ACTION NEEDED: Send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, with a copy
sent to Michael C. Genest, Chief Deputy Director, Department of
Finance. Send a letter to the Secretary of State, as well. Ask them to
release the HAVA (Help America Vote Act) funds to publish the EASY
VOTER GUIDE.
*Governor: Fax to 916-445-4633; e-mail:
[email protected]*Michael C. Genest: Fax to 916-324-7311; e-mail:
[email protected]*Secretary of State: Fax to 916-653-1458; e-mail:
[email protected]Situation:
The EASY VOTER GUIDE has been a well-respected publication since 1994.
It has been distributed free for the past two elections, funded in part by HAVA (Help America Vote Act) money. It is produced by
Common Knowledge in partnership with the California State Library and
the Secretary of State's office, in collaboration with the League of
Women Voters of California.
The EASY VOTER GUIDE is a 16-page booklet featuring statements and
photos for all candidates for President and U.S. Senate plus concise
summaries of the 16 statewide ballot measures. While the booklet is
available online (www.easyvoter.org), the printed booklets help local
groups do outreach to the communities that need it most.
Most people are aware that the HAVA funds managed by the Secretary of
State's office were recently frozen. Some of those funds were released
by the Department of Finance last week but the EASY VOTER GUIDE was not among them.
The EASY VOTER GUIDE has thus gotten caught up in the Secretary of State controversy and will not be published unless we, its users, demand that funds for it be released. Rather than weigh in on who should pay for it, we call on the Secretary of State's Office, Department of Finance, and the Governor's Office to work together quickly to identify funds for this publication.