Press Release
Breaking: Bills Addressing Dangers of AI to Elections Score Major Legislative Win
CITED’s sponsored bills clear the Senate Appropriations Committee and move to final step of the legislative process
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Media Contacts
Ariana Marmolejo
Regional Communications Strategist (West)
amarmolejo@commoncause.org
Press Release
Public Input Sought for 2020 Vote Centers
California Common Cause will co-host community meetings in Inglewood, North Hollywood, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Sherman Oaks and West Los Angeles to give residents the opportunity to decide where they want to vote in 2020 when community-oriented vote centers replace neighborhood polling places. The meetings are part of a series of 33 community meetings across the county sponsored by Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan's office.
News Clip
The Health 202: The dialysis industry spent more than $100 million to beat a California ballot measure
Kati Phillips, spokeswoman for California Common Cause, which supports campaign finance reform, predicted the measure is not going away. “We will see this again,” she said.
Press Release
California Election Protection Hotline Received More Than 2,000 Calls on Election Day
With polls closed, California Common Cause reports the 866-OUR-VOTE Election Protection hotline received 2,000 calls from voters with questions and voters experiencing problems at the polls. This surpassed the call volume from the last midterm election, likely due to higher voter turnout and changes in how and where voters cast ballots.
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Voter interest high, problems few in populous California
California Common Cause, a nonpartisan good-government group, reported an unusually high number of calls from people experiencing problems voting, which could indicate higher turnout and confusion over changes in polling places, said spokeswoman Kati Phillips.
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Most voting goes without a hitch, but there are complaints of malfunctions, confusion and long lines
Isolated incidents were reported in California. The nonpartisan voting monitoring group California Common Cause said its volunteers received 2,000 calls to its voting hotline, many with questions about changes to polling places. In one unusual interruption in Bakersfield, a driver crashed into a elementary school and ran away, leading police to lock down the polling place. In North Hollywood and Canoga Park, a jammed ballot box and a broken voting machine led to problems. At the Los Angeles County registrar’s office in Norwalk, hundreds...
Press Release
Voting Rights Experts Detail How They Are Fighting Problems at the Polls
California Common Cause is working to ensure votes count across the state. The nonpartisan, nonprofit will have hundreds of trained volunteers in the field and answering the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline to help voters who have questions, concerns or spot voter suppression tactics.
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What matters for car companies, bipartisans and internet fans
“There’s a lot of money to be made off of sick people.”—Kati Phillips of California Common Cause, as dialysis company spending hit $111 million to defeat Proposition 8, which would regulate their profits.
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Dialysis companies spend $111 million to kill ballot measure
When corporate profits are at stake, campaign spending often balloons, said Kati Phillips of California Common Cause, which advocates campaign finance reform. “Health care measures are expensive,” she said. “There’s a lot of money to be made off of sick people.”
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What’s Behind All Those DMV Voter-Registration Snafus? ‘Motor Voter’ May Have Launched With Makeshift Computer System
Instead of the properly integrated computer program that was needed, the agency launched in April with disparate computer systems that didn’t automatically link together, according to advocates who have been working closely with the DMV on the new “motor voter” system. That meant DMV workers had to manually link information from various systems during transactions between April and September, when an integrated system was put in place, said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause.
Press Release
New Election Protection Texting Service Launches in California
With Election Day just three weeks away, Californians who have questions about voting can now get answers via text message. Text “election protection” to 97779, and a trained, nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer will help now through Election Day.
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The Debate About Debates: Should Candidates Be Compelled to Participate?
New York City requires any candidate who accepts public funding for citywide office to participate in debates," said Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for California Common Cause. They've spent three years trying to develop a similar model in Los Angeles. "We are one vote away from requiring all city council and citywide candidates to participate in a debate or town hall to qualify for public financing," Phillips said. "Previously the law had a loophole — candidates just had to agree to a debate, not actually show up!"
News Clip
Are political swamps in California and Washington mostly drained? This study says they are.
Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for California Common Cause, said the index shows there’s work still to be done in the Golden State. “We’ve worked to drain the swamp in California, but we still have our share of alligators,” she said.