VOTER ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION

Issue Summary

Elections provide a crucial communication link between the public and their government, and ensuring easy access to voting -- combined with ensuring votes are counted accurately -- is critical to the integrity and credibility of state government. Of California’s 36 million residents, roughly 22 million are eligible to vote and of those, 75% (16.5 million) are registered to vote. In recent years voter turnout has ranged from a low of 5.3 million in the March 2002 statewide primary election (24% of those eligible) and a high of 12.6 million in the November 2004 presidential election (57% of those eligible). (California Voter Foundation Voter Participation Survey, March 2005)

Voter access refers specifically to issues such as voter registration maintenance (exacerbated by the frequency with which Californians change address and coordination issues among state and county election officials); polling place access (exacerbated by work hours, commuting and poll site location); the readability of election information; ballot clarity; voting machine accessibility; and language assistance. It also includes issues related to outreach, such as the discouraging effect political parties and other groups have on potential new voters when they limit election-related communication to known, frequent voters, and effective training of officials who interact with voters such as DMV clerks.

While California has a better record on voter access than many other states, as long as barriers exist public perception of this process will suffer. Moreover, the increasing social and economic disparity between California’s electorate and the general population is also likely to lead to inefficient allocation of public resources and social tension.

Supporters of voter access reform are generally motivated by an interest in improving turnout, which in turn should improve the quality of political representation and consequently public policy and confidence in government.

Current Status

Counties are working to meet new federal accessibility and state security laws in time for the 2006 election cycle. Additionally, counties are working to meet state requirements enacted in 2004 (SB 1438) and 2005 (SB 370) mandating (respectively) that direct recording electronic voting machines have voter-verified paper audit trails and that these trails be used to perform manual counts. The Secretary of State and county election officials are also working to meet new federal requirements for a statewide voter registration list in time for the 2006 election cycle.

UPCOMING EVENTS

None scheduled on this topic at this time.

BACKGROUND

Past VoR Programs

Two Part Round Table Discussion: "Exploring TV Coverage of Public Policy Coming Out of the Legislature, and How it can be Improved and Expanded" (7/16/07-07/17/07, Sacramento)

Round Table 1: "A Discussion with TV Journalists, News Directors, and Legislative Staff on the Potential for TV News to Better Cover Public Policy Coming Out of the Legislature" (7/16/07, Sacramento)
DOWNLOAD MP3 | California Channel Video | Transcript

Round Table 2: "Beyond the 11:00 News - A Discussion of Expanding Opportunities to Reach the Public with Relevant Legislative Policy Discussions, Via TV and the Internet" (07/17/07, Sacramento)
DOWNLOAD MP3 | California Channel Video | Transcript

Panel Discussion: "The 2008 California Presidential Primary: Will Decline-to-State Voters be able to Vote Republican?" (5/02/07, Sacramento) | DOWNLOAD MP3 | California Channel Video

Panel Discussion: "Ranked Choice Voting: Will California follow the Bay Area's lead?" (4/19/07, San Francisco) | DOWNLOAD MP3

VoR Post Election Series: "'Decline to State' Voters: California's Fastest Growing Party?" (01/17/07, Sacramento) | DOWNLOAD MP3 | California Channel Video

"10 Steps to Repair Democracy in California," Steven Hill, Author Ten Steps to Repair Democracy in America (7/24/06, San Francisco) | DOWNLOAD MP3 | California Channel Video

Panel Discussion: How Can You Make the Most of Your Vote? (Spring Conference: "If It’s Broke, Fix It: Making California Government Work for Californians" 6/10/05) | DOWNLOAD MP3

Legislation ('05-'06 legislative session)

AJR 37. (Ridley-Thomas D-48) Reauthorization of federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

AB 1855. (Walters R-73) This bill would require a voter to present proof of his or her identity to a member of the precinct board before receiving a ballot, and would specify four forms of currently valid identification that may be used for this purpose.

