California: Los Angeles Court Accused of Violating Voting Rights | Courthouse News Service

Los Angeles Superior Court unlawfully strips voting rights from thousands of disabled Americans who are under adult guardianship, an advocacy group claims in a complaint to the Department of Justice. The Disability and Abuse Project of Spectrum Institute, "as next friend of limited conservatees under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Superior Court," sent a formal complaint against Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday to the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Project director Dr. Nora Baladerian said in a statement: "Being told that you are less than other Americans and that you cannot exercise your right to vote has a detrimental emotional and psychological effect on people with disabilities. We trust that Attorney General Eric Holder will take action to protect the rights of these deserving American citizens." According to the 8-page complaint, thousands of people with developmental or intellectual disabilities lose their right to vote after parents petition probate court to allow them to make legal, financial and medical decisions for their adult children.

California: Secretary of state candidates call for changes in recount law  | Los Angeles Times

Both candidates vying to be California's next secretary of state say the controversial recount in the controller's race demonstrates the need to change election laws. Sen. Alex Padilla, the Democratic candidate from Pacoima, called the process "embarrassing." Pete Peterson, a Republican who leads a public policy institute at Pepperdine University, said recount laws are "a mess." The recount was called by Assemblyman John A. Pérez after he finished 481 votes behind Betty Yee, a Board of Equalization member, in the June 3 primary. The two Democrats are vying for the chance to face off with Ashley Swearengin, the Republican mayor of Fresno, in the November general election. In California, any candidate or registered voter can call for a recount, but he or she has to pay for it.

California: Palmdale continues lonely fight against California Voting Rights Act | Los Angeles Times

Across California, cities, school districts, even water boards are scrambling to comply with the state's Voting Rights Act and settle costly lawsuits, or avoid them altogether. Palmdale is an exception. Leaders in the Antelope Valley city have lost court battles and racked up big legal bills fighting to keep their system of electing officials, which a trial court last year ruled violates minority voters' rights. An appeals court recently agreed with the trial judge on some points, and now the city is asking the state Supreme Court to step in. "I think every city in California needs to wake up. … We should all unite instead of folding," Palmdale Mayor James Ledford said. He repeated his view that the lawsuits are "nothing but a money grab" by the plaintiffs' attorneys.

California: Controller recount highlights concern about California election law | Los Angeles Times

In much the way surgeons need skilled hands and fighter pilots must have great eyesight, there is at least one key requirement for election workers handling the recount in California's controller race: long attention spans. Starting Friday, they will gather in government offices and sit four to a table, where ballots will be lined up for their review. One worker will read a voter's decision, another will watch and two more will keep count. They will do this thousands and thousands of times. "It has to be people who can stay focused, because you can understand how boring it can get," said Debra Porter, Imperial County registrar. And if the workers lose count, they'll have to backtrack to make sure they get it right. This tedious process is at the heart of what could become the largest recount in California history. It will also showcase a rarely discussed area of state law that observers and participants say fails to provide an equitable safeguard in close elections.

California: Disabled often banned from voting in Los Angeles, complaint says | Associated Press

At a time when election officials are struggling to convince more Americans to vote, advocates for the disabled say thousands of people with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and other intellectual or developmental disabilities have been systematically denied that basic right in the nation's largest county. A Voting Rights Act complaint to be filed Thursday with the U.S. Justice Department goes to a politically delicate subject that states have grappled with over the years: Where is the line to disqualify someone from the voting booth because of a cognitive or developmental impairment? The complaint by the Disability and Abuse Project argues that intellectual and developmental disabilities, including conditions such as Down syndrome, are not automatic barriers to participating in elections. It seeks a sweeping review of voting eligibility in Los Angeles County in such cases, arguing that thousands of people with those disabilities have lost the right to vote during the last decade. "We want these past injustices to be corrected, and we want the judges and court-appointed attorneys to protect, not violate, the rights of people with developmental disabilities," Thomas F. Coleman, the group's legal director, said in a statement.

