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Latino city councilman, 5 others charged with election rigging in race decided by just 1 vote

by Team TC

 

Election fraud is re-emerging as a hot button issue after a member of the Compton City Council in California was charged with conspiring to rig votes to secure his own victory.

The Los Angeles Times reported that 34-year-old councilman Isaac Galvan, a Democrat, was arrested Friday on election fraud and bribery charges.

According to the report, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said a criminal complaint had been filed alleging that Galvan conspired with Jace Dawson, one of his opponents for the council seat in the April primary, to “direct voters from outside the council district to cast ballots for Galvan in a June runoff.”

Considering the narrow margin between Galvan and runner-up Andre Spicer, the conspiracy would have been decisive.

The Times reported that he defeated Spicer by one vote, 855-854.

It’s easy to see how any fraudulent practice could sway the results when the numbers are that close, right?

But Galvan’s narrow “victory” appears to only be an illusion, one that led to his arrest and the arrests of five others, including Dawson.

The report said that at least three “improper ballots” counted during the runoff election swayed the outcome in Galvan’s favor.

The district attorney’s Bureau of Investigation arrested Galvan and Dawson on Friday and charged four others — Kimberly Chaouch, Toni Morris, Barry Reed and Reginald Streeter — with two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, it said in a news release.

Morris, Reed, Chaouch and Streeter are accused of voting in the City Council elections despite living outside the district.

In court, both Galvin and Dawson pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance, according to the Times.

They are set to reappear in court on Sept. 17.

The other four defendants were not arrested.

Though this is only a small-scale example of what can happen in America’s elections, it negates the claim that election fraud is a myth.

Since November, we’ve heard plenty of allegations of election fraud, including claims about several swing states in the presidential election and the January Georgia senatorial runoff vote that tipped the U.S. Senate blue (thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote).

Though there is no indisputable proof of widespread, decisive fraud in either of those races, it’s important to consider the possibility and hear the evidence.

In Galvan’s case, an “insignificant” three bogus votes made him the “victor” of his race, according to authorities.

“Elections are the cornerstone of our democratic nation. We must do everything in our power to protect the integrity of the electorate process and to ensure that elections are free and fair,” LA County District Attorney George Gascón said, according to the Times.

Galvan now faces one charge of conspiracy to commit election fraud and another of bribery for allegedly trying “to bribe an employee of the registrar’s office with concert tickets” when both the employee and an election observer reported the incident.

The county’s top elections official, Dean Logan, said the arrests show that residents can trust in elections despite a plethora of questions surrounding the November presidential vote.

“[O]ur referral and the District Attorney’s subsequent investigation and charges demonstrate that attempts to perpetrate fraud on the voting process are trackable and will be prosecuted,” Logan said, according to the Times.

But perhaps knowing incidents like Galvan’s can occur anywhere isn’t too reassuring.

 

Expiación, by Vicky Contreras, closes film festival in Los Angeles

Shared from El Porvenir

 

It took 35 years of acting career for Francisco Gattorno to decide to go behind the movie camera and become a director.

And his debut feature Expiación (Atonement), the ghost of the cabin, will be the drama that closes the Standalone Film Festival at the iconic Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, on August 12.

The producer Vicky Contreras was the one who convinced the Cuban actor (El bienamado and El señor de los cielos to shout action! and cut! at the beginning of last year, before the pandemic arrival of Covid-19.

The story begins with a woman (Contreras) who feels guilty for the suicide of her husband (Gattorno), but he actually has a relationship with another woman (Alicia Machado).

In the middle there is a young man who suddenly disappears, but in reality he has been dead for years.

“It is the first film that he directs, I had already worked with him (as an actor in El buen Parricida (2015), we had already talked about doing a team project and now, when I presented the script, he said it was the one he wanted for debut and he did, “says Contreras, also a writer.

The Mexican has been living in the US for 18 years trying to promote Mexican cinema and Latin talent. In 2011, she created Ella Films Producción, a company with which she has produced about 20 feature films such as Frontera on the way to hell.

