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Report
LA City Voter Turnout Analysis
Getting to 100: How Moving Elections to Even Years Increased Voter Participation in Local Elections October 2020
Report
Reaching Low Propensity Voters in the November 2020 Elections
The report, “Reaching Low-Propensity Voters in California’s November 2020 Elections” examines voters’ awareness of voting options, voting option preferences, and reactions to existing voter messaging materials.
The focus groups included low-propensity and first-time voters from Spanish, Tagalog, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, and Hmong language communities, and English-speaking youth, including many first-generation voters. Participants ranged in age and represented most major metropolitan areas across California, with...
The focus groups included low-propensity and first-time voters from Spanish, Tagalog, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, and Hmong language communities, and English-speaking youth, including many first-generation voters. Participants ranged in age and represented most major metropolitan areas across California, with...
Report
Common Cause Releases Report on Los Angeles County’s New Voting System in March 2020 Primary Election
Common Cause deployed poll monitors to more than 150 Los Angeles County vote centers on Election Day and in the early vote period. In this report, we detail our findings and provide 36 recommendations for improving the voting system in Los Angeles County for the November 2020 election and beyond.
Letter
Letter to CA Citizens Redistricting Commission Regarding Selection of Remaining Commissioners
As you are aware, the random drawing to select the first eight commissioners resulted in zero Latinos
being selected.
In a state where Latinos comprise nearly 40 percent of the total population and nearly one third of its
citizen voting age population, a lack of Latino representation on the Commission would be unacceptable.
Fortunately, you have the power, and the legal obligation, to rectify the dramatic underrepresentation of
Latinos when you make your determinations regarding the final six...
being selected.
In a state where Latinos comprise nearly 40 percent of the total population and nearly one third of its
citizen voting age population, a lack of Latino representation on the Commission would be unacceptable.
Fortunately, you have the power, and the legal obligation, to rectify the dramatic underrepresentation of
Latinos when you make your determinations regarding the final six...
Letter
Common Cause Signs Amicus Letter Urging CA Supreme Court to Extend Redistricting Deadlines
Due to COVID-19 delaying the 2020 Census, redistricting advocates including former Gov. Schwarzenegger, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California sign an amicus letter urging the California Supreme Court to extend redistricting deadlines. This will preserve the drawing of new voting maps for the next decade.
Guide
California Motor Voter Program
California Motor Voter automatically registers all eligible Californians who complete a driver’s license, identification card (ID), or change of address transaction online, by mail, or in person, unless they opt out. The program streamlines the voter registration process at the DMV and makes registering to vote more convenient for Californians. For questions, contact Kiyana Asemanfar, Policy Outreach Coordinator.
Report
California Municipal Democracy Index
Many election laws and campaign practices are shaped at the local level, including how people vote for their city officials and the campaign contribution limits for those offices. California Common Cause completed a major study of these practices for all 482 cites in California.
Report
California Municipal Democracy Index – Key Findings
Key findings of California Common Cause's 2016 Democracy Index report.
Report
Local Campaign Contribution Limits
The Supreme Court has held that campaign contribution limits are a legitimate means of “deal[ing] with the reality or appearance of corruption inherent in a system permitting unlimited financial contributions.” Campaign contribution limits help to ensure that candidates are not overly reliant on a few wealthy donors to finance their campaigns. With a cap on individual contributions, candidates must also build a broader base of smaller contributions to be viable. As of 2014, the federal government and 38 states had enacted campaign...
Report
Money Talks: The State of Public Financing in California
The need for restructuring our campaign finance system has never been so dire. One reform with particular promise is the use of public funds to amplify the voice of everyday citizens in political campaigns. Public Financing helps to reduce corruption, hold politicians accountable and create a government of, by, and for the people.
Report
Getting to 100%: How changing the election date can improve voter turnout
One of the greatest barometers for waning civic engagement in American politics is declining voter turnout in federal, state, and municipal elections. There are many potential contributing factors: general cynicism about government and elected officials, a decline in investment in civics education, and an increasingly transient society. Yet there is one major contributing factor to low
voter turnout – the timing of elections – that could be addressed with a relatively simple policy change.
The Public Policy Institute...
voter turnout – the timing of elections – that could be addressed with a relatively simple policy change.
The Public Policy Institute...