California: Thousands with disabilities denied right to vote in California, group says | Associated Press

At a time when election officials are struggling to convince more Americans to vote, advocates for the disabled say thousands of people with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and other intellectual or developmental disabilities have been systematically denied that basic right in the nation's largest county. A Voting Rights Act complaint to be filed Thursday with the U.S. Justice Department goes to a politically delicate subject that states have grappled with over the years: Where is the line to disqualify someone from the voting booth because of a cognitive or developmental impairment? The complaint by the Disability and Abuse Project argues that intellectual and developmental disabilities, including conditions such as Down syndrome, are not automatic barriers to participating in elections. It seeks a sweeping review of voting eligibility in Los Angeles County in such cases, arguing that thousands of people with those disabilities have lost the right to vote during the last decade. "We want these past injustices to be corrected, and we want the judges and court-appointed attorneys to protect, not violate, the rights of people with developmental disabilities," Thomas F. Coleman, the group's legal director, said in a statement.

California: Pérez’s challenge a test of California’s recount law | Los Angeles Times

th just 481 votes keeping him from the November runoff for state controller, former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez filed a request this week to begin machine and hand recounts of ballots in 15 counties, making this the largest recount request in California's modern history. Perez's petition for a recount is understandable, even necessary, given the close margin in the race — the deciding votes were 0.01% of the ballots cast. Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, a Republican, finished first in the June 3 primary. Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, a Democrat like Pérez, came in second to advance to the general election.

California: Recount in controller’s race raises questions, anxiety for registrars | Sacramento Bee

Election officials across California on Monday began preparing for a historically large hand recount in the state controller’s race amid uncertainty about how to coordinate an effort involving thousands of precincts in 15 counties. During a normally slow time on the election calendar, counties were calling back employees from vacation, getting in touch with potential members of recount boards and studying the finer points of the state’s recount laws. The activity began after former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez filed papers Sunday seeking manual recounts in 15 counties where he ran well against Board of Equalization member and fellow Democrat Betty Yee. “There are more questions right now than answers,” said Michael Scarpello, registrar of voters in San Bernardino County, where the Pérez campaign seeks recounts in 495 of the county’s nearly 1,700 precincts.

California: John Pérez calls for recount in tight race for state controller | Los Angeles Times

Assemblyman John A. Pérez called Sunday for a recount in the razor-close primary election for state controller, a first step in what could become an expensive and lengthy effort to salvage his campaign for one of California's top financial posts. Pérez, a Los Angeles Democrat, trails Betty Yee, a Democratic member of the Board of Equalization from the Bay Area, by just 481 votes -- or one hundredth of one percent of the more than 4 million ballots cast. "It is therefore of the utmost importance that an additional, carefully conducted review of the ballots be undertaken to ensure that every vote is counted, as intended," Pérez said in a statement. The two controller candidates have been battling for second place in the primary in order to advance to the general election. Ashley Swearengin, the Republican mayor of Fresno, has already secured her spot on the November ballot by finishing in first place in the primary. Under California law, any registered voter can ask for a recount, but the person making the request has to foot the bill.

California: Law sought to prevent recount fights | Fresno Bee

In 2010, California lawmakers approved legislation meant to reduce the incentive for expensive and contentious ballot recounts of the sort looming in the exceedingly close race for second place in the state controller's primary. But the law went dormant at the end of last year and will have no bearing on the controller's contest between Betty Yee and John A. Pérez. In a statement Tuesday, the Pérez campaign said it is conducting a review to "determine whether a recount is warranted. After nearly a month of counting votes and a vote margin of just 1/100th of one percent, out of more than 4 million votes cast, nobody would like to the see this process completed more than we would," the statement said. "Since this is one of closest statewide elections in the history of California, we have an obligation to review and ensure that every vote cast is accurately counted. During our review, we will also determine whether a recount is warranted."

California: Recount possibility looms in California controller’s race after canvass | The Sacramento Bee

They’ve been counting votes for three weeks in the race for California controller, and Democrat Betty Yee has gone from second place to third place, to fourth place and back to third. As of Tuesday afternoon, she was again clinging to second place, ahead of former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez by a mere 865 votes. Whoever survives gets a spot in the Nov. 4 runoff against Republican Ashley Swearengin. “I get text messages from people who’ve been following this much more closely than I am,” said Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization, downplaying any anxiety as officials finish processing more than a million vote-by-mail, provisional and damaged ballots by next Tuesday’s canvassing deadline.