In Expiación, shot over three weeks on locations in California and Nevada, she brought together Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan and Spanish talent.

“We are seeing that the union is strength to create cinema, now we have a lot to give, a lot of potential that we are offering, Francisco, Alicia and I have been working hand in hand, a lot, to achieve it”, she considers.

The Standlone Film Festival, specialized in indie cinema, where Expiación will be, takes place from Aug. 6 to 12 in Los Angeles.

The film is one of the 24 chosen, from a universe of 1,700 registered, from 70 countries, that make up the program of the contest.

“Closing the festival for us is wonderful, especially after having passed so much filters, and being in the legendary Chinese Theater, who wouldn’t want to. After this there are invitations for more festivals and later, we will see what is the best way for it to reach the public”, she said.

 

MARIACHI USA’s 32nd annual music festival

After a year of absence due to the temporary closure of the Hollywood Bowl, caused by the pandemic, MARIACHI USA is back to delight audiences with the best of mariachi music.

MARIACHI USA artists and production team are beyond excited to return to the Hollywood Bowl after the difficult year we’ve all endured. We have missed our fans and are preparing a phenomenal show to celebrate family, pride & tradition.

MARIACHI USA’s 32nd annual music festival line-up includes two-time GRAMMY Award-winning Mariachi Divas, Mariachi Nuevo Mujer 2000, Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan, Mariachi Los Reyes, Mariachi Los Toros, special guest Lupita Infante and featuring Mi Tierra Ballet Folklorico.

Pre-show Plaza festivities, hosted by Rodri Entertainment, will be taking place at on August 22. It begins at 12 p.m. Doors open at 4 p.m. The show begins promptly at 5:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. concluding with the traditional sing-a-long finale and fireworks by Pyro Spectaculars.

BOXING OF NICARAGUA – Eduardo “Ratón” Mojica, the “Champion without a crown” of Nicaragua, dies

EFE agency shared

Managua, Aug 20 (EFE) .- Former boxer Eduardo “Ratón” Mojica, known in Nicaragua as the “Champion without a crown,” died this Friday at the age of 82, the victim of a heart attack, his relatives reported.

Mojica, one of the first references in Nicaraguan boxing, died in a Managua hospital where he had been admitted in the middle of the week due to “chest pains and fatigue,” according to information from his family.

El “Ratón”, the first great boxing idol in Nicaragua, owed his local fame as “Champion without a crown” to the fact that on June 8, 1968 he defeated the flyweight monarch, the Thai Chartchai Chionoi, in a fight in which the title of the world was not at stake.

His triumph over the Asian boxer was not accidental, since Mojica defeated several of the best classified to be world champions at the time.

His successful international career created the foundation for boxing as Nicaragua’s second most popular sport, behind baseball.

He also inspired the then young Alexis Argüello (1952-2009), a neighbor of his neighborhood in western Managua, who became a three-time world champion and today is considered the greatest athlete in the history of Nicaragua.

According to BoxRec, which registers the official international boxing records, the “Mouse” won 53 fights, 34 of them by knockout, and lost 22, without being knocked out.

Mojica, who suffered from Alzheimer’s in the last years of his life, was inducted into the Nicaraguan Sports Hall of Fame in 1995, an organization that defines him as “the best fighter produced in our country after Alexis Arguello.”

3,000 Michoacán avocado producers arm themselves against cartels

‘It’s cheaper to buy a rifle than to pay extortion’

 

by Mexico News Daily

 

Fed up with being besieged by criminal organizations, avocado and blackberry producers in Michoacán formed their own armed group that is successfully keeping cartel members out of four municipalities.

Some 3,000 farmers and farmhands from Salvador Escalante, Ario de Rosales, Nuevo Urecho and Taretán have taken up arms over the past eight months to defend themselves and their land from attacks by criminal organizations. A spate of kidnappings in the area and frequent demands for extortion money motivated them to act.

Now, according to a report by the newspaper Milenio, an armed private security force — “a parallel authority” — operates in the four neighboring municipalities, located approximately 100 kilometers southwest of Morelia.