AB 2097. (Goldberg D-45) This bill would prohibit the Secretary of State, as of June 30, 2007, from approving a voting system for use in an election until its operation and specifications are publicly disclosed.

AB 2358. (Saldana D-76) This bill would prohibit an absentee voter's party affiliation from being stamped or printed on the identification envelope.

AB 2430.(Umberg D-69) This bill would require the Secretary of State to provide a translation of the ballot title and summary of ballot materials in a language other than English to the local elections official whenever a city or county is required to do so by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 for each state measure submitted to the voters in a statewide election.

Websites

The California Secretary of State. This site provides a range of non-partisan election and voter information.

The California Voter Foundation. This site provides a range of non-partisan voter information, including information related to responsible use of technology to improve the democratic process.

Easy Voter Guide Project. This project provides voter information to the public, and specifically works to reach people who might be underserved by current election communications.

Smartvoter.org. This California League of Women Voters site provides a range of non-partisan voter information, including easy to use online tools for finding your local ballot and other specific election information.

Election Administriation Research Center. This organization, based at UC Berkeley, provides research and information on election administration, voting, and election laws.

Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action. This organization strives to increase immigrant civic and political activism to strengthen democracy and advance social justice.

Latino Issues Forum. This public policy and advocacy organization devotes a section of their website to civic participation, featuring reports, links, and news.

Instant Runoff Voting. InstantRunoff.com was created and is managed by the Midwest Democracy Center, a Chicago-based non-profit organization and a partner of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Voting & Democracy. The website allows users to interactively vote in “theoretical” instant runoff voting elections. This resource serves as a helpful and easy to use example of how these types of elections would work for the individual voter.

State Election Laws and Procedures. National Conference of State Legislatures website. This site provides links to information on: absentee and early voting; recounts; state voter ID requirements; voting equipments; voter registration; voter rights restoration; and voter education.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). MALDEF is a nonprofit Latino litigation, advocacy, and educational outreach organization working in areas that include Public policy, immigration, and voting rights.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP engages in advocacy and outreach across America focusing on the rights of minority groups in such areas as economic development, housing, and youth work.

National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund (NALEO). This site provides information related to NALEO’s efforts to promote policies that further Latino access to the political process and provide the public with accurate and relevant information about Latino political engagement and impact.

The Center for Voting and Democracy. CVD seeks to promote increased voter turnout and fair representation. The site provides information on a range of electoral process issues, with an emphasis on proportional representation.

Project Vote Smart. This site provides a searchable database of candidates and elected officials nationwide in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings. Primary focus is on the offices of the presidency, congress, governors and state legislators. Less detailed information is available at the county and local level for each state.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check. This project is based at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, and monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.

The Caltech-MIT Voting Technology Project. This site provides links to research on elections analysis, ballot design, and voting technology. The project recently hosted a Voter Identification/Registration Conference in October 2006 and compiled a list of helpful resources.

California Forward. California Forward is a nonprofit organization charting a new path to more effective state governance through nonpartisan policy analysis, public dialogue throughout the state on key issues, and pursuit of sensible reforms.

Reports and Papers

'Empowering Moderate Voters' Position Paper and Fact Sheet by John Porter, April 2007.

'Will Vote by Mail Elections Increase Participation?: Evidence from California Counties' (pdf) Report by Thad Kousser and Megan Mullin, April 2007.

'Voting Fraud and Intimidation: Report to the US Election Assistance Commission on Preliminary Research & Recommendations' (pdf) Draft Report by Job Serebrov and Tova Wang, April 2007.

'Election Crimes: An Initial Review and Recommendations for Future Study' (pdf) Final Report by the US Election Assistance Commission, December 2006.

‘At issue: California's Exclusive Electorate ’ (pdf) Public Policy Institute of California Report by Mark Baldassare, September 2006.

‘The California Voter Participation Survey’ Report by the California Voter Foundation, March 2005

‘Voting in 2004: A Report to the Nation on America’s Election Process’ The Century Foundation, Common Cause Education Fund, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, December 2004