While Tea Partyers in Congress ground our federal government to a halt last fall, California is in the process of moving from a state that many once thought “ungovernable” to one that’s arguing about what to do with our budget surplus.
And contrary to the media elites who often blame voters for creating our problems in California, we are turning things around as a result of fuller participation by more and more people, not by restricting democracy.
But we still have a long way to go.
California tied for 48th in a recent analysis of voter participation by the U.S. Census. The only good news in that statistic is that we beat Texas, which was dead last.
A report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that California’s current electorate is older, whiter, and wealthier than California’s eligible voting population. As we bring more young people and greater diversity into the voting process, California will make forward thinking policy choices rather than clinging to the past. For instance, the current electorate is bitterly divided on the role of government, with 49% of likely voters preferring to pay higher taxes for more government services and 45% taking the tea party view of lower taxes and smaller government. But among eligible non-voters, two thirds support more services and would pay higher taxes for a government that works.
The good news is that we are poised to significantly improve voter participation in California.
Our legislature has passed laws to streamline and modernize our voting process through policies such as same day voter registration and pre-registration of high school students. One scholarly report projects that just one of these reforms could boost turnout among 18-25 year olds in California by 9% and boost turnout among Latinos by at least 5.1%.
But these policies aren’t yet fully in place. It will fall to our next Secretary of State to implement and expand them. For example, we could move to a system of automatically registering voters using existing information they have already provided the state of California to verify their eligibility and address. Our past history has shown that it takes dedication and expertise to make new policies work.
Take online voter registration for example. The idea first passed the legislature in 2008 with support from Common Cause. But passing it was the easy part. The reform couldn’t be implemented at the time because it was contingent upon a new voter registration database known as VoteCal that we are still waiting for to this day. In 2011, Common Cause worked with the LA County Registrar, the Department of Motor Vehicles and Secretary of State Debra Bowen to devise a plan to implement online registration without waiting for VoteCal. Senator Leland Yee authored the bill to pass the idea for a second time, where it again sailed through the legislature and was implemented just barely in time for the 2012 elections.
It will take a similar level of commitment and experience to implement and expand the other reforms of same day voter registration and preregistration of high school students. The stakes are high enough that we must ensure it gets done right. Senator Hanna Beth Jackson has a bill to lower the pre-registration age from 17 to 16, which would mean we could capture young people at the DMV when they get their drivers licenses. It’s passed the Senate but awaits approval in the Assembly.
There are still other opportunities to improve participation through a new digital voters’ guide that would give voters better and clearer information about candidates and ballot measures. With major reforms like this just around the corner, Californians should pay close attention to electing a Secretary of State with the experience and dedication it will take to make it happen.
Derek Cressman is a former Vice President at Common Cause and current candidate for Secretary of State in California.
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