Sacramento, Calif. – Legislation to address the rise in harassment of election workers was approved by the California State Legislature yesterday. Senate Bill 1131, authored by Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), will protect workers in California by providing them with the option to keep their home addresses confidential. The bill is co-sponsored by the California Voter Foundation and Brennan Center for Justice. It includes an urgency clause and has until September 30, 2022 to be signed by the Governor.
CVF-News
CVF-News is a free, electronic newsletter featuring news and updates about the California Voter Foundation's projects and activities.
Hi Folks,
With the Legislature's last day of session happening today (and the wee hours of tomorrow morning as well) this edition of CVF-News highlights CVF's legislative activities and last month's Future of California Elections conference, where CVF hosted a panel on addressing voting challenges for housing-insecure Californians.
We have also been keeping busy working on addressing threats to election officials and their staff. To help those working to promote peace and security in U.S. elections, CVF has begun tracking stories via our Protecting Election Officials in the News page and have added a Resources for Supporting Election Officials section to our web site highlighting initiatives and tools being provided by caring folks across all sectors.
A few of my favorites are Pam Fessler's Telling our Story via the Elections Group, the Carter Center's Taking Care of Yourself to Serve Others wellness guide, the new Committee for Safe and Secure Elections chaired by former Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley, the Election Infrastructure Initiative to provide federal funding support to local and state election offices, De-Escalation Tools from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative, and Building a Resiliency Network from Over Zero.
We are also very close to getting SB 1131/Newman out of the legislature and on to Gov. Newsom's desk. This bill if enacted into law will immediately allow election workers and other California public employees to enroll in Safe at Home to keep their personal information private. More about that below, as well as some reflections and photos from last month's Future of California Elections conference,
I had a wonderful time introducing our new staffer Samantha Abelove to all of CVF's colleagues and friends and spending time with folks in person again. It was a great reminder of the strong community of democracy advocates we have in this state and nation and gives me hope in these challenging times.
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation
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| CVF at Future of California Elections Conference in Burbank, July 25, 2022 - L-R: Program Manager Samantha Abelove, Board Chair Cathy Darling Allen, President Kim Alexander, Board Member Mindy Romero, and Vice Chair Susan Roth. |
Hi Folks,
Please join CVF Board Chair Cathy Darling Allen, our new Program Manager Samantha Abelove, CVF Board Member Mindy Romero and me on Monday, July 25th for the 2022 Future of California Elections conference, taking place both online and in person in Burbank, California. More details are below, I hope to see you there!
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder
California Voter Foundation
Hi Folks,
Happy Election Eve! This edition of CVF-News provides some last-minute tips for voting in the June 7th California Primary Election. I am also thrilled to introduce CVF's new Program Manager, Samantha Abelove, who starts her new position with CVF today!
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder
California Voter Foundation
Tuesday is the final day to vote in the California June 7th Primary and many are wondering the same thing - where the heck did I put that vote-by-mail ballot I received?
Today the California Voter Foundation launched a new edition of its nonpartisan California Online Voter Guide to help voters access reliable and trustworthy information about their June 7, 2022 Primary Election choices, at www.calvoter.org.
“Each of California’s 22 million registered voters has been issued a ballot through the mail for this election,” said CVF’s president and founder, Kim Alexander. “Every ballot contains numerous federal, state and local contests with dozens of candidates for voters to sort through and many decisions to make. CVF’s California Online Voter Guide will help voters choose wisely and access resources to help them make informed, confident decisions.”
Hi Folks,
This week we are celebrating Big Day of Giving along with hundreds of other nonprofits in the Sacramento region! I hope you will join in by donating to the California Voter Foundation and supporting our work improving the voting process to better serve voters through Big Day of Giving, via PayPal or by check.
Here’s a quick look at CVF’s current programs:
- Supporting and Defending Election Officials and Election Administration
Election officials in California and across the country are facing an increasingly hostile and threatening public. The number of threats and amount of harassment election officials and their staff are enduring is unprecedented. CVF exposed this crisis in its landmark 2021 report, Documenting and Addressing Harassment of Election Officials. In response, CVF has formed a nationwide network of leaders across a number of sectors to defend and build a community of support for election officials and election administration.
California election workers will have the ability to keep their personal information private under a bill currently moving through the California Legislature. Senate Bill 1131, authored by State Senator Josh Newman (D- Fullerton) and co-sponsored by the California Voter Foundation and the Brennan Center for Justice, will allow election officials and their staff to enroll in state address confidentiality programs to shield their personal data from public exposure.
Hi Folks,
The California Voter Foundation is hiring!
We have a new, part-time Program Manager position and are looking for someone to join our small but mighty team and help CVF work to make our elections more secure, accessible and supported. Please share with your colleagues and friends and help us grow our team! See this job announcement on our web site for more details.
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation
Hi Folks,
I'm excited to share the news that the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has released a new report, "The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives."
This landmark report advocates for expanding the House of Representatives in order to create more equal representation in Congress and in presidential elections for voters living in more populous states. California's voters' voting power is artificially suppressed due to the cap on the size of the House of Representatives, limiting the total number to 435. This cap was established by federal statute in 1929 and can be amended through federal legislative action; no constitutional amendment is required.
Lifting the cap on the House and making the Electoral College more representative is a reform idea the California Voter Foundation has been exploring for a while now. This past June, I gave a presentation to the Alameda County Bar Association entitled, Reforming the Electoral College by Expanding the House of Representatives as part of its Racial Equity Series. We are looking forward to exploring this reform idea further in 2022. I hope you have a chance to check out the new report and tomorrow's web event launch. Details are below. I will be posting on Twitter about this topic under the hashtag #UncaptheHouse.
Also, there is still time to make a year-end donation to support CVF! Please donate if you can, your support is valued and much appreciated.
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation
Hi Folks,
This edition of CVF-News highlights recent attention on the need to protect election officials and support funding for election administration, as well as an upcoming webinar on election disinformation.
-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation
Little Hoover Commission examines potential recall election reforms
Last week on Oct. 28th, California Voter Foundation board chair, Cathy Darling Allen, who is also the Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, testified before California's Little Hoover Commission to share the challenges she faced conducting the September 2021 recall election inside a 77-day window. An archive of the hearing is available.