CMC Live from Burgerville and a Ride with Mia Birk

Is cycling going mainstream or just selling out?

Join the discussion/ride NOON TODAY here at CrankMyChain.com OR bring your bike meet us at Burgerville on Hawthorne Blvd.

I'll be talking to Burgerville spokesman Jack Graves. From there we'll do a gentle tour of Ladd's while we interview Alta Planning's Mia Birk about her upcoming book and preview tonight's forum with David Byrne, Jonathan Maus, and Timo Forsberg (we'll be giving away a couple copies of David Byrne’s new book to the first two web viewers to connect their video feed and ask for it).

I am trying to arrange some goodies from Burgerville for those who show up on bikes. If that falls through, I’ll buy you a hamburger or something. Vegan? That’ll be a future show.

Live from Downtwon Portland's "Cycle Track"

CrankMyChain! Two-Way TV live at noon from downtown Portland's new buffered bike path.

CrankMyChain! Two-Way TV Live - On a Trike Down by the River

sorry if you missed the show - best one yet!!! We actually broadcast from the disco trike on a dock on the river and were visited by ducks and a group from Americore.

CrankMyChain! Two-Way TV Live Independence Edition

Live from the Portland, Oregon Waterfront. Today we're talking American Independence - Please join the discussion right here. No need to register just start a chat or login with Stickam.com if you want to send us your video feed.

Update: our most watched show yet!

Meet A.U.T.O Lobbyist Veronica Moss

New York City, NY - This is Jonathan's Maus (bikeportland.org) wayward sister who changed the spelling of her name and moved to New York City. They have not spoken for years.

Idaho 'Rolling' Stops for Bicycles in Oregon

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Animation by Spencer Boomhower.

The Oregon Legislature is considering passage of a law that would allow bicycle riders to treat stop signs as yield signs. These "rolling stops" would allow bike riders to preserve some of the momentum they depend upon for efficient travel, just so long as they don't infringe on the safety and rights of others.

The law is based on one that's been successful in Idaho for the last 27 years, so it's come to be known as the "Idaho Stop" law.

There's some controversy - and whole lot of misunderstanding - surrounding the proposed Idaho Stop law. Spencer Boomhower does a great job helping clear thing up with the magic of animation.

Music: "Celebrated Shoo Fly Galop" by W.L. Hayden, performed by Lucas Gonze (soupgreens.com and gonze.com). Used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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Citizens Opposition and Alternatives to the CRC Rally

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PORTLAND, Ore. - Sunday’s Citizen’s Opposition and Alternatives to the Columbia River Crossing rally felt like a sea change. Participants were we greeted by warm spring weather, excellent speeches, and solidarity in opposition to the I-5 CRC crossing as it’s being presented currently.

Several groups and governments from both sides of the river (and aisle) were represented and spoke to the large crowd at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Find out more at SmarterBridge.org


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Have We Got a Bridge to Sell You! - BSN HACKED!

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In our third snippet from the Bridge Shopping Network things go “all-CSPAN” as the show is hacked live into the Joe Cortright’s formal testimony at the Jan 29th Portland City Council meeting on the Columbia River Crossing (CRC). It's surely not what the BS Network hosts have in mind, as things become wonky and counter-productive to their sales pitch. Toward the end of the video hack, Cortright is questioned by Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard.

Ride you bike to this Sunday’s Citizen’s Opposition and Alternatives Rally 12-noon at Tom McCall Waterfront Park Near the Morrison Bridge. Semi-Organized Rides to the rally are posted here. Find out more at smarterbridge.org. You can also stay up to date at bikeportland.org.

See you Sunday!


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Have We Got a Bridge to Sell You! "The CRC Cures Cancer"

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"Cures Cancer" is the second in a series of spoofs by the Bridge Shopping Network (BSN) made to promote the Citizen's Opposition and Alternatives to the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) rally, which is being held noon Sunday, April 5th at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park (north of the Hawthorne Bridge). To find out more about the Columbia River Crossing and see better alternatives see smarterbridge.org. The video was produced by Dan Kaufman crankmychain.com and Joe 'Metal Cowboy' Kurmaskie metalcowboy.com.

