Video Transcript

Eric Harris:
All right. Hello, everyone. This is Eric Harris with The Game Plan podcast at Disability Rights California. We are super thrilled to have our guest join us today, Dora Rose with the League of Women Voters of California. Thank you so much, Dora, for joining us today.

Dora Rose:
I'm absolutely delighted to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me. It's it is great to see you outside of a committee room, Eric. [Dora and Eric laugh]

Eric:
That's right, that's right. I was, laughing earlier because I was like, man, I feel like I've known Dora forever. And it's been

Dora and Eric:
Always in committees. [Dora and Eric laugh]

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
Oh man so, we're really thrilled to have you. And you're so knowledgeable about all things voting in California and can break stuff down in ways that really help people understand them. And our goal is to have this podcast ready to go for folks before they head either out to the polls in November or vote from home. And we'll get into that, you know, as we get there. But just to start us off and I know, we talked a little bit about the questions ahead of time, but can you just start off giving kind of an elevator pitch for what the League of Women Voters does, who you all are, why you all are so important? And just anything about some of the work that you all do.

Dora:
Absolutely happy to do that. So, we were founded. We we're, we're a, century old. We were founded in 1920. And if it came directly out of the women's suffrage movement as women won the constitutional right to vote. So for more than a century, our focus has been working to empower voters and to protect democracy. Now we never support or oppose political parties or candidates, but nonpartisan you know, it doesn't mean being silent on political policy. You know, quite, quite the, the opposite. We are we take very strong positions, policy positions. So one side of our work is advocacy. You know, we study issues, we develop positions, we we work on legislation, protect voting rights. And sometimes we, we go to court and that that's the side of the league that you're hearing from when we say, for example, that we oppose Prop 39. And I know we're going to get into that in a little while. The other side of the league is, is voter education, and that's where we take no positions, okay? So we've got some, products I'll mention, and maybe you can email them out to folks who get this podcast? I'm not sure how it works, but, and vote411.org voters can enter their address, see what's on their ballot, find voting information, and compare candidates answers that are in their own words. We invite candidates to participate on this. It's a, you know, ballot, information tool. We've also got the easyvoterguide.org, and that explains statewide election and ballot measures in very plain language. It's actually, community reviewed with people who have a low literacy. And we have it in five available in five languages. And the point there is to give voters reliable, understandable information so they can make their own decisions, okay? So we don't we don't publish in in either of those our, the league recommendations. Advocacy, it's purely unbiased information. So there's like a ton of so like we, we divide those two parts of the league. Now we also publish votewithleague and actually and that's different. That's where we explain our ballot measure recommendations. And our November 2026 recommendations just went up today. It's like hot off the presses.

Eric:
That's awesome. Awesome. [Dora laughs]

Dora:
A lot of people use those to try to figure out how they want to vote. So if you go to our website, and look for ballot recommendations, they're up there now.

Eric:
Perfect. Dora: Yeah. So, you know, neutral information, use vote411 or easy voter guide. If you want to know where the league stands on propositions, go to vote with the league.

Eric:
Fantastic. And you know, full transparency from DRC side. We often partner with you all on elections, on voting.

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
Voting access, especially on policy because, you know, a lot of our positions and kind of thoughts on access to voting are aligned. So we're really, really grateful. And we will be sure when this podcast goes up to make sure that we're uplifting a lot of the work that you all do, making sure that folks have have access and go to your website to get more information and all of those sorts of things.

Dora:
Yeah. And you guys are on speed dial for me and, and we are in close text communication.

Eric:
That's right. That's right.

Dora:
And you're right, we are aligned on 99% of the issues that are coming up.

Eric:
That's right, that's right. So first kind of big question. After that, we want to start, we want to try to start off with some maybe some positives. What are some things that California does really well when it comes to voting right now?

