Micheli Files
Ballot titles and arguments
Image by APCalifornia’s Elections Code provides rules for ballot titles and arguments that are used for measures submitted to the voters.
Posts Tagged: secretary of state
Image by APNews
Spending on lobbying firms topped $381 million through 15 months of legislative cycle
Two connected puzzle pieces with the words politics and money, representing the influence of wealth in elections.Special interests, otherwise known as “lobbyist employers,” paid lobbying firms a little more than $76 million to lobby California state government in the first quarter of 2024, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.
News
CA 120: California’s confusing primary voting process explained
Image by Jim ValleeEven if former President Donald Trump stays on the California Republican primary ballot, there will be more than a quarter-million voters who have previously voted in a Republican Presidential primary who won’t find him on their ballot. And over 650,000 voters who previously voted in the Democratic primary who won’t find President Joe Biden on theirs.
Analysis
CA120: Voter reforms increased Latino votes but not Latino voting power
Photo by Ray Buse via ShutterstockIn counties like Los Angeles, we see almost no increase in Latino share of votes cast from 2014-2022, and even drops in electoral impact of older Latinos.
Opinion
For ballot measures, a look at online signature-gathering
An illustration of a voter making choices online, as opposed to a traditional ballot or petition. (Image: Marko Aliaksandr, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Most everyone has had the experience of being approached by someone outside a library, grocery store or entertainment venue carrying a clipboard, asking you to sign their petition for some issue they want on the ballot. Many of us have had someone come to our door asking us to sign a petition to get their favorite candidate on the ballot.
News
Difficulties plague Sec State’s hoped-for searchable database
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, then an Assembly member, on the steps of the Capitol in 2018. (Photo: Phil Pasquini, Shutterstock)More than three years after lawmakers unanimously called for it, the Secretary of State has yet to compile a searchable database to help voters get in touch with the people they put in office. Voters, it was envisioned, would then have one-stop easy access to office contact information for elected officials at all levels of government. That hasn’t happened.
News
Recall elections increasingly define political landscape
A newspaper's election gives readers information about the Sept. 14, 2021, recall election. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)California’s attention was focused recently on the failed attempt to recall Gov. Newsom as a rare event of historical magnitude. In fact, recall elections happen all the time, and all but a relative handful of these obscure contests disappear into the limbo of history.
News
Reimbursements: A little-known provision of recall law
A Huntington Beach demonstrator protesting a May 2020 stay-at-home order issued by the governor during the pandemic. (Photo: mikeledray via Shutterstock)California taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars if the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom fails. That’s because of a little-recognized provision of the state constitution that declares: “A state officer who is not recalled must be reimbursed by the State for the officer’s recall election expenses legally and personally incurred. Another recall may not be initiated against the officer until six months after the election.” (Article II, Sec. 18.)
News
Newsom facing Republican-led recall election
Gov. Gavin Newsom at a Capitol event in January. (AP Photo, Rich Pedroncelli)A Republican-led effort to oust Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has gathered enough signatures to place the recall before voters on the statewide ballot. The announcement Monday by the secretary of state means that Newsom is likely to confront voters later this year.
News
CA120: Surprise! How some voters chose partisanship
A march for women's rights in Santa Ana in January 2018. (Photo: Juan Camilo Bernal, via Shutterstock)When a supermarket wants to sell candy or a tabloid magazine, they put it near the checkout counter. When you get a fundraising email, the “donate now” is always in the first paragraph. Even in journalism, the clickbait is put right up top, drawing readers and driving traffic. It’s marketing 101: If you want to sell something, don’t hide the ball – put that thing you’re selling right out in front.