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Have We Got a Bridge to Sell You! - The Columbia River Crossing

Building Like it's 1959 is the first in a series of spoofs by the Bridge Shopping Network (BSN) made to promote the Citizen's Opposition and Alternatives to the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) rally, which is being held noon Sunday, April 5th at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park (north of the Hawthorne Bridge).

To find out more about the Columbia River Crossing and see better alternatives see SmarterBridge.org

The video was produced by Dan Kaufman-CrankMyChain.tv and Joe 'Metal Cowboy' Kurmaskie-metalcowboy.com .

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Whatever Happened to Critical Mass in Portland

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A Post-Critical Mass Portland: Living in a Post-Revolutionary Bicycle Age from Joe Biel on Vimeo.

What does it mean that Portland, one of the best North American cities for cycling, has virtually no Critical Mass? Is it no longer relevant in the evolution of cyclists or has the police crackdown just been so successful? What are the new goals of cyclists?

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Rep. Boehner Thinks American Families Hate Bike Paths

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Excerpt of Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) from "Face the Nation" - 1/11/09
See more on the story at BikePortland.org
http://bikeportland.org/2009/01/12/rep-john-boehner-widen-highways-for-american-families/
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Transportation Liberation Roadshow

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38 Minutes

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This post is quite a bit longer than typical but I hope you will take the time hook this up to your TV, get comfortable, and watch the whole thing - especially if you have been thinking about going car free or are an advocate for driving less.

Car-free living is a lifestyle choice that yields abundant rewards: freedom from the economic burdens of personal motorized transportation, improved physical and emotional well-being, reduced noise and pollution, and traffic structures that are gentler on the land and its citizens. Communities are brought closer together as people increasingly interact face-to-face, rather than from within steel shells. Liberation from private motorized transportation makes us a richer, healthier, happier people living in cleaner, quieter, friendlier neighborhoods.

In this multimedia workshop, Obbie and RoZ describe the steps on their trail toward Transportation Liberation, and discuss a multitude of pragmatic ideas on how to make driving optional. The program is punctuated by personal narratives (including sights and sounds) of good and bad transportation methods witnessed during extensive research in North America and Europe.

During ten years as a traveling campaigner for sustainable lifestyles, Obbie learned about transportation by experiencing nearly every major American city as a driver, bicyclist, and transit rider. Since RoZ joined him in 1993, they've sworn off car-dependence and have been car-free since 2003. They are based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they are outspoken advocates for the rights of bicyclists and pedestrians, and for the types of community design that make car-free living both possible and pleasant.

This is the synopsis of the presentation from the the Zs website purplearth.net. I recorded this audio at their presentation the CarFree Conference at Portland State University last June.

If you would like to book the live presentation please contact purplearth.
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GOP Mocks Bicycling and Walking

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The National Republican Congressional Committee funded this attack ad against 3rd District Pennsylvania Democratic contender, Kathy Dahlkemper.

They think she is asking Americans to sacrifice too much by walking and biking more. They call her out for opposing the GOP red herrings of gas tax reduction and offshore drilling.

Informed voters know that neither domestic drilling nor gas tax reduction will have an impact on gas prices or American dependency on foreign dictatorships.

Oil companies are already making record profits and they will be happy to sit on domestic oil reserves until they need them (as they are currently doing). They will also be happy to take the extra profit a reduction in gas taxes would bring.

It seems to me this attack ad will backfire. See the original ad here:

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Cycology Today Cable Access Show

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BEAVERTON, Ore. - This is a 60-minute cable access program I participated in on Tuesday. I enjoyed and was inspired by the main guests from B.I.K.E. River City Bicycles Cyclisme Team and their coach John Beninati. What's more you can see my five minutes of cable access fame as part of the "Events Corner" (26-minutes into the show).

