Kim Alexander's Weblog
CVF President and Founder Kim Alexander highlights voting technology developments around the state and nation and shares her views in her weblog. Contact Kim via email at kimalex at calvoter dot org. (XML Available)
Recent Posts
California Election Preview from CVF now online
Online voter registration bill moves forward
Robocalls violate state law according to CA PUC
New California voter registration form debuts
Talking about the 2010 race for Governor on NPR's ...
PBS' P.O.V. documentary on Election Day in the USA...
November ballot proposition numbers assigned
SB 381 sails out of Assembly Elections committee
Assembly elections committee hearing today; online...
The Associated Press published this story over the...
Wednesday, August 6
California Election Preview from CVF now online
CVF's web site now features an Election Preview for the November 4, 2008 Presidential election. CVF staff are working on a new California Online Voter Guide, which will debut in the Fall; in the meantime, the Election Preview features a list of the propositions on the ballot and links to key election information sites and resources.
(# 1:47 PM)
Friday, August 1
Online voter registration bill moves forward
A bill to allow the Secretary of State to implement online voter registration, SB 381, is receiving bipartisan support in the Legislature according to an article by John Wildermuth in Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle, featured below.
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Californians may soon be able to use their computers to register to vote and they can thank the state Department of Motor Vehicles for the chance.
The bill to allow online registration, SB381, co-authored by state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, has rolled through the state Senate with few complaints and awaits final approval by the Assembly before going to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arizona and Washington already have such systems, and online registrations there are surging. While would-be California voters now can fill out the voter registration form online from the secretary of state's Web site, they must print the form, sign it and mail it to their county election office.
Calderon's bill would computerize the entire process by allowing the secretary of state to replace the personal signature with the digitized signatures already online for people who have received California driver's licenses and identification cards.
Signatures that appear on the licenses and cards are as secure as those on voter registration cards, Calderon said, because Californians have to appear in person at the DMV, present a birth certificate or other identification, sign the application and have their photo and thumbprint taken.
"While there were some early security concerns, we eased them by requiring the driver's license number, date of birth and the last four digits of the Social Security number to be entered on the online registrations," the senator added.
The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly's election committee, with the support of two Republican members, while the Assembly appropriations committee approved it on an 11-4 vote along party lines.
"My main concern is that voting security is not tight enough as it is and allowing online registration won't help," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs (Butte County), who voted against the bill in committee. "We should set a high bar for people looking to vote and there are already a lot of fake IDs out there."
Calderon, chair of the Senate elections committee, came up with the bill after talking to Secretary of State Debra Bowen last year about ways to increase voter registration, which has held steady at about 70 percent of the state's eligible voters.
"This will help people registering close to the deadline or who are traveling or in the military," he said.
Bowen is supporting the bill, which she believes will especially appeal to young people who are accustomed to conducting much of their business online.
"Secretary Bowen believes this is the next logical step for voter registration," said Kate Folmar, a spokeswoman for the secretary. "You can file tax returns online, you can register your car online, so you should be able to register to vote online."
The programs in Arizona and Washington have had few, if any, problems. Arizona's EZ Vote system has been in use since 2002 and more than 70 percent of voter registrations are now done on the Internet.
Washington's Legislature approved online registration last year and the system went live in January. Already, 40 percent of new registrations are done online, said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections in the Washington secretary of state's office.
"It's really been very popular here," she said. "Both voters and local election administrators like it because it's so much faster."
Despite complaints from some GOP legislators, the lack of organized opposition to California's online registration plan is surprising given concerns about the security of voting machines, ballot results and everything else connected with elections. Several states, including Arizona, already require identification from everyone showing up at the polls to cast a ballot.
But online voter registration is different from online voting and presents a much lower level of security concerns, said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.
"It's a different challenge, since voter registration cards aren't secret and ballots are," she said. "There are a lot of things about voting that don't work online, but voter registration is one thing that might."
Even if Calderon's bill sails through the Legislature and is signed by the governor, it's going to be awhile before it takes effect. The bill first requires that a new statewide voter registration database be operating, which isn't expected to happen until next year.
----------
Californians may soon be able to use their computers to register to vote and they can thank the state Department of Motor Vehicles for the chance.
The bill to allow online registration, SB381, co-authored by state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, has rolled through the state Senate with few complaints and awaits final approval by the Assembly before going to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arizona and Washington already have such systems, and online registrations there are surging. While would-be California voters now can fill out the voter registration form online from the secretary of state's Web site, they must print the form, sign it and mail it to their county election office.
