Democratic Party is Running Out of Ballots in Parts of California

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SAN JOSE, CA — In a sign of how huge turnout is in parts of the state, the Democratic Party is running out of ballots. The Obama campaign tells me this is a problem in Stockton and Fresno, and San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. In the latter two places, some eight to ten polling places have reported shortages, Luke McGowan, Obama’s deputy regional field director there, says. The Democratic Party has told him voters will be allowed to fill out blank ballots, writing in their choices, he says. He does not have information for other parts of the state, so I can’t yet tell you how big the problem is. There’s only an hour and a half left to vote in California, so any glitches must be fixed fast (unless the polls stay open longer). I’ll post on this again if I find out more.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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