www.calvoter.org -- Celebrating 6 Years on the Net!

California Voter Foundation kicks off 6-year anniversary celebration at
Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles

Los Angeles -- The California Voter Foundation is serving up chocolate anniversary cake from its booth on Democracy Row at the Democratic National Convention today to celebrate the nonprofit's six year anniversary on the Internet. The non-partisan group advances new technologies to improve democracy and publishes the California Online Voter Guide, a groundbreaking innovation in electronic democracy.

"People are busy, and understandably confused by the number of choices they are asked to make every election," said Kim Alexander, CVF's president and founder. "The California Voter Foundation publishes and maintains thousands of pages of trustworthy, nonpartisan information on the Internet to help voters make informed choices and participate in politics in a meaningful way."

The Fall 2000 election season marks the six year anniversary of the California Voter Foundation's trailblazing work to pioneer the Internet as a tool for democratic reform. CVF has produced the California Online Voter Guide for every election since 1994, providing voters with unprecedented access to reliable, noncommercial election information. Those who visit www.calvoter.org will find the top ten donors for and against every measure on the ballot, a clearinghouse of hundreds of links to election-related web sites, and contact information for every state and federal contest in California.

"What you won't find at calvoter.org is important, too," said Alexander. "There is no banner advertising, and no registration is required. We're not tracking your interests and we're not selling your political data to marketing companies."

Throughout its six-year history, the significance of CVF's role as an outlet for credible election information has only broadened. Each election has seen a doubling of the traffic to www.calvoter.org and current trends suggest there will be even more growth. A recent Yahoo!/Yankelovich poll found that nearly two out of three Americans say the Internet will help them make more informed decisions in this year's presidential election.

CVF is attending the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles to participate in Democracy Row, a unique exhibition featuring over 50 non-partisan organizations that are working to improve the quality, quantity, diversity and availability of reliable information about political candidates, campaigns and issues. Democracy Row is a project of the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, organized under the university's Reliable Resources for Broadcast Political Coverage project and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The California Voter Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization funded by tax-exempt contributions from foundations, businesses and individuals. Since 1994, the California Voter Foundation has raised a total of $1 million to support its cutting-edge projects advancing Internet disclosure of money in politics and online voter information. Major funders include the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Markle Foundation, the Columbia Foundation, the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Joyce Foundation, the Arkay Foundation, the Piper Fund, Apple Computer and Compaq Computer Corporation. For more information, visit www.calvoter.org.

* CVF Media Availability: CVF will staff booth #58 on Democracy Row Tuesday, August 15, from 1 - 5 p.m. and Wednesday, August 16, from 1 - 3 p.m.; anniversary cake will be served on Tuesday, August 15 at 2 p.m. CVF President Kim Alexander will be available during these times to speak with the media and interested citizens about the Internet's impact on democracy, and is also available for scheduled interviews. She can be reached during the convention on her cell phone: (916) 539-5767, or by leaving a voicemail message at the CVF office: (916) 325-2120. Democracy Row is located in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center; CVF's booth is adjacent to USC's and near C-SPAN.

* Historical Highlights:

1994: CVF publishes the first edition of the California Online Voter Guide, one of the first voter information resources available on the Internet.
1995: CVF produces the world's first real-time campaign finance database on the Internet for that year's mayoral election in San Francisco.
1996: CVF publishes last-minute campaign contributions on the Internet for the first time in California history.
1997: CVF steers the cause for digital sunlight to success when the California Legislature enacts the Online Disclosure Act, a landmark reform measure being implemented this year that mandates electronic filing and Internet disclosure of California campaign finance reports.
1998: CVF produces the first comprehensive database of California campaign contributions for statewide contests.
1999: CVF's web site wins the prestigious Webby Award and is inducted into the Smithsonian Institution's permanent research collection.
2000: CVF produces "the Proposition Song", an engaging, animated sing-along presentation on the Web to help familiarize voters with the 20 measures on California's 2000 primary ballot.

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This page was first published on August 15, 2000 | Last updated on August 15, 2000
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