News

CVF supports bills to help Californians exercise their voting rights

The California Legislature is winding down the first year of its 2019-20 session and the California Voter Foundation is supporting three important bills that, if enacted, will improve California's voting process in advance of the 2020 Presidential election:

  • Senate Bill 72, by Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) will allow voters to register to vote at all polling places on Election Day starting in 2020.

Under current law, Californians may register on Election Day only at county election or satellite offices, or, if their county has implemented the Voter's Choice Act (VCA) voting model, at vote centers.

SB 72 will ensure voters have equal access to Election Day registration regardless of whether their county has implemented the VCA. Voters who register on Election Day do so "conditionally" and their eligibility is verified before their ballots are counted. If enacted, California will join nine other states and DC in providing Election Day registration at polling places. This bill is currently in Assembly Appropriations. CVF's support letter is online.

Mystery mailer causes outrage for NorCal voters

Excerpt:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —

There is outrage this week from California voters and voter advocates after a controversial mailer showed up just days before a special election.

The mailers come from a group called the Northern California State Voter Project, but there’s no website and no phone number for the promoters, whose only known address is a post office box. 

The mailer threatens to reveal people's voting history to friends, family and neighbors.

Thank you! CVF reached our Big Day of Giving Fundraising goal!

Thanks to all who donated to the California Voter Foundation for Big Day of Giving 2019!

Yesterday we met our fundraising goal and CVF raised a total of $12,414. Those funds will help support our efforts to prepare voters for the March 2020 Presidential Primary election and continue our ongoing efforts to secure the vote.

We received a number of contributions, not just through the BDOG2019 site but also through Facebook, PayPal and checks.

30 for our 30th

Excerpt:

Skeptics might call them do-gooders. But in today’s world—when we could surely use as much good as possible—what’s wrong with that?

To highlight the 30th anniversary of SN&R, we want to recognize 30 people who embody our mission: To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

On purpose, the vast majority on this list are not high-profile politicians, the rich and powerful or other bold names. Many come from the nonprofit world, not well-known to the general public but working every day to help the less fortunate and to make public policy smarter and more humane. Some have been in the trenches for many years, while others are just emerging as leaders.

Like any list like this, it’s rather subjective. There are many others in the Sacramento region who are doing yeoman’s work and also deserving of praise.

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Kim Alexander

President of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, she’s a strong advocate for more informed voters having a bigger say, and for voters across the state having equal access to participate. Her group is particularly focused on making sure that technology helps—not harms—our democracy.

(full story)

CVF-News Roundup: Voting Tech, Legislation & More

Hi Folks,

It's been a busy time and this isuse of CVF-News will bring you up to speed on some of the things we've been involved and upcoming events and activities with the Legislature, Secretary of State, and Future of Califonria Elections. We are also preparing for Big Day of Giving 2019 and hope we will be able to count on your support on May 2 to help CVF continue our work improving the voting process to better serve voters.

-- Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation

The 33rd state Senate special election saw dismal voter turnout; up north it was a different story

Excerpts:

Two special elections were held in California on Tuesday, both for state Senate seats, and the enthusiasm among voters couldn’t have been more different.

In the Northern California’s 1st District, 26 percent of voters showed up to cast ballots. In the 33rd, which includes Long Beach and parts of southeast Los Angeles County, less than 7 percent showed up.

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