Dora:
Yeah. Look, you know, California, it gets a lot right. I got to tell you, I came out of this from coming from Ohio, and I moved to California and following, a spouse's career trajectory. And I thought, there's nothing for me to do here in California. You've got it all, you know, taken care of. And that turned out not to be true. There's actually a lot of work to do. But it is also true that California gets a lot right, okay? Every active registered voter is mailed a ballot now. We've got same day voter registration through Election Day. We've got a sort of a fairly robust system of early voting in a lot of counties, most of our counties, I think at this point, options for returning by mail, right? You got options, return by mail or turn by drop box. And also vote in person. And a very important note here that I actually would like to make sure your listeners hear due to USPS issues, there's a multiple issues related to USPS, but due to issues related to slow delivery of mail, it is really important to get your ballot back early. If you're mailing it. We're recommending a week before Election Day to put your ballot in the mail. If possible, use a drop box if that's convenient for you. If possible, you know, vote in person if that's convenient to you. You shouldn't change your voting plan. You should be able to vote by mail. But do get that ballot back in early. You know, voters with disabilities have access to curbside voting, accessible voting equipment. You know, remote accessible is open mail. I'm sure many of your listeners know exactly what that is. It's where a voter with a disability receives and marks a ballot you know, electronically using their own assistive tech, technology at home, right?

Eric:
That's right.

Dora:
We get to have assistance from a person of our choice right? Now, where we still have work to do. Right? Especially from, the disability perspective is, is making those rights work consistently in practice, right? And I'm sure you've seen a lot of that.

Eric:
That's right, that's right. Yeah, no. And I think, you know, when we work with the voting team here, here at DRC, that's often the first thing that gets brought up. It's like, we have a lot of good laws, and a lot of, policies that are coming through that are even good, but it's just a matter of in practice, are people getting the type of access that they need and do the elections officials and volunteers and everybody who's involved in this process, do they all know everything that comes in with, accessible voting? So I'm glad that you brought that up.

Dora:
Yeah. I mean, an accessible machine only helps if it's set up in working, right? And curbside voting only helps if a voter can can, you know, find and use it, which can be a problem. You know, the right to assistance only helps if poll workers understand it. We've got a really strong framework. But the actual experience, as you're you know, as you said, it just it's just still varies too much from place to place.

Eric:
That's right, that's right. So with the upcoming election, the upcoming midterm election, what are some of the top issues that the league is monitoring for this specific cycle? Anything that comes to mind?

Dora:
Yeah well, and I think that this is I am sure that this will be resolved by the time that your listeners are listening to this, but it sort of goes to the overall point of the kinds of, challenges that we're facing right now, right? The, the, the most immediate issue is, is a new Postal Service rule that's, being pushed by the Trump administration. That would change how elections officials are allowed to send ballots. What it does is before USPS would accept ballots for mailing elections, officials would have to meet new federal requirements, including redesigned envelopes and special barcodes, and uploading voter information to a federal system. Okay, now, California may not want to hand over that list because it would give the federal government information about individual voters of the state normally controls, and actually that we fought to control in another pending case, US v Weber. Because giving that data over raises concerns about privacy, about errors and how that information is going to be used later. Also, ballots are going out on October 5th, right? And there's simply no time to design the mechanics that would be necessary. If a state or a local elections office didn't meet those requirements, then USPS could actually refuse to accept its outgoing ballot mailing. So that's especially serious in California, where every active registered voter receives a mail ballot, right? And for voters with disabilities who often rely on voting from home. So at this point, core parts of the rule are temporarily blocked due to a lawsuit both by the states and the League of Women Voters, along with a whole host of of of voting rights partners. We're not the only ones in that lawsuit. There's a federal court hearing that's scheduled for September 3rd, so we should know more about what's happening then. But these are sort of like legal machinations. It's like a roller coaster, right? So what we're saying to voters right now is actually very simple. Nothing's changed about how you vote in California. Keep your voting plan. If you want to mail your ballot back, send it, week before Election Day in case there's delays. That's sort of the thing that's in the news these days and people are thinking about. But we're also watching the Save America Act, you know, voter roll challenges, misinformation and intimidation.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
Right. And Prop 39, which we consider to be a huge threat. And I think we're going to talk more about those things in a moment.

Eric:
Yeah, yeah. No, we can, we can definitely talk about both of those. Right before we get there. We've talked a little bit about this, so feel free to kind of, just bring bring some of this back up. But as a disabled voter and of course, voters can have all different types of disabilities, just generally based on the work that you do, you know, your collaboration with DRC and other advocates throughout the state, you know, where do things stand today when it comes to, what it's like to vote with a disability in today's system?

