 20th
September 17th
October 15th
November 19th - This will be a post-election Celebration and Volunteer Appreciation event
All of our regular meetings are hosted at the Yuong Sang Presbyterian Church on Witmer Road in Horsham, beginning at 7PM. You can find our complete event listing on Facebook here.
