Arizona Secretary of State

California regulates ‘dark money’ while Arizona dithers

by

Laurie Roberts of The Arizona Republic should take note of this: State panel outlaws ‘dark money’ in California political campaigns:

dark_moneyCalifornia’s campaign finance watchdog agency on Thursday adopted new requirements that nonprofit groups that contribute through a federal political action committee to support or oppose ballot measures or candidates in California must disclose their donors.

“The amendment to this regulation clarifies that so-called ‘dark money,’ originating from nonprofit or other organizations whose donors are not disclosed, is not permitted in California elections,” said Hyla P. Wagner, general counsel for the state Fair Political Practices Commission in a report to the panel.

Legislation and previous action by the commission had generally required disclosure of donors where money went to support or oppose candidates and ballot measures in California.

But state officials were concerned about a possible loophole that would allow nondisclosure of donors if nonprofits make contributions through federal or out-of-state political action committees, rather than in-state PACs.

“It is significant that dark money will not be coming into California,” said Jodi Remke, the commission’s chairwoman, after the vote. “We heard rumblings from various federal PACs and out-of-state committees about this rule not applying to them. This closes a major potential loophole in California’s reporting requirements to stop any kind of undisclosed donors and dark money.”

Read more

The Times and Post editorialize in favor of universal (automatic) voter registration

by

While we’re still waiting on the California Assembly to complete passage of universal (automatic) voter registration and send the bill to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature, both the New York Times and the Washington Post editorial boards weighed in this week in support of a expanding universal voter registration to all states.

The Times writes, Entwining Two Rights in California: Voting and Driving:

Voting-RightsFor all the early excitement stirred by the presidential primary contests, a greater test of democracy than the candidates’ cut-and-thrust will be voter participation, a vital statistic which dropped from 62.3 percent in 2008 to 57.5 percent in the last presidential election. In part because of a welter of obstructionist state laws, more than 90 million Americans did not bother or care to vote in 2012.

The Democratic-majority Legislature in California, the most populous state, has just taken a major step toward resisting this alarming trend by approving a system of automatic voter registration for any citizen who obtains or updates a California driver’s license. Modeled on Oregon’s excellent “motor-voter” program, the new system cannot help but increase democratic participation.

Read more

California on verge of enacting universal (automatic) voter registration

by

Update to California following Oregon’s lead on universal (automatic) voter registration.

Screenshot from 2015-09-13 13:49:14The California Senate approved a universal (automatic) voter registration bill last week with some minor amendments that will require the Assembly to vote on the amended version of the bill. Final approval of the bill could come as early as this week. California moving toward automatic voter registration:

The nation’s largest state may be about to make it much easier to register and vote.

California’s Senate passed a bill Thursday by a 24-15 vote that would automatically register to vote anyone who gets or renews a driver’s license, unless they chose to opt out. The state Assembly already passed a similar bill in June. If the Senate version passes an Assembly vote, as expected, the measure would head to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown, a Democrat, hasn’t taken a public position on the bill, and a spokesman for his office declined to comment on pending legislation. But in 2012 he signed legislation allowing Californians to register and vote on the same day.

Another provision that Arizona should enact to eliminate the use of provisional and conditional provisional ballots, thousands of which are never counted.

Read more

California following Oregon’s lead on universal (automatic) voter registration

by

Maybe Arizona’s queen of voter suppression, Secretary of State Michele Reagan, should pick up the phone and call her counterparts in Oregon and California to learn more about what a secretary of state who actually wants to increase voter participation in elections does to make it happen.

Think Progress reports, One Simple Change Could Drastically Improve Voter Turnout In California:

Voting-RightsAs soon as this week, the California Senate could pass a bill to address its dismally low voter turnout by making registration automatic for the millions of residents with drivers licenses.

Copying a landmark law passed by Oregon earlier this year, the policy would connect DMV records with voter registration rolls, putting the burden on the voter to opt-out rather than opt-in. According to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, this could help bring the 6.6 million California citizens who are eligible but not registered to vote into the democratic process.

“We have a lot of work to do on the strength of our democracy,” Padilla told ThinkProgress. “We need to focus on the whole pipeline: both getting more currently registered people to cast ballots, and getting more eligible Californians on the voter rolls.”

Read more

Battle Royale over ‘dark money’ brewing in Arizona

by

dark_moneyArizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan duped voters last year into believing that she cared about “dark money” campaign disclosures (I warned you that she was lying).

Since having been elected to office, Reagan has not only done nothing to address “dark money” campaign disclosures but she has now come to the conclusion that — surprise! — “my office does not have authority” to regulate dark money campaign disclosures. Reagan: ‘Dark money’ disclosure can’t happen.

If the Secretary of State, the principal election officer in Arizona, doesn’t have authority to regulate “dark money” campaign disclosures, then who does?

In Arizona we have the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, enacted by a citizens initiative, something we know that Republican office holders hate after having tried to kill the Citizens Clean Elections Commission for years.

The Commission says it has the authority to regulate “dark money” disclosures and is proposing a rule to do something about it.

Secretary of State Michele Reagan, who refuses to do anything about “dark money” campaign disclosures says “Uh-uh, no way! I am the Queen of elections in Arizona! I am the law!” So it looks as if we are headed for a battle royale over “dark money” campaign disclosures in Arizona.

Still lurking out there is Terry Goddard’s “dark money” campaign disclosure initiative by VPA Arizona yet to be filed.

Read more