"Cycology Today" (CYCT) is the new name for "NW Cycling" TV show produced through Washington County Oregon. Host, Executive Producer and Owner of the show Bruce Buffington and co-host Ann Morrow spend an hour to help inform, educate and entertain the Bicycling community. Dennis Gleason is the Associate Producer and Executive Director for this program and Dark Wing Productions provides the Direction and Production services. CYCT is produced using the facilities at TVCTV in Beaverton Oregon. Please provide feed back, both positive and negative, but please be appropriate, so that we can make updates to make the show better. Thank you, Cycology Today Management Team

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Bike Commute Challenge

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The Bike Commute Challenge is a friendly competition — workplace against workplace — to see who can get more people biking to work in September. Any business, non-profit or public agency is eligible to participate — and individual cyclists can also participate on their own. Businesses and non-profits compete in one category, while public agencies and bike shops each compete in a category of their own. Within those categories, workplaces are divided by number of employees, to keep competition fair.


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Crimanimalz - So. Cal Freeway Ride

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Text from the Crimanimalz:

Mission
The ride's political stance and agenda was neutral, many participants invoked the group's collective motto: "If you rode a bicycle, you'd be home by now!" -- a statement against oil dependency, in support of sustainable living and a collective critique of the Los Angeles transportation infrastructure. The riders are pointing out that in a city like Los Angeles made for cars, bicycle riders are reaching their destinations faster.

Long Term Goals
Members of the CRIMANIMALZ are looking for city officials to make bicycle safety a priority, not only through the creation of safe and easy places to ride, but also as a means of transportation on the city's increasingly busy thoroughfares. With rising gas prices and a government encouraging sustainable practices, more people are expected to turn to bikes as an alternative means of transportation.

Music:
Funderstorm - "Why Didja Duh Eeet"
http://www.myspace.com/thefunderstorm

The Ride Friday, May 9th, 2008
At 5:30pm starting in Santa Monica, 28 bicyclists took surface streets to the 1-10 Fwy at Bundy and rode 0.44 miles to the I-405 N on-ramp and rode another 1.56 miles to the Santa Monica Blvd. exit during rush hour. The ramp to the I-405 N was a steep grade and 0.65 miles in length. Riders spanned a total of 2.0 freeway miles.
The group of riders also hung a 20'x6' banner on the 17th street overpass overlooking the eastbound I-10 Freeway in Santa Monica that read RIDE A BIKE YOU'D BE HOME BY NOW.
The sign remained in place for over 48 hours.

Media Information
____________________

YouTube
CRIMANIMALZ - The Freeway Ride I
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4NLmiuyLa98

Website
http://www.crimanimalz.com
http://www.myspace.com/crimanimalz

Vimeo Channel (Videos)
http://www.vimeo.com/crimanimalz

FLICKR Pool (Photographs)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crimanim...

IBIKEU Wiki (History)
http://www.ibikeu.com/wiki/index.php/...

To view California Highway Patrol Reaction to the Freeway Traffic Jam Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7...

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Tour de Homes

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PORTLAND, OR - Realtor Kirsten Kaufman has been doing most of her commuting by bicycle this year and she recently started her Tour De Homes.

Tour de Homes takes potential home buyers and interested folks through a Portland neighborhood that is well suited for people who prefer to bike, walk, or take public transport.

They can dig in and see what's on the market and what makes the neighborhood special all at bicycle pace.

In the interest of full disclosure, Kirsten Kaufman is my wife. If you know someone who is looking to buy or sell a home in Portland, please contact her at 503.233.9513 or KirstenKaufman.com.

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Summer Streets 2008 (NYC)

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NEW YORK CITY, NY -
From Streetfilms.org

Feeling remarkably similar to Bogota's Ciclovia, the New York City Department of Transportation held its first Summer Streets event on Saturday by opening 7 miles of city streets to pedestrians and bike traffic only. From 7 AM to 1 PM, roads were car-free from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge with Park Avenue serving as the backbone of the route. Our Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is the real deal - she spent the entire day riding a bike around the course (and even said some nice things about me to my mom.)

