CVF in the News
KPIX 5,
August 26, 2021
Fox 40 News,
August 24, 2021
Capital Public Radio,
August 16, 2021
California’s recall election will determine whether Gov. Gavin Newsom remains in office or is removed and replaced by another candidate. As voters make their choice, they may encounter misinformation or confusion about how the recall process works.
To help sort through the facts, PolitiFact California debunked false claims about the election and demystified how it works in our guide to misinformation about the recall.
Before we call out some false claims, let’s explain the basics on how to vote.
The recall ballot will have two parts:
Los Angeles Times,
August 9, 2021
Excerpts:
For Gov. Gavin Newsom, the only thing that matters in the recall election he faces is how California voters fill out the part of the ballot that can keep him in office. Whether they understand that they also have the right to select a potential replacement isn’t part of his equation.
But the singular focus of Newsom and prominent Democrats could be a high-stakes gamble with the party’s political and policy agenda. It might also leave millions of voters who soon will receive a ballot in the mail unaware they can cast a vote on both of the recall ballot’s questions — even if their preference is to retain Newsom as governor.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the Democratic Party is not giving voters any guidance on what to do on the second question,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. “It’s going to leave a lot of people confused.”
KQED,
July 12, 2021
Excerpts:
A superior court judge in Sacramento on Monday denied a request by Gov. Gavin Newsom to force California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to include his Democratic Party affiliation on the recall election ballot, despite the fact the Newsom missed a filing deadline.
In an 11-page decision, Judge James Arguelles said "Secretary Weber had no ministerial duty to accept the untimely designation."
The decision comes after a lawsuit filed two weeks ago by Newsom's lawyers asked the court to compel Weber — a Newsom appointee — to include the governor's party affiliation next to his name on all recall ballots sent to voters.
Fox 40,
June 28, 2021
Excerpts:
President Joe Biden’s hopes to standardize some of what Americans can expect at the polls reached a hurdle when the Senate wouldn’t allow the For the People Act to be fully debated.
Audits of last fall’s federal election are ongoing and the torrent of other efforts to prove the legitimacy of the results have not subsided, even in the face of repeated court decisions to the contrary.
Kim Alexander, the founder and president of the California Voter Foundation, joined Sonseeahray to talk about the state of voting in the U.S. and the foundation’s recent study about the harassment of election officials
Los Angeles Times,
June 10, 2021
Exerpts:
An analysis released Thursday projects the recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom will cost at least $215 million, less than what elections officials initially estimated but a large enough price tag that local governments across California will need the state to pick up the tab.
Legislative leaders quickly seized on the estimate provided by the state Department of Finance as fulfilling a mandate under state law to fully assess the costs of the recall — potentially speeding up by some two months the special election in which voters could oust Newsom from office.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said Thursday that they will include the projected cost in the state budget that must be enacted by the end of the month.
electionline Weekly,
June 10, 2021
Imagine if your job responsibilities caused strangers to call you and threaten you and your family with violence. Public servants performing one of the most crucial functions in our society—the administration of the vote—are being subjected to exactly that.
A new report released this week by the California Voter Foundation sheds light on the serious and dangerous problem of harassment faced by U.S. election officials.
“Documenting and Addressing Harassment of Election Officials” features findings from interviews with eleven election officials from six states and eight election experts from different sectors. The election officials were selected based on their experience with or perspective of harassment. Their identities are anonymous for their protection and privacy.
KQED's Natalia Navarro interviews Kim Alexander about CVF's new report documenting and addressing harassment of election officials
Hear Kim Alexander's interview with KQED's Natalia Navarro about the new CVF report documenting and addressing harassment of U.S. election officials resulting from the 2020 presidential election
(audio file)
San Francisco Chronicle
May 9, 2021
Excerpts:
Californians shouldn’t look at voter suppression as something happening only in faraway states, like Georgia, Texas and Florida. A more subtle, insidious form of the fallout from Donald Trump’s big lie about widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential race is permeating California.
The lie is gaining enough traction to alarm voting officials, starting with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber. She’s met with nearly every county registrar of voters since taking office in February, and many told her that right-wing agitators are making their job more difficult.
“They’re attacking almost every registrar of voters that I have in the state of California who is trying to do their job,” Weber told the Black Caucus at the California Democratic Party convention recently.