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USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative: California
Aug 28 2020
Organizer: University of Southern California — Election Cybersecurity Initiative
Because of the COVID-19 virus, we are facing unprecedented changes to our election landscape. Cybersecurity is more important than ever, and we now have to view it through a different lens. At our virtual workshop, we will be discussing primary date changes, direct mail voting, facts you need to know and best practices for cyber safety. Campaigns, policymakers, thought-leaders and concerned citizens alike need objective, factual tools and information to help them secure campaigns and elections. The USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative is a brand new non-partisan independent project, supported by Google, to help protect campaigns and elections from cyber attacks.
Join us for a virtual workshop, designed to help protect campaigns and elections in this critical election year. Information for joining the call will be emailed to you 24-48 hours in advance of the workshop.
Location: Webinar
David Toussaint/Getty Images
Revamp of San Diego elections dies despite broad reform group push
Jul 23 2020
Griffiths is the editor of Independent Voter News, where a version of this story first appeared.
An election overhaul in the nation's eight largest city, designed to expand voters' viable choices and minimize polarization, has been killed by the San Diego City Council.
A broad coalition of democracy reform advocacy groups had made it a top priority to get a referendum revamping the municipal voting process on the November ballot, viewing the city as receptive to the plan. But the proposal was blocked Tuesday by the council on a 5-4 vote.
If adopted, San Diego would have replaced traditional partisan primaries for each office with a single contest open to all candidates, with the top four finishers advancing to a November election decided by ranked-choice voting.
<p>"I want to tip my hat to the remarkable coalition that came together in support of change, and the heartfelt expressions of support of so many people seeking better elections in San Diego," said Rob Richie, who runs <a data-linked-post="2638674439" href="https://thefulcrum.us/fairvote" target="_blank">FairVote</a>, which advocates for ranked elections. "That commitment will result in change in the future." </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The advocates took some solace that their proposal secured bipartisan support. It was backed by two Democrats, a Republican and an independent. Four Democrats and a Republican formed the majority.</p><p>Local party leaders and partisan special interests teamed up to oppose the measure.</p><p>"From Maine to Alaska, nonpartisan reformers have had to battle the combined opposition of those in control of both major political parties," said Cara Brown McCormick, who has run two successful RCV campaigns in Maine and pressed the proposal in California. "The fact that some elected officials would refuse to give the people of San Diego a chance to vote on this measure tells you everything you need to know about why we need this reform so badly."</p><p>The proposal was brought forward by an unusually broad coalition spanning the ideological spectrum, including the <a data-linked-post="2638675562" href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/league-of-women-voters" target="_blank">League of Women Voters</a> of San Diego, FairVote, <a data-linked-post="2638673288" href="https://thefulcrum.us/representus" target="_blank">RepresentUs</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638673039" href="https://thefulcrum.us/take-back-our-republic" target="_blank">Take Back Our Republic</a>, <a href="https://www.panasd.org/" target="_blank">The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638673372" href="https://thefulcrum.us/business-for-america" target="_blank">Business for America</a>, <a data-linked-post="2640917202" href="https://thefulcrum.us/the-people" target="_blank">The People</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638674228" href="https://thefulcrum.us/open-primaries" target="_blank">Open Primaries</a>, <a href="https://moralgovernance.org/" target="_blank">Community Advocates for a Just and Moral Governance</a>, <a href="https://sandiegoindivisible.com/" target="_blank">Indivisible</a> and the <a data-linked-post="2638675412" href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/independent-voter-project" target="_blank">Independent Voter Project</a>.</p><p>The system, known as "Top4RCV," has emerged as a consensus favorite among nonpartisan election reformers across the country. A similar proposal will be on the ballot this fall in <a href="https://alaskansforbetterelections.com/" target="_blank">Alaska</a> and is gathering preliminary support in states as diverse as Wisconsin and Arkansas.</p><p>Lori Thiel, president of the city's League of Women Voters chapter, described the vote as a missed opportunity to elect "representatives with the broadest base of support, ensuring they're responsible to the most constituents."</p><p>"The measure would have resulted in better representation and a more diverse field of candidates," lamented Geneviéve Jones-Wright of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance. "The measure would have helped us have a more inclusive democracy."</p><p>Advocates are confident that the candidates who win under the proposed system would have the broadest appeal and would campaign in nonpolarizing ways in order to turn off the fewest number of voters.</p><p>"We are very confident that this common-sense method of voting for candidates will gain more support as the word continues to spread around the community, " said Francis Johnson, chairman of Take Back Our Republic's board. "This is a temporary setback."</p><p><em>Visit </em><a href="https://ivn.us/" target="_blank"><em>IVN.us</em></a><em> for more coverage from Independent Voter News.</em></p>
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The 11 states that would face federal oversight under a new Voting Rights Act
Jul 22 2020
A growing chorus of congressional Democrats are saying that enacting a new Voting Rights Act is the best way for Congress to honor John Lewis, the civil rights icon and veteran Atlanta congressman who died last week.
