CVF-NEWS

Hi Folks,

In this CVF-NEWS roundup:

* CVF urges you to make a tax-deductible donation
* Secretary of State certifies election results
* Prop. 11 proponents celebrate redistricting reform victory
* Humboldt County transparency project uncovers vote counting software error
* CVF says goodbye to staffer Will Barrett

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* CVF urges you to make a tax-deductible donation

Like a lot of nonprofit organizations, the California Voter Foundation is facing a challenging financial year in 2009. CVF worked hard throughout this past year to deliver California voters reliable, nonpartisan election information, more secure voting systems, and greater public access to campaign money online. Please read our appeal and make a year-end donation, either online with your credit card or by check, sent to:

California Voter Foundation
2612 J Street, Suite 8
Sacramento, CA 95816

Thanks to all who have already donated!

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* Secretary of State certifies election results

Last week California Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified the results of the November 4 General Election. Overall, 79.4 percent of California's registered voters cast ballots, which is the highest turnout based on percentage since 1976, according to the Secretary of State's news release. Among eligible Californians, 59.2 percent cast ballots. A total of 13.7 million Californians voted in the election, which is the highest number of voters ever to cast ballots in a California election (the previous record was set in November 2004, when 12.6 million Californians voted). Statewide, 58 percent of voters cast ballots at the polls, while 42 percent cast vote-by-mail ballots. The counties with the highest turnout were Sonoma (93.4 percent of registered voters cast ballots), Marin (90.8) and Amador (88.6). The certified results are available online.

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* Prop. 11 proponents celebrate redistricting reform victory

Wednesday I attended an event at the State Railroad Museum hosted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrate the passage of Proposition 11, which will create an independent redistricting commission to draw political districts for California legislative seats. To read more about the event, please see my blog entry, which also features an excellent Capitol Weekly article describing the Governor's next reform effort (it is expected he will be promoting a return to an open primary election process).

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* Humboldt County transparency project uncovers vote counting software error

Humboldt County, California implemented a new election transparency project this year, which has produced some startling results. According to a story in the December 5 Times-Standard, the project uncovered a glitch in the vendor's (Premier, formerly Diebold) vote-counting software that left nearly 200 ballots out of the certified results. Kudos to Humboldt registrar Carolyn Crnich for implementing the transparency project in the first place and going above and beyond the call of duty to provide the public with confidence in the accuracy of election results. To read more about the software error, see my December 5 blog entry.

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* CVF says goodbye to staffer Will Barrett

Next week CVF will say goodbye to Will Barrett, who joined the staff two years ago as project manager for the Campaign Disclosure Project, which was launched in 2002 and produced five editions of the Grading State Disclosure study. Will managed the production of the 2007 and 2008 reports, and did a fantastic job. Unfortunately the project, and the position, were not renewed.

If you know of any policy-oriented job opportunities in the Sacramento area please pass them along to me or to Will, who can be reached at williamjbarrett@hotmail.com. The CVF board and I are extremely grateful for Will's incredible work on the CVF staff, both on the Grading State Disclosure studies and also with the editing and maintenance of CVF's online voter education resources. He assisted literally hundreds of voters by phone and email this election year, and will be greatly missed.

The CVF office will be closed for the holidays beginning December 24 until January 5, 2009. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and look forward to being in touch in the new year!

-- Kim Alexander, President
California Voter Foundation
kimalex@calvoter.org

 

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This page was first published on December 19, 2008 | Last updated on December 22, 2008
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