“With high-powered weapons, they have shut off access to their communities for drug traffickers and hitmen, choosing who comes in and who doesn’t,” the report said.

Although the armed group — called Pueblos Unidos, or United Towns — has similarities to self-defense groups that have emerged in Michoacán and some other parts of Mexico in recent years, its members reject the autodefensas tag.

“We want to be very emphatic: we’re not autodefensas; we’re not a criminal group. Here in our lives, the only things we knew how to use were machetes. … Recently there has been the need to purchase some weapons, even though we’re afraid of not knowing how to use them correctly,” one of the men told Milenio.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Viagras posed the main threat as both criminal groups have sought to establish themselves in the region in recent years and have engaged in a turf war with each other.

But with their 54 roadblocks across all four municipalities the avocado and blackberry producers have kept the criminal groups out. One roadblock on the road to La Huacana, a municipality controlled by the CJNG that neighbors Ario and Nuevo Urecho to the south, is manned night and day by up to 150 heavily armed men.

Among the Pueblos Unidos members are men who have been hired by avocado producers to bolster the ranks of the fledgling security force.

“It’s cheaper to buy a rifle than to pay extortion,” one member said, referring to payments demanded of avocado producers by criminal groups, including Los Viagaras, whose members were reportedly asking for a 50,000-peso (about US $2,500) per hectare “protection” fee.

In the eight months that it has been protecting the four Michoacán municipalities, the Pueblos Unidos group has achieved good results, members say. It has driven criminals out of the area, and homicides, kidnappings and extortion have all declined.

One commander of the armed group told Milenio that there is no longer any trace of Los Viagras in Los Ates, a community in Ario.

“We had to follow them [the criminals] wherever they were. We combed the hills, walking — something that the government hasn’t done. We came together in groups of 20 to 60 to comb the hills, and we frightened them away,” he said.

The commander said that he and the other members of Pueblos Unidos don’t want to live “on the margin of the law” but have no choice due to authorities’ inaction. If municipal, state and federal forces were able to guarantee their security, the farmers would return to full-time work on their land, he said.

If the authorities don’t do that, he said, the avocado and blackberry producers should be allowed to set up their own government in the region and be given permission to legally bear arms, as has occurred in some other parts of Michoacán.

“They should give us permission to defend ourselves,” the commander said. “We also don’t want to be disarmed, and we want to be respected. … They should do the work we’re doing, and maybe we’ll withdraw.”

President López Obrador on Friday made his views clear about the formation of the armed group.

“My opinion is that … autodefensas shouldn’t exist, because the responsibility for security corresponds to the state. I’m not in favor of people arming themselves and forming groups to confront crime because that doesn’t yield results,” he said at his regular news conference.

The president also said that self-defense groups are used to hide or shelter criminals. He said “they disguise themselves as people fed up with violence.”

He called on Pueblo Unidos to trust authorities, including official security forces, claiming that they no longer collude with criminals, as occurred during past governments.

However, the federal government, which officially inaugurated a new security force — the National Guard — in 2019, was unable to reduce Mexico’s high levels of violent crime in its first two years in office, with homicide numbers reaching an all-time high of more than 34,000 in 2019 and decreasing just 0.4% last year.

López Obrador asserted Friday that his administration is now making progress in the fight against violence, a claim supported to some extent by data that shows that homicides fell 2.9% in the first five months of 2021.

“We’re advancing little by little but we’re making progress,” he said before acknowledging that the security situation had “broken down a lot.”

With reports from Milenio 

These steps can help protect your money and your information.

________________________________________________________________________________________

How a simple email or text message could open you up to fraud

Sponsored content from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The pandemic has accelerated identity theft – and the impact on people is significant. In fact, Americans have lost more than $382 million to scams related to stimulus checks and unemployment benefits, fake treatments for COVID-19 and more, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Even worse, Latino and Black consumers are more likely to be victims of fraud than their white counterparts.  That’s why it’s crucial to recognize activity designed to steal your hard-earned money.

