I’ve got some great news to share.  Because of the tremendous push by each and every one of you who made a phone call or sent an email, along with the tremendous efforts of the California Clean Money Campaign and Common Cause, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two important reform bills!

 

The first bill, authored by Assemblymember Loni Hancock, will place a pilot program of full public financing for Secretary of State elections onto the 2010 primary ballot.  It will allow candidates for Secretary of State to run for office without having to raise big money from special interests. We’ll have a big effort on our hands to educate voters about the program over the next 18 months, but for now it is time to celebrate.

 

The second bill, authored by Senator Ron Calderon, will allow citizens to register on-line as voters.  Since implementing a similar law, Arizona has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people registering to vote, as well as significant cost savings. Allowing people to register online provides a simple, convenient and secure registration process which in 2007, over 70% of people registering to vote used. On-line registration will take some time to get up and running, but it will make a dramatic difference in expanding our democracy.

 
In order to keep up the Clean Elections momentum going strong, the California Clean Money Campaign is trying to raise $100,000 by Oct. 31, and so far, they're a third of the way there. Please help them out if you can by visiting this page:
https://caclean.org/content/support/donate.php?ref=ne:200810-signing&

Sincerely,
Rob Arnow
San Franciscans for Voter Owned Elections
www.voterownedelections.org
415-552-2229