California: Controller cliffhanger race hinges on tardy mail-in ballots | KPCC

Thousands of  mail-in ballots that could have made a difference in the tight primary election for state Controller have been invalidated because they showed up at registrars' offices too late to count. Fresno's mayor, Republican Ashley Swearengin, finished first and will be in November's general election. The contest for the second spot has swung back and forth between two Democrats — former Assembly Speaker John Perez of Los Angeles and Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, from the Bay Area. With more than 3.9 million ballots counted, Perez led by fewer than 1,800 votes Tuesday afternoon. The total has been changing several times a day since the June 3 primary as California's 58 county registrars send updates to the Secretary of State.

California: Least-populous county takes voting seriously | Los Angeles Times

Tess Castle, drinking a mid-afternoon pint at the Wolf Creek Restaurant & Bar on a recent afternoon, admitted something she had never told anyone before: She doesn't vote. "Shame on you. I didn't know that," said bartender Danea McAvoy, 51, after selling lottery tickets to tourists passing through this bucolic town of 210 residents. "Shame on you." The reaction may seem sharp, but it's because Castle, 28, is in a distinct minority in this picturesque county seat of tiny Alpine County. Nearly everyone in this community along the crest of the Sierra Nevada — carved through graceful, tall pine groves and mountain peaks, halfway between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite — makes their mark on election day. On June 3, in one of the least compelling gubernatorial primary elections in memory, nearly 70% of voters cast ballots, the largest turnout per capita in the state. California as a whole is on track to hit a record of a more dubious nature — 18.3% of voters cast ballots through election day on June 3. Absentee and provisional ballots are still being counted, but voting experts expect the state to end up with a turnout of 22% to 23% — far less than any in recent history — when the tally is finalized in early July.

California: Thousands of mail-in ballots too late to count | Associated Press

Thousands of mail-in ballots are being invalidated in California elections because they arrive too late to be counted, government officials and political experts said Monday. In the state's June 3 primary, Los Angeles County received about 2,400 mail-in ballots after the Election Day deadline — the close of polls — making them ineligible to be tallied. The number of latecomers invalidated in Santa Cruz County was nearly 600, all postmarked on or before the election. The postmark isn't the deciding factor — the cutoff is the close of polls, when election officials must have the ballots in-hand. In a state with nearly 18 million registered voters, the figures for late-arriving ballots are relatively tiny, but even small numbers can make a difference in tight races.

California: Legislature Moves to Restrict Citizen-Requested Election ‘Recounts’ | BradBlog

Up until now, the state of California has been able to boast about one of the most liberal election "recount" statutes in the nation. It allows any voter or group of voters to request a post-election hand-count of any number of precincts in any race or ballot initiative in the state. The state election code allows crucial access to citizen oversight of public elections. That may all be about to change, however, if a Republican proposal, currently being supported by Democrats in the state legislature and causing alarm among some who have carried out recent "recounts", becomes law. Under current law, voters seeking such a post-election count have to pay for the cost, though if the outcome of the election is changed in favor of the requester, they are entitled to receive a refund. … Still, the provision for post-election citizen oversight of election results in the state, until now, has been far better than most such laws elsewhere in the nation.

California: Leland Yee’s startling finish in California election race explained | Los Angeles Times

In a largely sleepy California election, there was one startling result: nearly 300,000 ballots cast for Leland Yee for secretary of state, good enough for third place even though he dropped out after being accused of gun running and political corruption. Yee’s tally, which is likely to grow as more than 750,000 uncounted ballots are processed, pushed him past a pair of good-government candidates also vying to be the state’s chief election officer--a bit of irony adding to a widely held notion, especially outside the state, that Californians are a bit nuts. Yet while vexing and a cause of no small amount of ridicule, state Sen. Yee’s surprising vote total can be explained by several factors beyond the supposed shallowness and stupidity of the California electorate.

California: Judge Orders Palmdale To Pay $3.5M For Voting Rights Act Violation | KHTS

The city of Palmdale was ordered to pay the plaintiffs $3,563,259 for the fees and costs related to a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit for which the city recently lost an appeal. The move comes amid a court-supervised settlement conference being held between representatives for the Santa Clarita Community College District and the plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit facing the college's governing board. Palmdale could still seek a review of the appellate court decision to the state's Supreme Court. An attorney for the city indicated Palmdale City Council members would direct him as to whether the city would seek a review of the appellate decision.