JPMorgan Chase is available to help consumers learn to spot suspicious activity – from fake emails and texts to bogus claims about ways to stay healthy.  We sat down with Jeeny Freire-Ku, Market Manager for San Francisco, to discuss tips and best practices for securing a better financial future.

El Reportero: What should consumers be looking for when it comes to scammers?  

Jeeny: Let’s start with emails and texts. Phishing is the fancy name for emails pretending to be from reputable companies – including banks. They’re really from criminals who are trying to get your personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

The email could ask you to reply or click on a link that takes you to a website that looks like your bank’s site. Then they’ll ask you to give your username, password, account number, personal identification number (PIN), Social Security number or other personal information. Also, if you click on an attachment to that email, it could download software called malware that tracks or steals your information.

So, be very careful about clicking on a link in an email; instead go directly to the company’s website. And don’t click on attachments unless you’re sure it’s from someone you know and trust.

Scammers are increasingly starting to contact victims by text message or phone, most often from a number you don’t recognize, and telling you there’s a problem with your bank account, including that it’s closed, frozen or will be terminated unless you call a phone number or go to a website listed in the message and give your personal and/or account information.

El Reportero: Are there specific signs to look for?

Jeeny: Yes, here are a couple of surefire ones:

  • Scammers will often tell you there is a problem or a prize. They might say you are in trouble with the government, you owe money, someone in your family has an emergency, there is a problem with an account of yours, or that you won lottery money. Remember – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
  • After setting up the problem or prize, scammers will pressure you to act immediately. They want you to hand over your sensitive information before you have time to think. They might threaten you, stress a sense of urgency, or say time is running out. However, no legitimate business or government agency will pressure you in this way or ask for your personal information, like your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers over the phone or email.

El Reportero: How can consumers protect their money and their information?  

Jeeny: Here are few best practices:

  • Guard your online information. Download and update antivirus software for your computer, and don’t enter sensitive information into public computers or on unsecured networks. Also, be careful about giving out your financial username and passwords on the internet – this includes financial websites and apps that offer tools to help you manage your accounts, invest or prepare your taxes.
  • Make purchases only on secure websites. Look for the symbol of a lock in the address of an internet site. That will help protect your credit card number, expiration date and three-digit CVV.
  • Change your passwords often. Change your passwords frequently and use a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Don’t use your pet’s name, your child’s name, or anything else that could be easily figured out.
  • Create a separate password for each financial institution. This provides an additional level of protection in case there is an issue at one institution.
  • Monitor your accounts. Log into your accounts frequently – even daily – through online banking or on your mobile banking app to monitor transactions and your account balance. Look for transactions you don’t recognize. Also, check out your monthly statements and if there’s an issue, contact your bank right away.
  • Set up extra confirmation. The proper name is two-factor or multi-factor authentication. It just means you’ll need to take an extra step or two to access your information. For example, it could be requesting a text with a code be sent to the mobile phone number you gave the company before. At Chase, when you sign into your Chase account electronically for the first time or with a device we don’t recognize, we’ll ask you for your username, password and a temporary identification code. And we’ll send it to you by phone, email or text message.
  • Shred sensitive documents. Shred banking records, checks that you deposited through mobile banking and other documents that have your account information. Keep monthly checking and savings account statements in a secure location until you file your taxes and then shred those as well. Chase and other banks offer paperless statements, letting you see the information online without having to worry about paper.
  • Check your credit report. At least once a year, read through your credit reports carefully. You can request a free annual credit report from each of the three national credit reporting agencies, even if you don’t suspect any unauthorized activity on your account. Visit annualcreditreport.com.

El Reportero: How does Chase protect customers from fraud? 

Jeeny: We see it as a partnership; we help protect your accounts and information, and so do you. We monitor all of our accounts around the clock, including using security measures you can’t see.

Also, if we find or you flag a transaction that you didn’t authorize, we offer Zero Liability Protection, meaning you won’t be held responsible for it.