Calderon's bill would computerize the entire process by allowing the secretary of state to replace the personal signature with the digitized signatures already online for people who have received California driver's licenses and identification cards.
Signatures that appear on the licenses and cards are as secure as those on voter registration cards, Calderon said, because Californians have to appear in person at the DMV, present a birth certificate or other identification, sign the application and have their photo and thumbprint taken.
"While there were some early security concerns, we eased them by requiring the driver's license number, date of birth and the last four digits of the Social Security number to be entered on the online registrations," the senator added.
The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly's election committee, with the support of two Republican members, while the Assembly appropriations committee approved it on an 11-4 vote along party lines.
"My main concern is that voting security is not tight enough as it is and allowing online registration won't help," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs (Butte County), who voted against the bill in committee. "We should set a high bar for people looking to vote and there are already a lot of fake IDs out there."
Calderon, chair of the Senate elections committee, came up with the bill after talking to Secretary of State Debra Bowen last year about ways to increase voter registration, which has held steady at about 70 percent of the state's eligible voters.
"This will help people registering close to the deadline or who are traveling or in the military," he said.
Bowen is supporting the bill, which she believes will especially appeal to young people who are accustomed to conducting much of their business online.
"Secretary Bowen believes this is the next logical step for voter registration," said Kate Folmar, a spokeswoman for the secretary. "You can file tax returns online, you can register your car online, so you should be able to register to vote online."
The programs in Arizona and Washington have had few, if any, problems. Arizona's EZ Vote system has been in use since 2002 and more than 70 percent of voter registrations are now done on the Internet.
Washington's Legislature approved online registration last year and the system went live in January. Already, 40 percent of new registrations are done online, said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections in the Washington secretary of state's office.
"It's really been very popular here," she said. "Both voters and local election administrators like it because it's so much faster."
Despite complaints from some GOP legislators, the lack of organized opposition to California's online registration plan is surprising given concerns about the security of voting machines, ballot results and everything else connected with elections. Several states, including Arizona, already require identification from everyone showing up at the polls to cast a ballot.
But online voter registration is different from online voting and presents a much lower level of security concerns, said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.
"It's a different challenge, since voter registration cards aren't secret and ballots are," she said. "There are a lot of things about voting that don't work online, but voter registration is one thing that might."
Even if Calderon's bill sails through the Legislature and is signed by the governor, it's going to be awhile before it takes effect. The bill first requires that a new statewide voter registration database be operating, which isn't expected to happen until next year.
(# 4:53 PM)
Thursday, July 31
Robocalls violate state law according to CA PUC
Yesterday's San Jose Mercury News featured this story by Frank Davies reporting that the California Public Utilities Commission recently issued a ruling that political robocalls, which use computers to dial phones and play automated messages, violate the state's utility code. The California Voter Foundation routinely receives numerous complaints from voters about these automated calls. Up until this week I, and I expect many others in the political field, assumed these calls, while annoying, are protected under the First Amendment. Based on the news being reported, it looks like campaigns will have to alter their tactics in how they deliver such calls to voters. An excerpt from the Mercury News story is below.
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California's rules against robocalls are little-known and widely ignored. Susan Carothers of the PUC said Tuesday that commission staffers recently reviewed the code, which says such calls are legal only when introduced by a real person who asks for your consent to hear a recorded message. That rarely happens.
But enforcement is not easy. Consumers must first complain to their phone company, and if nothing is done, file a complaint with the PUC. Only two such complaints were filed with the PUC in the past two years, Carothers said.
That may change. An advocacy group, the National Political Do Not Contact Registry, is seeking complaints from California voters to present to phone carriers and the PUC.
"It's time that California voters are able to protect their privacy. Otherwise, campaigns will turn to robocalls, particularly in California, which has a very large and expensive media market," said Shaun Dakin, founder of the group.
In the February presidential primary, candidates for both parties used the get-out-the-vote calls. Actress Scarlett Johansson and comedian Chris Rock urged voters to back Obama, and Bill Clinton urged support for his wife.
Political consultants and operatives defend the calls as a low-cost alternative for candidates who don't have money for major TV and radio ad campaigns, but they concede that repeated calls at all hours can be counterproductive.
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Voters who wish to file complaints can access a PUC fact sheet or seek to be added to a registry of people who do not want automated calls at www.stoppoliticalcalls.org, which also features a California-specific complaint form. Voters can also contact their county election office and ask to have their phone numbers removed from their voter registration record.
The newly-redesigned California voter registration form is also likely to help cut down on unwanted political calls for new registrants, since the new form makes it clear to those filling it out that providing a phone number is optional.