We'll spare you the 200 adjectives we could list about how transformational it was, for it was beyond anything on the printed page. The general consensus was that the event succeeded beyond even the most hoped for expectations and would pass even the most pessimistic of measuring sticks. A page has been turned, clearly there is no doubt: the future will hold many more large scale street openings for pedestrians, cyclists, runners, children, dog walkers, dancers, and any other reasonable livable space use.

The swarms of people and happy faces made for much positive energy. Around noon, some blocks were getting very crowded, but there was a general courtesy that existed between pedestrians and cyclists. The city built it - and the people came. And they smiled a lot.

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RE: Road Rage - a Song

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xtra.newsweek.com linked to a video I posted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFiwir...

I didn't shoot the video and am not the only who posted it but it's not gone a bit viral and I am getting a lot of comments. I thought I'd make a response with some comments and a I just wrote song.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video

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(.mp4)

Pedal Power on CBS Sunday Morning Show

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USA - CBS News Sunday Morning ran a thorough piece on bicycle transportation and covered Portland extensively including a brief segment with yours truly and my boyz rolling the “bike train”. There is also some great coverage of Portland Transportation Commissioner (and mayor elect) Sam Adams, Alta Planning’s Mia Birk, and visit at Clever Cycles.

Sorry the footage is a bit grainy. I pulled from the show from my old VCR and Channel 6 doesn't come in so well at my house.

(CBS) "Pedal Power" is coming into its own these days, as Americans of all ages are coming to realize biking can be practical, economical, and good clean fun - or should we say, good GREEN fun? Our Cover Story takes us from California to Cambridge, and is reported by Serena Altschul.

See the full story at CBSnews.com.

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Sunday Parkways "Ciclovía" in Portland

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PORTLAND, Ore. - It's taken me way too long to post this great video by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. of Streetfilms.org. There so many bikey friends, from Aaron Tarfman and his transportation trike, Linda, Timo, and Coach Dan with the 411, and Jonathan Maus Channeling Gil Peñalosa and so many smiles from young and old.

Portland's first Sunday Parkways was a huge success with tens of thousands of Portlanders converging on the North Portland streets, parks and sidewalks. Don't be surprised if this kind of event, originally started in Bogotá, becomes a mainstay all over the world.

Here is the write up from Streetsblog:

Despite a very dreary and damp first half of the day, Portland's first Ciclovia-style street closure, Sunday Parkways, was a smashing success with countless thousands of city residents participating. It was like a giant community block party with walkers, bikers, joggers, bladers, families, and pets filling the 6 mile course.

There were plenty of fun activities in four northeast parks that were linked by the circuit, which was opened to bikes and pedestrian traffic only from 8 AM to 2 PM. For cities planning their own Ciclovias, here are some things I liked about Portland's event: knowledgeable volunteers, lots of fun chalk messages on the ground, easy to follow directions, lots of music & entertainment, and a huge number of bike stations for bike repair.

If you want more Sunday Parkways be sure to let people know.

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Get Behind the Bike Box

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This video is not intended to be viewed by children and the language is foul.

PORTLAND, OR - There have been a lot of bike box videos uploaded to The internets latley. But how are bike boxes being recieved by your average Joes?

Well, I got my hands on some footage a couple jokers shot right down on Hawthorne Blvd. by the liquor store. I think I know who the biker chick is but I won't name names.

Anyway, this once again proves that Portland is much more fun because of bicyclists.

My advice to the bike box curious: get a bike and get busy in the bike box.

 

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Depaving Day at Carfree Conference

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From Streetfilms.org
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Towards Carfree Cities VIII kicked off Monday in Portland, Oregon with an exciting community event. Hundreds of conference participants helped break and remove asphalt from a 3000 square foot parking lot. Depave.org is the mastermind behind the Fargo Garden Project. They promote the removal of unnecessary concrete and asphalt from urban areas. Depave.org will continue to work with Goldsmith Properties to transform this now asphalt-free site into a community greenspace. Once completed, the site will be used to educate the public about pavement removal and storm water drainage management. Notice an example of Depave's work in this video at founder Arif Khan's house.
Music by Reptet and Dreamtime Stilters.