Stop by the Chase Market and Kearny Branch on 700 Market St to learn more about JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to customer security through our fraud prevention and protection tools. I look forward to working with you!

Descendants of Moctezuma: who are they and where do they live today?

Current Countess of Miravalle

 

Have you ever wondered what happened to the descendants of Moctezuma? We tell you about the life of some of them in Mexico and Spain.

 

It has been speculated about the tlatoani Moctezuma that he had a large number of wives and concubines, as well as sons and daughters, who, according to some figures, could have reached more than 150 when Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico-Tenochtitlán. However, the figure varies according to the source and it is not possible to know how many descendants he currently has.

 

Despite this, the truth is that Moctezuma had some notable descendants, whose descending genealogical line can be traced to this day. The most important of his daughters was Tecuichpo Ixcaxochitzin, who was christened Isabel Moctezuma in honor of the Spanish queen. She was the most beloved daughter of the tlatoani, who was born between 1503 and 1510.

 

Isabel: the best known descendants of Moctezuma

 

When Moctezuma was kidnapped by the colonizers, he asked Cortés to take care of his daughters: Isabel, María, and Marina. Some versions indicate that Cortés was the one who killed the tlatoani, while others mention that it was his own people who killed him when they saw his docility in front of the Spanish.

After the fall of Moctezuma, the Mexica people had a new tlatoani, Cuitláhuac, with whom Isabel married to give legitimacy to the government. The princess’s first marriage was short-lived, as the new tlatoani fell ill with smallpox and died.

Later, Isabel married the last Mexican tlatoani, Cuauhtémoc, who died at the hands of the Spanish. For the third time, Cortés arranged a marriage between Isabel and Alonso de Grado, who died a year later.

 

Isabel and Cortés

 

As a consequence, Hernán Cortés took Isabel as her concubine and forced her to have sex without consent. Leonor Cortés y Moctezuma was born from said violation. He initially forced Isabel to marry Pedro Gallego, who would take care of Isabel and Leonor. However, when noticing that Isabel did not want to take Leonor’s charge of her, he decided to recognize her and seek a tutor for her. Finally, Isabel married Juan Cano de Saavedra of her own free will, with whom she had six more children.

On her side, Leonor Cortés Moctezuma, whom her mother never wanted to see and even disinherited, married Juan de Tolosa, a Basque discoverer of the Zacatecas silver mines and had a life full of wealth.

On December 18, 1690, Carlos II granted the noble title of Count of Miravalle to Alonso Dávalos y Bracamontes, a descendant of Isabel Moctezuma and nephew of the Spanish king. The county had as territory the lands of the present Compostela, Nayarit. In addition, he owned – like all counts – a palace in Mexico City, on Calle de Isabel la Católica, in front of the Spanish casino. Today the House of the Counts of Miravalle houses the Downtown Hotel.

The children of Pedro Moctezuma

 

Another of the most important branches of descendants of Moctezuma was that of Tlacahuepantzin Yohualicahuacatzin, baptized as Pedro de Moctezuma and who died in 1570 and is buried in the Church of Santo Domingo. Diego Luis de Moctezuma, a descendant of Pedro, was taken to Spain and married the noble Francisca de la Cueva y Valenzuela. This offspring received the title of Duchy of Moctezuma de Tultengo. All the descendants of this line continued to be born in Spain.

Pablo Moctezuma Barragán, academic and politician, is among the descendants of the tlatoani in Mexico.

 

News of the descendants of Moctezuma

 

According to the historian, Blanca Barragán Moctezuma, a descendant of the emperor, by 2020 there are between 600 and 700 descendants of Moctezuma II in Mexico who are of legal age and in Spain around 350. Not all have noble titles. Another of the outstanding contemporary descendants in Mexico is Esteban Moctezuma, current Secretary of Public Education of the Government of Mexico.

In 2019, Federico Acosta and Ascanio Pignatelli, descendants of the Mexican emperor Moctezuma II and the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés, respectively, met in the Historic Center of Mexico City to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the meeting of their ancestors.

