Dear Friends,
2012 was a remarkable election year in many ways, especially for Californians, but many challenges still lie ahead.
This past year we saw the implementation of new, independently-drawn electoral district maps that prompted, along with the state’s new “top two” open primary process, more competition in California races than we’ve seen in a long time.
Voters weighed in on numerous propositions too, enacting changes to improve California’s budget and turning out in strong numbers for the Presidential election. Happily we had few reports of voting problems in California, unlike the “meltdown years” when paperless electronic voting systems were in widespread use in this state.
Elsewhere, things did not go as smoothly. Voters waited for hours in some states simply to vote, an embarrassing injustice prompting many, including President Obama to exclaim “we have to fix that.”
Democracy certainly can be a messy and confusing practice. That’s why the California Voter Foundation works hard to improve the voting process. We’ve spent years helping to implement redistricting reform, election verification, online voter registration and ballot donor disclosure. We are dedicated to providing the straightforward, reliable information people need to make informed, confident choices.
As we like to say at CVF, we’re for all the voters.
In 2012 we produced new editions of our California Online Voter Guide for both the Primary and General elections, and also the "Proposition Song" music video to help introduce voters to the eleven Fall ballot propositions. We also expanded our web site to highlight and integrate county election tools that allow voters to look up their registration or vote-by-mail ballot status, find their polling place or view their sample ballot online.
We've made a lot of progress but so much more work is ahead:
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With millions of Californians now using the vote-by-mailsystem to cast their ballots, we need to improve how that process works so that voters can be confident their ballots arrive in time to be counted.
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We need to make sure that information about who funds proposition campaigns is readily accessible to voters, via the state ballot pamphlet and web site.
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We must take a closer look at online voter registration and develop best practices that all states can utilize to promote security, accuracy and privacy in these processes.
In the next year CVF will be tackling these challenges through research, outreach and partnerships. We will also be following up with the Obama Administration on the election verification letter CVF organized and sent on behalf of 29 voting technology experts urging the President to support low-tech, paper-based solutions to the problem of long lines at polling places and to refrain from embracing online voting.
But we need your support and hope we can count on you to help! Please make a tax-deductible contribution to CVF and help us make these much needed improvements to our voting process. With your help, CVF will continue its long tradition of effective, nonpartisan public policy research, voter outreach and election oversight.
To donate, visit CVF's "Contribute" page and donate through PayPal (you can use your credit card and do not have to have a PayPal account to use this service), or simply write a check to "California Voter Foundation" and mail it to:
California Voter Foundation
P.O. Box 189277
Sacramento, CA 95818
We thank you for your support and wish you a happy holiday season!
Sincerely,
The California Voter Foundation
Kim Alexander, President & Founder and the CVF Board of Directors: Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, David Jefferson, Jack Lerner and Stephen Levine |
