Dear Friends:
Looking back, the California Voter Foundation has made great progress in the last year advancing our mission to improve the election process so that it better serves voters.
Looking ahead, 2012 brings new challenges and opportunities, which we welcome. We very much hope these challenges will elicit your support.
This year at CVF we adopted new program goals:
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To assess and streamline the voting process so that it is less confusing for voters;
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To modernize California voter registration to expand participation; and
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To improve voter access to information about proposition donors.
In 2011, a busy year, we had these accomplishments:
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The Pew Center on the States published a nationwide assessment of state election websites, "Being Online Is Still Not Enough". The California Voter Foundation was a major partner in this project and undertook much of the basic research, analysis, and writing of this study. The study assessed each state's election website for content, lookup tools, and usability to determine how effectively states are using the Web to help voters engage in the voting process. Plans are in the works to repeat this assessment in 2012.
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We convened an advisory group of voter outreach advocates, election officials, and technology experts to develop strategies for implementing a statewide voter registration status lookup tool that all Californians can use to easily verify whether they are registered to vote at their current address.
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CVF worked with the Greenlining Institute, and others, to advance reforms to the initiative process. We interviewed a dozen campaign and disclosure experts and produced a 22 page analysis, "Initiative Disclosure Reform and Recommendations." The report identifies the most effective ways to publicize initiative disclosure data and help voters make informed decisions.
CVF also participated in a James Irvine Foundation convening of election officials and reform advocates to develop a roadmap for the future of California elections. Kim Alexander traveled to Brussels, Belgium to participate in a European Union conference on the European Citizens' Initiative, and, closer to home, a Zocalo Public Square forum on the future of California's initiative process. She also authored an op-ed on the need for better initiative disclosure, was profiled by Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times, and kept the public informed about important news via her blog, Twitter and CVF-NEWS.
The challenges ahead for voting and elections are clear, and loom large as we approach 2012, a presidential election year.
Will the new, independently drawn political districts withstand legal challenges? Will voters understand how the new "Top Two" primary voting process works? In these times of scarce resources, how can elections become more efficient while still expanding access and enfranchisement? What kind of voting systems will meet the needs of current and future voters alike? Will California successfully implement an online voter registration system in time for the 2012 election?
These are some of the most crucial challenges ahead of us.
In the ever-changing landscape of California elections, there is one thing you can count on, and that is that the California Voter Foundation is looking out for voters and protecting their needs and interests.
Your support for this important work is a powerful incentive and tells us that you share our vision.
Please make a tax-deductible contribution to the California Voter Foundation. Help us sustain this incredibly successful venture and keep CVF a catalyst for improving elections in California and nationwide.
You can donate online or by check to:
California Voter Foundation
P.O. Box 189277
Sacramento, CA 95818
We hope we can count on your support for CVF!
The California Voter Foundation
Kim Alexander, President & Founder and the CVF Board of Directors: Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith (Chair), Joseph Lorenzo Hall, David Jefferson, Jack Lerner and Stephen Levine
California Voter Foundation, www.calvoter.org
P.O. Box 189277, Sacramento CA 95818
916–441–2494, mail@calvoter.org
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