Today, the holder of the title of Duchy of Moctezuma de Tultengo is José Juan Marcilla de Teruel-Moctezuma y Valcárcel. In 2019, José Juan Marcilla spoke out against apologizing to the current King of Spain for crimes against native peoples during the conquest.

Jose Juan Marcilla

 

Along the line of Isabel Moctezuma, the current holder of the noble title is Carmen Ruiz Enríquez de Luna, XIII Countess of Miravalle, who lives in Andalusia, Spain. Until a few years ago, both the Spanish and Mexican governments granted a gold pension to the descendants of this line. In the event that the controversial pension was instituted again, Carmen Ruiz assures that she would use it to “help the indigenous Mexican peoples, which will surely come in handy for them; through a foundation or any other system. Because those theoretical sixty thousand dollars a year would have to be distributed among many descendants and it would not get us out of being poor. ”

XI Count of Miravalle, in his military post in North Africa, first decade of the 20th century.

 

PUBLIC NOTICE – CITY OF MENLO PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT LAW INITIATIVE

BY MEANS OF THIS NOTICE THAT the following initiative
of law will be put to the vote of the qualified electors of the
Menlo Park City School District on Tuesday, November 2,
2021 in the Special Election.
SCHOOL DISTRICT LAW INITIATIVE
MENLO PARK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
PLOT TAX LAW INITIATIVE
LAW INITIATIVE ___ (APPROVAL REQUIRED BY 2/3
OF THE VOTERS)
Should the bill be taken to: protect schools
outstanding audiences, attract and retain high-quality teachers;
support essential academic and enrichment programs; Y
ensure a reasonable class size at Encinal, Laurel,
Oak Knoll, and Hillview by renewing the parcel tax that is
for defeating the Menlo Park City School District to a new
rate of $ 598 per parcel, which will expire after 12 years, providing
$ 4,600,000 each year, with exemptions for seniors,
annual adjustments, independent oversight, and that all funds
stay locally?
Otherwise _________
IT IS ALSO NOTIFIED that the main arguments in favor or in
against the aforementioned bill may be presented
in writing to the Registration & Elections Division.
Division), 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, CA 94402, for printing
and distribution to voters, in accordance with the provisions of the Code
California Election, until 5:00 P.M. August 13, 2021.
The refutation arguments of the authors of said arguments
Main can be presented in the same way until 5:00
P.M. August 23, 2021.
Printed arguments submitted to voters will be titled Now
be “Argument in Favor of Measure ___” or “Argument in
Against the Initiative of Law ___ ”, and“ Rebuttal to the Argument in Favor
of the Initiative of Law ___ ”or“ Rebuttal to the Argument Against the
Initiative of Law ___ ”respectively.
All the arguments referring to the aforementioned initiative of
law must have the following model declaration attached, which must be
be signed by each author and proponent, if they were different, of the
argument:
The undersigned (s) proponent (s) or author (s) of the argument ___________
(main or rebuttal) ______ (for or against) the Initiative
of Law ___ on the Electoral Ballot of ___________________ (name
of the election) of the _____________________ (name of jurisdiction)
to be held on _______________ (election date),
hereby declare (s) that said argument is true and correct
to the best of your knowledge and understanding.

Signed Date
_________________________ ___________________________
_________________________ ___________________________
The main arguments will not exceed 300 words. Will be selected
only one argument in favor and one argument against each
measure to be printed and distributed to voters. The
arguments may not have more than five signatures.
The authors of the main arguments for or against each
bill may draft and present rebuttal arguments
that do not exceed 250 words. Authors can authorize in writing
to any other person or persons to draft, present, or sign the
rebuttal argument. Rebuttal arguments may not carry
more than five signatures.
IT IS ALSO NOTIFIED that an inspection period will be established
10 calendar days for the public review of said arguments.
During this period, any registered voter eligible to vote in
the measure, or the election official, can request a mandate
court or an order requiring that some or all of the material
be amended or deleted. The argument review period
Major for or against ballot bills
will start at 5:00 P.M. of August 13, 2021 and will end on
5:00 P.M. of August 23, 2021. The review period of the
rebuttals to the main arguments for or against the
Ballot measures will begin at 5:00 P.M. of the
August 23, 2021 and will end at 5:00 P.M. from September 2
of 2021.
IT IS ALSO NOTIFIED that the Electoral Ballots for Voting by
Mail, Voting Center Ballots, and Ballots
Provisional Elections marked for the Election to be held
held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 will be computed on the spot
listed below:
San Mateo County
Registration and Elections Division
40 Tower Road
San Mateo, CA 94402
IT IS ALSO NOTIFIED that in said election the voting places
They will be open from 7:00 A.M. hours, until 8:00 P.M. hours,
on the mentioned day.
Dated: Aug 13, 2021
/F/
___________________________________

