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1-866-OUR-VOTE (English) click here for a flyer Click here for a Q&A about the voter registration process. February 25, 2008: Update - LA County has developed a plan to count a portion of the Double Bubble ballots. Click here for a letter from the LA County Registrar to the Secretary of State.
Election Hotline Numbers A number of CalVEC organizations have established voter assistance hotlines to answer all of your election questions leading up to and on Election Day on February 5. 1-866-OUR-VOTE (Election Protection) Click here for more election resources.
CalVEC Members Respond to Decertification of LA County’s InkaVote Voting System November 15, 2007: APALC, California Common Cause, California Council for the Blind, Disability Rights Legal Center, MALDEF, New America Foundation and Protection & Advocacy, Inc. submitted a letter to the Secretary of State raising concerns regarding her decertification of the Los Angeles County’s ES&S InkaVote Plus optical scan voting system, as well the conditions placed on reapproval of the Diebold Accuvote TSX touchscreen direct record electronic (DRE) voting machines, which are used in Los Angeles for early voting. Click here to read the letter. California Common Cause Files Redistricting Initiative October 24, 2007: California Common Cause, along with AARP and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, yesterday filed a redistricting reform initiative with the Attorney General's office. Click here to read the actual language. Click here for a summary of the initiative. The Voters FIRST Act will create a truly independent and open citizen's commission to draw legislative districts. Click here for more information.
Reform Groups Join Governor Schwarzenegger to Call for Redistricting Reform! ! A broad, bipartisan coalition of organizations joined Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at a press conference at the state Capitol this week to introduce a proposal to create an independent commission to draw California's legislative and congressional districts. Representatives from the Voices of Reform, League of Women Voters of California, AARP, California Common Cause, Rose Institute, Center for Governmental Studies, and others all stood with the governor in calling for an end to gerrymandering in California. Click here for more information.
Enacted by Congress in October 2002, the HAVA legislation gives the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) a key role in helping realize nationwide improvements in voting systems by January 2006. NIST's Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) is coordinating the agency's HAVA efforts through its expertise in areas such as computer security and usability. NIST has just released draft recommendations for voting machine security, including paper trails for electronic voting machines and other paper-based voting systems. Draft Recommendations Discussion Draft Fact Sheet on NIST Voting Activities NALEO releases report on voting challenges faced by Latinos NALEO Educational Fund conducted a poll monitoring effort and received calls to their toll-free national hotline, 1-888-Ve-Y-Vota. This project was conducted in collaboration with some national and local partners, including the Lawyers Committee, MALDEF and NCLR. NALEO has issued a report documenting several incidents where Latinos did not receive the language assistance required under the VRA, as well as the overall need by Latino voters for basic election information. NALEO Report Voting Rights Act Reauthorization July 27, 2006: President Bush signed legislation today, renewing the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. AP Article July 20, 2006:With a vote of 98-0, the United States Senate voted unanimously to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act for 25 more years.The Bill now moves to the President's desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. Statement From Common Cause President Chellie Pingree AP Article July 13, 2006: By a vote of 390-33, the United States House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, portions of which were set to expire. The vote signalled a defeat for sourthern Congress members who had sought a relaxation of the VRA provisions that require additional elections oversight in their states. The US Senate still has to pass its version of a VRA reauthorization bill before the President can sign the bills into law. AP Article
Rep. Mel Watt meets with reporters to discuss
the voting rights act. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Voting Rights Act Renewal Update,
From Daniel Levitas, Public Policy Fellow, ACLU
Dissident Republicans Put Voting Rights Act on Hold
When questioned Monday (6/26) during a White House news conference, President Bush had this to say about renewal of the Voting Rights Act: QUESTION: Mr. President, what are you doing to ensure that the Voting Rights Act is reauthorized by the midterm elections? As you're saying, that's one of your top priorities. And also, do you support foreign ballots? BUSH: I am working very carefully with members of Congress to implement that which I said when I signed the proclamation for Rosa Parks, is, "I want this Voting Rights Act extended." And so we're working with members of the United States Congress to see if we can't get it done.
Congress Urged to Renew Voting Rights Act (Errin Haines, AP, Act Needs Renewal, Not Barriers (Michael Paul Williams, Voting Rights Act Remains Pertinent (Julian Bond, Voting Rights Act No Panacea (Star Parker, Don't Need Voting Rights Act? Who are they Kidding? (Clay Robison, Disarray on Voting Rights Shows Heft of GOP Fringe (Craig Hines, Voting Rights Law Renewal Becomes Headache for GOP (Bill Shipp, Gwinnett Daily Post) Congress Should Get its Act Together (Eugene Kane, Tinkering with Voting Rights (Clarence Page,
Voting Rights Act Renewal Update,
From Daniel Levitas, Public Policy Fellow, ACLU
House Action on H.R. 9 Expected Week of June 12. Contact Congress Now! Your help is urgently needed. Countless Americans continue to be denied equal access to the ballot box, and now, as the Voting Rights Act heads for renewal, a handful of lawmakers from Georgia and Texas are trying to delay the process in an attempt to severely weaken the landmark law that has protected the rights of millions of minority voters from discrimination. Your voice is needed now to keep the renewal process moving. Please contact your representative in support of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 (H.R. 9). If passed, this bill will renew and restore the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act that protect minorities from discrimination. The ACLU has a letter writing tool linked here
AALDEF announces that translated fact sheets on reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act are now available on its website in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Thai. AALDEF has also released findings from its 2005 multilingual exit poll of Asian American voters in All the results in these three states (NJ, NY, MA) demonstrate high rates of limited English proficiency by voters and a tremendous need for language assistance at the polls in both Section 203 covered and non-covered jurisdictions. In 203 covered jurisdictions, AALDEF also documented the use and effectiveness of bilingual ballots and translated voting materials.
Click her for a more detailed review and documentation of the findings from the 2004 elections, surveying 11,000 Asian American voters in 8 states.
NAACP National Convention, July 15-20 in Washington, DC
The 97th Annual NAACP Convention will convene in |
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