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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
Forum on How to End Gerrymandering in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Monday, July 30, 2018 - California Common Cause and Equity for Cambodians are inviting community members to a public forum August 4 to learn more about how a proposal to create an independent citizens redistricting commission to draw Long Beach City Council districts will make redistricting more responsive to Long Beach communities. The Long Beach City Council is poised to ask voters to end political gerrymandering in its city by placing the proposal on the November ballot.
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Voting rights groups praise California Motor Voter for reaching nearly 800,000 voter registration transactions
California voting rights organizations today praised the California Motor Voter program for dramatically increasing statewide voter registration. The joint effort between the Secretary of State and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) processed nearly 800,000 voter registration transactions at the DMV from April through June and ensures voter registration will be convenient and voter rolls more accurate going forward.
News Clip
California’s political watchdog panel balks at lifting donor limits for legislative leaders
alifornia’s political watchdog panel deadlocked Thursday over allowing legislative leaders to accept much larger campaign contributions, after several open-government groups said the proposal raises “important concerns” about increasing the influence of special interests.
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More campaign money could flow to California legislative leaders under new bill
Special interests could put more money directly into the hands of California legislative leaders, giving them greater influence over campaigns, under a bill unveiled last week as lawmakers left Sacramento for summer recess.
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Is Montebello fair in how it allocates road repair money?
“Generally speaking as a matter of practice, most city council members will recuse themselves on votes that impact their own personal street,” Feng said. “(But) recusal rules only apply when somebody has a direct financial interest.”
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PG&E is spending big in Sacramento as it struggles with costs of North Bay fires
“Nothing discloses how much money is going for a bill,” Heidorn said. Unless there is a reportable individual expense, like Dodd’s breakfast, the public is entitled to “absolutely nothing” about meetings between lobbyists and lawmakers, he said.
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Five proposed charter amendments introduced at Long Beach City Council meeting
Sylvia Moore, the Southern California organizer for Common Cause, said at Tuesday’s meeting that if Long Beach were to create a redistricting commission, it would be a “milestone” achievement for California because half of the state’s 10 largest cities would have such a system for drawing districts.“ Long Beach would be a statewide leader in good governance,” Moore said.
Press Release
Conditional Voter Registration Expands Voting Opportunities in California
California voters can now register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day, after the voter registration deadline.
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California’s Latinos and Asian Americans target city councils with district elections
A 2016 report by California Common Cause, a democracy advocacy organization, found that 59 of California's 482 cities hold district elections. Twenty-eight of those cities made the switch between 2011 and 2016.
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Before John Cox was Trump’s choice for governor, he was on a quixotic mission to remake California’s Legislature
Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, an advocacy group that participated in the 2013 meetings, said she could see the appeal in creating a system that brings constituents closer to their elected officials. But she said her group had questions about how the proposal would be implemented.