California Gubernatorial Recall Election Opens on Monday, August 16

Beginning August 16, the Voting Center in City Hall will be open as follows to all local voters who wish to register to vote or vote in person, use accessible voting equipment, receive personal assistance, or return their mailed ballots:

·         Every weekday (except Labor Day, September 6), from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

·         The last two weekends (September 4-5 and September 11-12), from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

·         On Election Day (Tuesday, September 14), from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Voting Center stocks official bilingual ballots and voting materials in English and Chinese, Filipino and Spanish, as well as facsimile ballots in Burmese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese, and offers accessible voting tools such as page magnifiers and pen grips, as well as accessible ballot-marking devices with touchscreen/audio format and personal assistive device compatibility. Any voter may request to vote “curbside” at the Voting Center by calling (415) 554-4375 or by asking a companion to enter the Voting Center to request delivery of voting materials to the voter.

Up through August 30, any eligible San Franciscan can register to vote and/or receive a vote-by-mail ballot packet to vote onsite at the Voting Center or take home and return by mail or in person at a later time. After August 30, any eligible resident can still register and vote a provisional ballot onsite.

There will be several ballot drop-off stations set up outside the Voting Center allowing for easy and convenient access for pedestrians, drivers, and bicyclists. Ballot drop-off stations will be located under blue tents, have red ballot boxes bearing the official seal of the City and County of San Francisco, and staffed by Department of Elections personnel available to accept voted vote-by-mail ballots during Voting Center hours.

As required by the San Francisco Health Officer’s Safer Return to Work Health Order No. C19-07y, all individuals must wear a face mask in indoor public settings at all times. To mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety of all voters, observers, elections workers, and the general public, it is vital that all Voting Center visitors wear a facial covering at all times while inside City Hall. Face masks will be available at City Hall entrances to voters without a facial covering. As additional preventative measures, the Department has installed plexiglass partitions at each ballot-issuing station and will make masks, hand sanitizer and gloves available to all Voting Center visitors.

Anyone with questions about registration or voting is encouraged to call the Department of Elections at (415) 554-4375 or write to sfvote@sfgov.org.

Chase Survey Finds Demand for Digital Banking Tools Continues to Grow

Chase’s most recent survey examines consumers’ relationship with cash, savings and digital banking tools one year after the start of the pandemic.

Consumers Want More Personalization

Consumers want their bank to offer personalized tools and information to make them more informed about their savings and spending habits:

  • Gen Z are Early Adopters: 79% percent of Gen Z respondents said they would want more personalized offers or information from their banks to help them achieve their financial goals and save at their favorite retailers.
  • Personalization Boosts Savings: 41% of respondents wish their bank provided more personalized offers or information to help them achieve their financial goals, and save at their favorite retailers.
    • 48% of respondents believe personalized banking data, such as their spending habits, would help them to make changes in how they spend their money

Digital Features Offer Convenience

A strong majority of consumers cited they prefer to deposit money into their account using a mobile app. Mobile deposit options, like Chase QuickDeposit℠, provide flexibility to consumers, allowing them to deposit checks from virtually anywhere.

  • Deposit Dependency: 89% of respondents use a mobile app to deposit money at their bank.
  • Mobile Deposits Increase from Baby Boomers: More than half (52%) of Baby Boomers are now using mobile apps to deposit money in the bank.
  • Shared Preferences: Almost equal percentages of men (91%) and women (87%) use a mobile app to deposit money at their bank.