The Republicans running the Senate have signaled no interest in debating the bill, designed to revive the racial discrimination protections enshrined in the original 1965 landmark law. The Democratic House passed the measure in December, with Lewis wielding the gavel during the vote.
Many of his colleagues now say the measure should be dubbed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. There's talk of pushing it through the House a second time this summer, perhaps with election assistance aid to the states tacked on.
<p>The legislation is a response to the Supreme Court's 2013 decision invalidating a central provision of the law, which then required places with histories of discrimination to get Justice Department permission for any changes to election laws or processes. Nine states and parts of five others were subject to such "<a href="http://thefulcrum.us/preclearance" target="_self">preclearance</a>" at the time, but the court said the formula for deciding which jurisdictions made the list was unconstitutionally outdated. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Since that ruling, in <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/shelby-county-v-holder" target="_self">Shelby County v. Holder</a>, almost every one of those places has tightened voting rules.</p><p>Under the updated formula now stuck in Congress, the four most populous states would be subject to preclearance along with seven others, according to analysts at <a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2019/03/states-facing-federal-preclearance-under-proposed-voting-rights-act-fix" target="_blank">the Institute for Southern Studies,</a> a progressive policy group:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Alabama</li><li>California</li><li>Florida </li><li>Georgia</li><li>Louisiana</li><li>Mississippi</li><li>New York</li><li>North Carolina</li><li>South Carolina</li><li>Texas</li><li>Virginia</li></ul>
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Voting
True
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Because the Supreme Court stripped the "preclearance" section of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, states must enact their own laws to protect the rights of communities of color, according to Greenwood and Norouzi.
Why it's time for every state to enact its own voting rights law
Jul 16 2020
Greenwood is co-director for voting rights and redistricting at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. Norouzi is deputy director of OneAmerica, an immigrant and refugee advocacy organization in Washington state.
<p>In 2013, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/12-96" target="_blank">argued</a> that gutting provisions of the Voting Rights Act that protected communities of color from electoral discrimination was like "throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm when you are not getting wet." Yet that is exactly what has been happening around the country as barriers have been placed in front of communities of color. Increasingly <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/voting-rights-by-state-map" target="_blank">restrictive voter ID laws</a>,<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/12/report-court-ruling-caused-mass-voting-place-closures-southern-u-s/2272866001/" target="_blank"> polling place closures</a> and <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/update/black-voters-continue-face-voter-suppression-155-years-after-juneteenth" target="_blank">felony disenfranchisement laws</a> have popped up in many states.</p><p>Without the full protection of the federal <a data-linked-post="2636710625" href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting-rights-act" target="_blank">Voting Rights Act</a>, a landmark achievement of the civil rights era that was neutered by the Supreme Court seven years ago, the onus has been shifted to the states to protect communities of color from voting discrimination. </p><p>And so every state should adopt its own version of a voting rights act and other election system reforms to ensure that communities of color can gain equal access in voting and representation.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The original 1965 law vastly improved the ability of communities of color to participate in our democracy. Much of this success came from the fact that it required <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/update/restoring-voting-rights-act-critical-combating-discriminatory-voting-practices" target="_blank">preclearance</a>, which meant that states and localities with long histories of suppressing voters of color needed to gain approval from the federal government before instituting new voting rules. Soon after the law's enactment, the number of registered voters of color skyrocketed. In the seven states originally subject to preclearance, the number of registered Black voters <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/update/restoring-voting-rights-act-critical-combating-discriminatory-voting-practices" target="_blank">ballooned</a> from less than a million in 1965 to nearly 3.6 million in 1986. Additionally, with communities of color able to elect their preferred candidates, more elected officials of color started serving in <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/update/restoring-voting-rights-act-critical-combating-discriminatory-voting-practices" target="_blank">state and local governments</a>.</p><p>But even though the Supreme Court has gutted the federal law, states can write their own statutes to ensure communities of color make strides in ballot access and representation. <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/ucla_voting_rights_project_testimony.pdf" target="_blank">Nearly 200 jurisdictions</a> have seen changes to their electoral systems to better protect the voting rights of people of color in the roughly 20 years since the enactment of the California Voting Rights Act.