California: 1,000+ Sacramento vote-by-mail ballots arrive too late | KCRA

About 1,200 Sacramento County vote-by-mail ballots arrived too late to be counted in this week's primary election, according to elections officials. Jill LaVine, the county's registrar of voters, shook her head as she leafed through five trays of pink envelopes and examined the postmarks. "Once again, I see June 3 on these, so they were postmarked June 3," said LaVine. Even though many of the ballots were mailed before the polls closed Tuesday, they were not received at the registrar's office until afterwards. Under California law, that means the ballots will never be opened, counted and included in the official results. "So much work went into this and we can't count them. So it's sad. It's really sad," said LaVine.

California: No ballots, no voting machines and other glitches at Los Angeles County polling places | Daily News

With some 5,000 polling places operating throughout Los Angeles County on Tuesday and a shortage of volunteers, some voting locations reported problems such as missing ink and other materials and a lack of staffing. Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, which had students at polling sites throughout the area, was keeping track of the problems through its Twitter feed, noting issues such as an absence of workers at one site, and voting machines without ink. “Still no ballots at Fire Station 99. Polls have been open for FOUR HOURS,” one tweet noted, referring to a site on the Westside.

California: San Jose pot clubs to offer voters free weed on California primary day | Reuters

California voters can expect to receive free weed from some pot clubs in the Bay Area city of San Jose for casting ballots in state primary elections next Tuesday that include local races and battles for governor and secretary of state. The city’s cannabis collectives, which have also offered up a voter guide to the races, are offering free marijuana and discounts when members show a ballot stub or an “I Voted” sticker on June 3. “Primary elections tend to have much lower turnout because people don’t even know there’s a vote that day,” said Dave Hodges, a cannabis club owner and member of the Silicon Valley Cannabis Coalition. “We want to help people know when to vote and who to vote for.”

California: Assembly approves bill for all-mail special elections | Capitol Alert

Seeking to improve low voter participation in special elections, the California Assembly on Thursday narrowly passed and sent to the Senate legislation that distribute all ballots by mail for elections to fill vacancies. The constant shuffle of elected officials seeking new seats follows a familiar pattern -- a state legislator resigns or wins election to a new office, and a tiny sliver of the electorate chooses a replacement. Turnout in a recent pair of special elections hovered around 12 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Citing the expense, the Senate leader floated letting the governor fill vacancies. An effective solution, according to proponents of Assembly Bill 1873, is to make mailboxes, not polling places, the nexus of special elections.

California: Appeals court says Palmdale must do away with at-large elections | Los Angeles Times

An appeals court on Wednesday dealt Palmdale a double blow in a long-running battle over the way its city officials are elected. The court rejected Palmdale's contention that, as a charter city, it is not subject to the California Voting Rights Act — a ruling with implications for Whittier and other cities being sued over alleged voting-rights violations. The three-member panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal also upheld a trial court's ban on certifying the results of the city's Nov. 5, 2013, municipal election. Attorneys for the city and the plaintiffs disagreed over the effect the ban would have on city operations. Kevin I. Shenkman, the lead plaintiff's attorney, said that unless the election is certified, the city will not have a functioning City Council after July 9. That was a deadline set by the trial judge last year when he ordered a new election that conformed with the Voting Rights Act.

California: Secretary of state campaign takes on a higher profile | Associated Press

A string of legal cases against lawmakers that include two Democrats facing political corruption charges has magnified the usually quiet race for the office overseeing California elections and campaign fundraising. Candidates vying to become secretary of state are offering competing plans to inject transparency and restore public faith in government. A race that typically exists in the political backwaters of a California election season popped on to the public stage earlier this year when one of the top candidates, Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee, was arrested and later indicted on federal corruption charges as part of a wider probe into illicit dealings in San Francisco's Chinatown. Yee has since pleaded not guilty and dropped his candidacy, even though his name will remain on the June 3 primary ballot. The charges against Yee include allegations that he peddled his influence in the Legislature in exchange for campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents.

