2023 Annual Report - Voting

Aug 28, 2023

2023 Annual Report - Voting

Advocacy Victories Voting

Advocacy Victories Voting

 

DRC Ensured Voting Rights Across the State through Advocacy and Awareness

Shasta County Advocacy

  • We collaborated with other nonprofit organizations to persuade the Shasta County board of supervisors to adopt a new voting system, after the board abruptly cancelled the county’s contract with its voting system.
  • Monitored the setup process for the county’s new voting system. 
  • Hosted a training for elections staff on how to use the new system to meet the needs of voters with disabilities.
  • Observed the county’s special election in November, monitoring the process to make sure there was accessibility and fairness of the voting process.

Support for Voter’s Choice Act Counties

  • Supported Humboldt, Imperial, and Placer counties as they adopted the California Voter’s Choice Act. 
    • DRC provided input on drafts of the counties election administration plans and played leadership roles on their voting accessibility advisory committees.
  • Provided feedback on election administration plans for the 19 counties that adopted the Voter’s Choice Act, including:
    • Informing a county they needed to add an accessibility feature to its vote-by-mail return envelopes; 
    • Sharing recommendations for transparent public outreach, and;
    • Ensuring a county published a draft election administration plan for public comment.  

Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee Leadership

  • Participated in voting accessibility advisory committees in counties across the state to advocate for equal voting opportunities for people with disabilities.
  • At the county-level committees, DRC:
    • Led engagement to establish better partnerships with local transit systems in Orange County.
    • Worked to recruit new members in Los Angeles County.
    • Reviewed the physical accessibility of voting locations and ballot drop boxes in Sonoma County.
    • Offered relevant revisions for a description of the remote accessible vote-by-mail process in Yolo County.
    • DRC staff co-chaired the California Secretary of State’s voting accessibility advisory committee.
  • The committee: 
    • developed new FAQ documents about remote accessible vote-by-mail and options for voting while facing a medical emergency, and;
    • updated its toolkit with tips for operating successful local-level voting accessibility advisory committees.
DRC Staff Paul Spencer and Fred Nisen
Voting Advocacy with Paul Spencer, Senior Attorney, DRC, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, Eric Harris, Director of Public Policy, DRC, Dan Okenfuss, Policy Director, Public Policy Manager at California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC)

Increased Opportunities for Voter Registration

  • Offered trainings to staff at North Bay Regional Center about voting basics and accessible voting options for people with disabilities.
  • Developed procedures for the regional center to better comply with state and federal law.
  • Collaborated with the center’s National Voter Registration Act coordinator, which is expected to result in higher voter registration for the regional center’s clientele. 

Preparing for the 2024 Primary and General Elections

  • Pursued strategies to make voting by mail accessible for voters with “paper disabilities,” which make it difficult or impossible to read and/or handle paper. 
  • Prepared for a significant increase in calls to DRC’s year-round statewide hotline for voters with disabilities. 
  • Developed and recommend best practices to ensure voting accessibility for voters who communicate primarily using American Sign Language (ASL). 
  • Trained election workers on accessible voting requirements and disability etiquette.
  • Collaborated with members of the statewide Disability Vote California coalition on a series of presentations for people with disabilities.
  • Continued efforts to make sure that people under conservatorship do not wrongfully have their voting rights taken away, and that conservatees who have been disqualified from voting have their voting rights restored when appropriate.