Contactless Payments and Cash Usage

As the pandemic moved into 2021, consumers continued to favor contactless payments. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, like  Zelle®1, provide convenience and security to consumers when making payments, with some consumers still not comfortable using cash post-vaccine. The survey found that:

  • Cash hasn’t been recrowned the king, yet: 13% of Baby Boomers and Gen Z agreed they would not feel comfortable using cash again, even post-pandemic.
  • Contactless Payments are a Must: 47% of respondents have started or continued to use contactless payment options in 2021 to avoid physical interactions amid the ongoing pandemic.
  • Convenience is Key: 73% of overall respondents also believe contactless payments are a more convenient form of payment.

Saving Is A Priority

As found in Chase’s 2020 Digital Banking Attitudes Study, 40 % of respondents said they looked forward to contributing more to their savings accounts in 2021 and believed automated tools would play an important role.  The new survey found:

  • The majority of respondents are using automatic saving features: 84% of respondents cited they currently use digital tools for saving, like Chase Autosave, which allows consumers to set up automatic and customized savings preferences.
  • Mobile apps help improve saving habits: On average, 41% of respondents believe seeing their credit and debit card usage, understanding their cash flow and reviewing their top spending categories would help them adjust their money management habits.

This information is based on a survey fielded between April 23-26, 2021 among 2,005 men and women, between the ages of 18 to 57+.

As of Q2 2021, Chase has nearly 57 million digitally active customers (+10% YoY) and roughly 43 million mobile active customers (+ 10% YoY).

For more information about Chase’s digital banking features, visit www.chase.com/digital/banking.

Privacy Company’ Apple plans to monitor all US iPhones for evidence of child porn

EDITOR’S NOTE

 

Dear readers:

 

Will this idea work against our privacy well protected by the US Constitution? – Marvin Ramirez

 

by Tyler Durden

 

As the old saying goes: If you aren’t doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to fear from surveillance.

Smartphones already act like tracking devices broadcasting the whereabouts of their owners, but Apple is about to open the door to far more advanced forms of smartphone-based voluntary surveillance by launching a new program designed to detect and report iPhone users who are found to have child pornography – known by the academic-speak acronym CSAM – which stands for Child Sexual Abuse Materials. According to a handful of academics who were offered a sneak preview of the company’s plans – then promptly spilled the beans on Twitter, and in interviews with the press.

The new system, called “neuralMatch”, is expected to be unveiled by Apple later this week. The software is expected to be installed on American iPhones via a software update. According to the FT, the automated system can proactively alert a team of human reviewers if it believes CSAM is present on a user’s iPhone. If the reviewers can verify the material, law enforcement will be contacted.

This is how “neuralMatch” will work, per the FT:

Apple’s neuralMatch algorithm will continuously scan photos that are stored on a US user’s iPhone and have also been uploaded to its iCloud back-up system. Users’ photos, converted into a string of numbers through a process known as “hashing”, will be compared with those on a database of known images of child sexual abuse.

The system has been trained on 200,000 sex abuse images collected by the US non-profit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

One academic who was offered a preview of the software explained why this could create serious privacy risks. Apple has gotten a lot of positive press for its commitment to user privacy – remember when it refused to crack an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters? Well, this encryption technology has become a perennial headache for law enforcement. Last January, Apple quietly abandoned plans to allow users to fully encrypt their iCloud backups due to complains from law enforcement.

Now, Apple has found a middle ground: it will assume responsibility for policing iPhones – well, at least to a degree. To accomplish this, the company is rolling out a new machine-learning tool that will scan iPhones for images that match certain “perceptual hashes” known to represent child pornography. But as academics have complained, could potentially be misled.

What’s more, the tool that’s today being used to unearth child pornography could one day be abused by authoritarian governments (like the CCP). And once Apple has committed to using this type of surveillance, governments will demand it from everyone.

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