California: The Jungle Primary | Time Magazine

All bets are off in California's congressional races as multiple candidates from the same party face off. Well, part of it is that Dan Schnur is an interesting guy, a longtime consultant to moderate Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain. But he isn’t a Republican anymore. He’s running as an Independent. “I’m in favor of marriage equality and lower taxes,” he begins. “I’m tough on crime and pro-choice. I’m for immigration reform and for using test scores as a valuable measure of students’ progress. Yes, the reason that I’m running as an Independent is that neither party will have me.” But that’s not exactly accurate. He’s running as an Independent because there were two political reforms enacted during Schwarzenegger’s time as governor of California. They were below the radar but startling, the sort of reforms that are near impossible because incumbent politicians usually block them–but they were passed by public referendum and initiative in 2010, and Schnur was one of those at the heart of the campaign to get them enacted.

California: Judge says state illegally denied voting rights to thousands | Associated Press

The state's top elections official illegally denied voting rights to tens of thousands of Californians who served sentences for nonviolent felonies and then were placed under county supervision, an Alameda County judge ruled Wednesday. Secretary of State Debra Bowen wrongly barred the voting privileges of lower-level felons who were sent under Gov. Jerry Brown's "realignment" program to county jail instead of state prison, Judge Evelio Grillo wrote in a 27-page ruling. Grillo said ex-offenders who are placed under the supervision of county probation officers, rather than state parole agents, after their release are not on parole.

California: Coding error in Marin County’s June primary ballot will cost $100,000 | Marin Independent Journal

An error on the Marin County ballots for the June 3 primary election will cost an estimated $100,000. "I take full responsibility for this mistake and apologize to voters for any confusion this has caused them," Marin County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold said in a prepared statement. The mistake, due to a coding error, placed Measure A on all of the ballots and voter information pamphlets throughout Marin, including those jurisdictions outside the Marin County Library District. Measure A would provide funding to the Marin County Free Library by extending a $49 per year parcel tax for another nine years.

California: Increase in early voting alters election landscape | San Francisco Chronicle

California's monthlong election day begins Monday, when the first of more than 8 million early ballots go out to people looking to turn their living rooms into voting booths. In county election offices across the state, booths also are being set up to accommodate the increasing number of voters who want to make their ballot decisions early. "We've already got the booths lined up outside our office in City Hall, ready for business," said John Arntz, San Francisco's election chief. The surging number of early and vote-by-mail ballots has had a profound effect on California elections, changing both the way people vote and how candidates campaign. Because voting starts almost a month before the June 3 primary, the traditional bombardment of TV and radio ads, mailers and partisan phone calls has begun earlier, too. … For many voters, mail ballots can be a way to have the best of both worlds, said Scott Konopasek, assistant registrar for Contra Costa County. "They can get their ballot earlier and go over it, but still hang on to it until late, in case something happens in the election," he said.

California: Senate panel supports governor filling legislative vacancies | Los Angeles Times

Alarmed by the cost of holding special elections whenever a vacancy occurs in the Legislature, a state panel on Tuesday endorsed putting a measure before voters that would allow the governor to appoint people to fill empty seats. Los Angeles County has held 20 special elections since 2008 at a cost of $27 million, County Clerk Dean Logan told the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee. Turnout in many special elections is as low as 12%.

California: Voter Registration Website Now Available In 10 Languages | KPBS

It might not be on the top of everyone's calendar, but there's another election coming up. The state primary election is June 3 and the last day to register for that election in May 19. In an effort to raise voter participation in the state, California's Secretary of State has just added eight more languages to its online voting site. Now eligible voters in California can register to vote in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese. It's also made the site more accessible to people with disabilities.

California: Top-two primary might be bad for small-party candidates | Los Angeles Times

When California voters decided to change the way the state's primary elections work, the move was cast as an effort to moderate a state Capitol gripped by polarization. If the top two vote-getters in a primary faced off against one another in November regardless of their party affiliation, the reasoning went, hard-nosed politicians who typically put party purity above all else would be forced to court less partisan voters. That could mean more centrists elected to office, more political compromise and better governance. But with the approach of only the second election since the enactment of the "jungle" primary — the first featuring candidates for statewide office — some argue that the change has had a decidedly undemocratic effect, muzzling the voices of small-party candidates.  The Green Party, the American Independent Party and other minor groups will now rarely — if ever — appear on the general election ballot, even though they represent 1.2 million people. And they could eventually find themselves out of existence in California, the critics fear. "It's just a violation of voting rights," said Richard Winger, a Libertarian and publisher of the San Francisco-based Ballot Access News. "Because the right to vote includes the right of the choice."