-----
California's rules against robocalls are little-known and widely ignored. Susan Carothers of the PUC said Tuesday that commission staffers recently reviewed the code, which says such calls are legal only when introduced by a real person who asks for your consent to hear a recorded message. That rarely happens.
But enforcement is not easy. Consumers must first complain to their phone company, and if nothing is done, file a complaint with the PUC. Only two such complaints were filed with the PUC in the past two years, Carothers said.
That may change. An advocacy group, the National Political Do Not Contact Registry, is seeking complaints from California voters to present to phone carriers and the PUC.
"It's time that California voters are able to protect their privacy. Otherwise, campaigns will turn to robocalls, particularly in California, which has a very large and expensive media market," said Shaun Dakin, founder of the group.
In the February presidential primary, candidates for both parties used the get-out-the-vote calls. Actress Scarlett Johansson and comedian Chris Rock urged voters to back Obama, and Bill Clinton urged support for his wife.
Political consultants and operatives defend the calls as a low-cost alternative for candidates who don't have money for major TV and radio ad campaigns, but they concede that repeated calls at all hours can be counterproductive.
------
Voters who wish to file complaints can access a PUC fact sheet or seek to be added to a registry of people who do not want automated calls at www.stoppoliticalcalls.org, which also features a California-specific complaint form. Voters can also contact their county election office and ask to have their phone numbers removed from their voter registration record.
The newly-redesigned California voter registration form is also likely to help cut down on unwanted political calls for new registrants, since the new form makes it clear to those filling it out that providing a phone number is optional.
(# 11:48 AM)
Thursday, July 24
New California voter registration form debuts
Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced yesterday that a newly redesigned California voter registration form is now available. I was one of several people who served on a working group to redesign the form. Together we came up with a number of improvements: the number of words on the card has been reduced from more than 1200 to about 730; the word "optional" has been added to the specific fields on the form that are optional (such as phone number and email address) rather than buried in instructions at the bottom of the page; there is no longer an instruction section - rather, instructions are included with the specific fields to be completed; and the political party selection section has been modified to make it clearer to voters how to register as a nonpartisan voter.
Scanned images of the new form and the old form are available on the Secretary of State's web site. Congratulations to Secretary of State Debra Bowen for taking the initiative on this process. I'm confident the new card will be easier and less intimidating to complete.
Scanned images of the new form and the old form are available on the Secretary of State's web site. Congratulations to Secretary of State Debra Bowen for taking the initiative on this process. I'm confident the new card will be easier and less intimidating to complete.
(# 10:58 AM)
Wednesday, July 2
Talking about the 2010 race for Governor on NPR's Day to Day
Madeleine Brand of National Public Radio's Day to Day program interviewed me today about San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's potential bid for governor in 2010. Today's newspapers were filled with stories of the Newsom news, and many of the articles give a preview of how the contest is shaping up. In particular, check out the stories from the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press for a preview of what's to come in the next election cycle.
(# 5:20 PM)
Tuesday, July 1
PBS' P.O.V. documentary on Election Day in the USA
Just in time for the Independence Day holiday, the folks at PBS' Point of View (P.O.V.) series are airing a new documentary featuring footage from a number of cities around the U.S. taken on Election Day in November 2004. Judging from the trailer (available online from the PBS web site), the film does a good job of showing the drama and stress that voters and pollworkers alike experience on election day. "Election Day" debuts on PBS tonight - check local listings for times and channels.
(# 3:00 PM)
November ballot proposition numbers assigned
Last week Secretary of State Debra Bowen issued this news release assigning numbers to the eleven statewide propositions that have qualified for the November 4th ballot. Here's a quick rundown:
Prop. 1 - $10 billion high-speed rail bond act
Prop. 2 - treatment of farm animals
Prop. 3 - $1 billion children's hospitals bond act
Prop. 4 - minors' abortion rights/parental notification
Prop. 5 - decreases sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders
Prop. 6 - increases penalties for gang and drug crimes
Prop. 7 - requires 20% of utilities' power to come from renewable resources by 2010
Prop. 8 - bans gay marriage
Prop. 9 - requires informing and involving victims in parole decisions
Prop 10 - $5 billion bond to subsidize alternative vehicle purchases & research
Prop 11 - transfers the power to draw legislative districts from the legislature to an
independent commission
Prop. 1 - $10 billion high-speed rail bond act
Prop. 2 - treatment of farm animals
Prop. 3 - $1 billion children's hospitals bond act
Prop. 4 - minors' abortion rights/parental notification
Prop. 5 - decreases sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders
Prop. 6 - increases penalties for gang and drug crimes
Prop. 7 - requires 20% of utilities' power to come from renewable resources by 2010
Prop. 8 - bans gay marriage
Prop. 9 - requires informing and involving victims in parole decisions
Prop 10 - $5 billion bond to subsidize alternative vehicle purchases & research
Prop 11 - transfers the power to draw legislative districts from the legislature to an
independent commission
(# 2:49 PM)
Tuesday, June 24
SB 381 sails out of Assembly Elections committee
Senator Ron Calderon's bill to allow the Secretary of State to implement online voter registration, SB 381, sailed out of the Assembly elections committee today. The one lone Republican lawmaker present at the time the bill was taken up, Sen. Roger Niello, surprised the room when he said he would be voting yes for the bill.