</p><p>The version of the law enacted in Washington state goes beyond California's protections, in particular by explicitly allowing jurisdictions to adopt electoral systems other than single-member districts. This includes <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/democracyu/accountability/ranked-choice-voting" target="_blank">ranked-choice voting</a>, which can better enfranchise communities of color that are spread out across a jurisdiction. Under this alternative election system, voters may rank candidates for each office in order of preference. If one is the first choice of most voters, that candidate wins. If not, the candidate in the top spot on the fewest ballots is eliminated, and those ballots are redistributed to the candidates named as second choice. This process continues until someone has more than half of the vote. </p><p>Latinx activists are pushing rural Yakima County, 140 miles southeast of Seattle, to adopt RCV. The county commission uses an at-large voting system whereby all the commissioners can get elected by the white plurality — leaving Latinx and Native American voters unable to elect their candidates of choice. Even though <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/yakimacountywashington" target="_blank">half of Yakima County</a> is Latinx, only one Latinx person has ever been elected to the commission. </p><p>In January, our two organizations <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/story/changing-our-voting-system-helped-my-city-represent-diversifying-electorate" target="_blank">sent a letter on behalf of the activists</a>, putting the county <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/document/yakima-notice-letter-wvra" target="_blank">on notice</a> its system was denying the Latinx community "an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice." Since Yakima County has failed to respond by engaging the community in creating a solution, we <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/document/aguilar-v-yakima-county-superior-court-washington-complaint" target="_blank">sued the county</a> this week for violating the Washington Voting Rights Act. The growing non-white community deserves equal representation and to have their voices heard.</p><p>Ranked-choice elections have the potential to uplift communities of color elsewhere too. They fundamentally encourage candidates to reach out to a more diverse pool of voters and prevent candidates from relying on narrow white majorities to propel them to victory. The RCV advocacy group <a data-linked-post="2638674439" href="https://thefulcrum.us/fairvote" target="_blank">FairVote</a>, which <a href="https://www.fairvote.org/the_alternative_vote_can_increase_representation_of_women_and_people_of_color_in_us_elections" target="_blank">studied two decades of elections </a> in California cities, found that the share of candidates of color grew to 26 percent from 17 percent in the municipalities with RCV — and slipped by a point, to 11 percent, in places with traditional elections. </p><p>Sometimes, creating one or <a href="https://www.fairvote.org/for_the_first_time_a_court_adopts_fair_representation_to_remedy_a_calif_voting_rights_act_lawsuit" target="_blank">more</a> electoral districts with a non-white majority can remedy political discrimination and allow communities of color to <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11803793/santa-claras-measure-c-a-fight-over-dark-money-and-district-lines" target="_blank">choose</a> their preferred candidates. But often these communities are dispersed across several neighborhoods and cannot be packed into one district in a way that maximizes their electoral power. In these jurisdictions, RCV would be the strongest option for allowing everyone to participate equally in the governing process — because it can take varying levels of racial segregation into account.</p><p>However, equitable representation relies on states having voting rights laws that allow them to force jurisdictions with long histories of voting discrimination to change their election systems. Only <a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB3310" target="_blank">Oregon</a> along with <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB182" target="_blank">California</a><a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB3310" target="_blank"> </a>and <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2017-18/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/6002-S.SL.pdf?q=20200630111103" target="_blank">Washington</a> have their own such laws on the books now, although such a measure is making its way through <a href="https://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=S07528&term=2019&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Text=Y&Committee%26nbspVotes=Y&Floor%26nbspVotes=Y#jump_to_Summary" target="_blank">the New York Legislature</a>. The other 46 states <a href="https://campaignlegal.org/update/clc-report-encourages-every-state-pass-its-own-voting-rights-act" target="_blank">should follow suit</a>.</p><p>State voting rights laws would not only protect communities left to face voting discrimination in place of a federal law that's hardly in full effect, they would also improve on the original Voting Rights Act by creating better mechanisms for addressing local instances of voting discrimination. </p><p>For the past seven years, communities of color may have been without umbrellas as they try to weather the storm of voting discrimination. The states could step in and give them better protection than ever. </p>
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