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Bill to Protect Election Workers Advances in California Legislature

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.

California lawmakers consider bill to protect poll workers' privacy

Excerpts:

With a political landscape that remains polarized and after several examples of harassment, California lawmakers are now considering a bill to protect election poll workers.

"People who are frustrated with the conduct of election or the outcome of elections, are starting to take it out on the people administering elections," said the author of the bill, State Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton).

California lawmakers advance bill allowing election workers to hide addresses

Excerpts:

California's legislature advanced a bill on Monday that would protect election workers in the state by keeping their home addresses and other private information hidden from the public.

The California Senate Elections Committee unanimously advanced the bill, which seeks to protect election and poll workers via a system similar to the state's Safe at Home program protecting victims of domestic violence and abuse.

California considers letting election workers hide addresses

Excerpts:

Elections in the U.S. have become so polarizing that California is considering treating poll workers with the same caution as domestic violence victims by letting them keep their addresses hidden from public records.

In Focus This Week - Exit Interview, Orange County’s Neal Kelley retires

Excerpts:

Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley is a bit of a Renaissance man.

Before joining the county as chief deputy registrar, Kelley worked in a variety of fields including retail, law enforcement and he’d served as an adjunct professor with Riverside Community College’s Business Administration Department.

States Want to Boost Protections for Threatened Local Election Officials

From her second-floor office window in Medford, Oregon, elections administrator Chris Walker vividly remembers reading the unsettling words painted in big white letters on the parking lot below in late November 2020: “Vote don’t work. Next time bullets.”

Her heart sank, she recalls, wondering whether or when the threat would materialize. Former President Donald Trump had won her southern Oregon community, and despite his lie that the election was stolen, she never expected this anger.

Oregon, California seek to protect election workers from threats

Lawmakers in Oregon and California are calling for tougher legislation to protect election workers in response to a continuing wave of threats and harassment inspired by former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 vote was rigged against him.

In Oregon, legislators are considering a measure that would make it a felony to harass or threaten election workers while they are performing their official duties, state officials said. The measure would also exempt the personal information of election workers, such as home addresses, from certain public records.

CVF is hiring a part-time program manager! Help us grow our team

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

President of California Voter Foundation discusses expanding the House

Redistricting is happening all across the country at all levels.

As the shape of representation is changing from coast to coast, researchers at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are suggesting the number of people Americans send to the U.S. House of Representatives needs to increase. (full story)

New report makes the case for expanding the House to strengthen U.S. democracy

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

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