Sen. Niello asked the author and his staff a good question during the hearing: how do you know when someone registers online that they're registering for themselves and not for someone else? Calderon staffer Darren Chesin pointed out the safeguards in the bill, that it requires a voter to provide their date of birth, California drivers license number, and last four digits of your social security number in order to process the request. He noted that Arizona's system, which has been running since 2002, is fraud-free.
Barry Brokaw spoke for the local election officials and said while the group has no official position yet, they like the bill, especially because it will reduce data entry for their staff. The bill is being amended at the request of the Secretary of State, who also supports it, to change the implementation date from 2010 to after the new VoteCal statewide voter registration database is operating.
Senator Niello said he decided to vote for the bill because he thinks it's important to make it easy for people to register to vote, but stop short of doing it for them, and online registration would still require a person to be proactive and take action in order to get registered. Other lawmakers on the committee -- Assemblymember Tony Mendoza and chair Curren Price -- asked to be added as co-authors.
Regarding this bill....a reader asked me why it had been enrolled? The legislative history on SB 381 is somewhat confusing. The bill was enrolled, all the way to the governor's desk, doing something else, then Sen. Calderon "retrieved" it, which required a procedural vote. The bill was amended to enable online voter registration after it was pulled back and now it is moving again in the legislative process. The next likely stop would be the Assembly fiscal committee.
It was noted at the hearing today that this was Chairman Price's last committee hearing, and I believe he will be missed. I have sat through a number of his hearings and admire and appreciate the way he treats everyone with respect.
Sen. Niello asked the author and his staff a good question during the hearing: how do you know when someone registers online that they're registering for themselves and not for someone else? Calderon staffer Darren Chesin pointed out the safeguards in the bill, that it requires a voter to provide their date of birth, California drivers license number, and last four digits of your social security number in order to process the request. He noted that Arizona's system, which has been running since 2002, is fraud-free.
Barry Brokaw spoke for the local election officials and said while the group has no official position yet, they like the bill, especially because it will reduce data entry for their staff. The bill is being amended at the request of the Secretary of State, who also supports it, to change the implementation date from 2010 to after the new VoteCal statewide voter registration database is operating.
Senator Niello said he decided to vote for the bill because he thinks it's important to make it easy for people to register to vote, but stop short of doing it for them, and online registration would still require a person to be proactive and take action in order to get registered. Other lawmakers on the committee -- Assemblymember Tony Mendoza and chair Curren Price -- asked to be added as co-authors.
Regarding this bill....a reader asked me why it had been enrolled? The legislative history on SB 381 is somewhat confusing. The bill was enrolled, all the way to the governor's desk, doing something else, then Sen. Calderon "retrieved" it, which required a procedural vote. The bill was amended to enable online voter registration after it was pulled back and now it is moving again in the legislative process. The next likely stop would be the Assembly fiscal committee.
It was noted at the hearing today that this was Chairman Price's last committee hearing, and I believe he will be missed. I have sat through a number of his hearings and admire and appreciate the way he treats everyone with respect.
(# 5:58 PM)
Assembly elections committee hearing today; online voter registration bill up
Today the Assembly Elections Committee, chaired by Curren Price, will hold a hearing at 1:30 p.m. today in room 444 of the State Capitol. Several interesting and important pieces of legislation are on the agenda. I'm particularly interested in Senate Bill 381 by Ron Calderon, which would allow Californians to register to vote online.
Other bills on the agenda include ACA 15/Mullin which would lower California's voting age to 17, and SB 967/Simitian, which would allow local jurisdictions to accept electronically-filed statements of economic interest. Audio access to the hearing is available online.
Other bills on the agenda include ACA 15/Mullin which would lower California's voting age to 17, and SB 967/Simitian, which would allow local jurisdictions to accept electronically-filed statements of economic interest. Audio access to the hearing is available online.
(# 8:40 AM)
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