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Live Webcast at the Carfree Conference Public Day

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We'll be live all day today 9-5pm at the Carfree conference http://carfreeportland.org. It's public day so come on down and check it out. You can also watch it here live (see below and be sure your browers is opened fully. If you have any trouble visit http://stickam.com/carfree. You can also get the schedule for the rest of the week there.




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Carfree Conference Starts With Pavement Wrecking

WATCH IT HERE LIVE at 10 AM

Please be patient while this loads. Also open browser large enough to view video conference. If you have any trouble try CarfeePortland.orgPORTLAND, Ore. - The Carfree Conference Starts today and we're going to start by tearing up some asphalt and turning into a greenspace. Watch it here live at around 10AM.


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Do What I Like at the Carfree Conference

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PORTLAND, Ore. - The International Carfree Conference is coming to to town so I wrote a song called "Do What I Like".

Plus CrankMyChain! is going to be live webcasting from the conference so check the live feed here or at carfreeportland.org.

Check out the schedule and the feed at stickam.com/carfree.

The Towards Carfree Cities conference series brings together people from around the world who work to promote practical alternatives to car dependence. The conference attracts professionals, advocates, and community leaders who focus on the creation of sustainable transportation systems and on the transformation of cities, towns, and villages into human-scaled environments rich in public space and community life. The fundamental role of the conference is to share knowledge and assist the practical work of conference participants, whether it be organizing community events, promoting urban cycling, or building the carfree cities of the future.To learn more, contact the conference team at http://www.carfreeportland.org

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Bike2Oz - The Home Stretch - Ep. 12 & 13

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After a week on a cargo ship, the epic bicycle journey from England nears and end. Australia looms and with it Lowannas family. Only 2 weeks to cycle down from Brisbane to the finale in Sydney.


Click to play Episdoe 13
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The cyclists on the final leg of the epic adventure. Heading down South along the coast of Australia. Past kangaroos to finish at the Heart of Sydney.

Bike2Oz was produced by Undercurrents find out more about Bike2Oz here.

I hope you enjoyed this video series as much as I did. This is exactly the type of independent cycling related movie I was hoping to find when I started CrankMyChain.TV almost two years ago. Do you have an adventure in mind? What's stopping you?


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Brooklyn to Manhattan Commuter Race

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From StreetFilms.org
NEW YORK, NY - Transportation Alternatives held its 7th annual Commuter Challenge pitting cyclist, driver, and bus/subway rider in the ultimate showdown of which mode of travel can be quickest (and cheapest!)

In the end, the bike proved swiftest over the 4.5 mile course which began in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and ended in Manhattan’s Union Square. Jamie Favaro rolled up in just over 16 minutes and took home the gold and a bouquet of flowers for her efforts. Driver, Emmanuel Fuentebella (22 minutes) parked his car and sprinted to a surprise second place finish. Shortly after, disappointed MTA rider April Greene came in last at 29 minutes. But, as Wiley Norvell noted at the finish line, Transportation Alternatives also measured the carbon footprint of all the the riders and Greene came in a close second behind the cyclist.




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Obama in Portland: Invest in Bicycle Infrastructure

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PORTLAND, OR - To a crowd of 75,000 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland Oregon, Presidential hopeful Barack Obama called for the nation to get serious about it's energy issues and model Portland's investment in Bicycles and Alternate means of transportation.

Of course this seems an obvious solution to cycling advocates but with all the talk from the candidates there has been little mention of bicycles and specifically investment in bicycle infrastructure.

Here is the full quote:

"If we are going to solve our energy problems we have to think long term. It's time to be serious about investing in alternative energy. It's time to be serious about raising fuel efficiency standards in our cars. It's time for our entire country to learn from what's happening right here in Portland with mass transit and bicycle lanes and funding alternative means of transportation. That's the kind of solution we need for America..." this was greeted by some of the loudest applause of his speech.

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CrankMyChain! Cycle TV endorses Barack Obama for President, Sam Adams for Mayor of Portland and Chris Smith for Commissioner.

Today is the last day for Oregonians to drop off their ballots for the Primary election.


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