California looking to give your “voting experience” a complete makeover

Sweeping legislation at the state Capitol would make the future of California elections dependent on a major expansion of absentee ballots, one that would give local officials the power to close thousands of neighborhood polling places.

In their place, counties would open temporary elections offices known as “vote centers” sprinkled throughout communities, locations offering a wide variety of elections services including early voting and same-day voter registration as well as a limited number of in-person voting booths.

“We’re trying to make it easier for people to participate, given the complexities of modern life,” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), the author of Senate Bill 450.

The bill faces an Aug. 31 deadline to make it Gov. Jerry Brown for his ultimate signature or veto.

Allen and SB 450’s supporters say the plan represents a significant rethinking of the election experience for Californians. They point out that the many complaints from voters during the June primary — including polling place mistakes and registration errors — are perhaps the best argument for why change is long overdue.

Source: LA Times

Loony friends of @BernieSanders sue Cali over election rules

A group of Bernie Sanders supporters and independent voters has filed a federal lawsuit demanding changes in the state’s election system, saying it has shut out people who don’t identify as Republicans or Democrats.

The plaintiffs, who filed their complaint Friday against the head of the San Francisco Department of Elections, the head of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, and Secretary of State Alex Padilla, seek a litany of reforms — among them an order to extend the state’s voter registration deadline from Monday to June 7, the day of the primary election.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Study charts low voter turnout by California’s Latinos, Asians

A major reason for California’s record-low voter turnout last year was the extremely low rate of voting by the state’s two fastest-growing ethnic groups, a new analysis by the UC Davis Center for Regional Change reveals.

While just 41.7 percent of the state’s registered voters cast ballots last November, the rates of voting by Latinos (27.5 percent) and Asian Americans (36.3 percent) were markedly lower than those of whites and blacks, a combined 47.3 percent.

The very low rate of voting by Latinos occurred during a year when, as a recent Census Bureau report confirmed, they became the state’s largest ethnic group, with about 39 percent of the state’s nearly 39 million residents.

via Study charts low voter turnout by California’s Latinos, Asians – Dan Walters,  The Sacramento Bee.