Dora:
You know, California gives voters with disabilities some really important choices. You can vote by mail. You can use accessible equipment at a voting location. You can request curbside voting, get assistance, use remote accessible vote by mail. RAVBM can allow a voter who's blind or has low vision, or has a disability affecting dexterity to use their own assistive technology to read and mark a ballot privately and independently at home, right? Now, there is still a gap at the end of that process, right? And I know that DRC is deep into trying to resolve that gap.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
California lets a voter receive and mark the ballot electronically, but the voter still has to print it, sign an envelope, and physically return it, right? So there's a last mile problem that we're seeing there. Some states that have chosen to to allow limited electronic return for certain voters with disabilities, right? But California has not. Now, there's a big debate as to whether this is a slippery slope to online voting. But whenever one thinks about the security of electronic return, California's system still has a physical paper step that can be, you know, a barrier for some voters with disabilities. And then, like I was saying before, at a voting location, accessibility depends on execution, right? A blocked entrance, a machine that's not ready, unclear curbside voting. Right. A long line or a poll worker who doesn't understand an accommodation can turn a right that's on paper into a real obstacle.

Eric:
Yeah. No. That's right. Thank you. So now we're going to get into a couple of the policies that you mentioned earlier. Both of these are either in the news now or they will be in the news very shortly. And it's just important for voters and voters who are connected to disabilities or who have disabilities to be aware of, of what these policies are. We're going to start with the federal act, the Save Act.

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
What what is this? What should voters know about it? Is there anything that folks can do about it and maybe even, like, how did we get here? [Eric and Dora laugh] Like, like any of those questions that you'd like to answer?

Dora:
Well, okay. I'll start with what it do, what it does, it was it's been through several iterations. It was called the Save Act. It's now an expanded federal proposal called the Save America Act. It passed the House in February, but it's not become law. And we're watching efforts to bring it back to the Senate now, okay. It would later and then boy, have they been trying to when I say they, Republicans in the legislature and President Trump has really been pushing to get this done, but he's been blocked and for good reason, it would layer one barrier on top of another by requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when someone registers or updates a federal voter registration plus government issued photo ID to vote in federal elections. Okay, a driver's license generally proves identity, not citizenship. Many voters would need a birth certificate, a passport, naturalization record, or some other government, government verification process. More than 21 million adult U.S. citizens do not have ready access to to documentary proof of citizenship, and about 2.6 million lacked government issued photo ID of any kind, right? One big issue here is name matching that creates another barrier married women whose current name differs from their birth certificate. May need addition, may really be blocked entirely, and transgender voters, can face the same problem in their current legal name or ID doesn't match older citizenship documents. And for voters with disabilities specifically, you know, both requirements can be especially difficult because they may involve getting or replacing ID, right? Finding citizenship documents not readily available to a lot of us, traveling to government offices, navigating inaccessible systems, because, you know, with the government bureaucracies like, or you know, correcting record mismatches. So a fully eligible voter can get caught in what's essentially a paperwork trap, right? And document problems that have nothing to do with whether or not they're qualified to vote. And all of those new burdens are being proposed, even though noncitizen voting is already illegal in what has been termed vanishingly rare, like the data does not support that there is any kind of problem with noncitizen voting that would ever, support these kinds of restrictions.

Eric:
Yeah. No, we've been in a difficult spot as, as a disability community on the like. And I use air quotes here "attacks on fraud". Fraud, like if there really is fraud, what we have to do to prevent fraud. And it's really frustrating. I mean you pointed out, whether it's voting, whether it's other systems, health care, access to Social Security, like a whole bunch of stuff where disabled people already have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get what, what we need, and access to voting. You know, making it that much more complicated, potentially, is really frustrating.

Dora:
Yeah. I mean, it's a fundamental right. And it's a completely unnecessary

Eric:
Right.

Dora:
You know, frustration that we've got data from, from some, conservative think tanks, from conservative, states showing that that this issue of, of, voter impersonation is a really a non issue. And so you have to ask yourself what's really behind us. And our position is that it's, it's political manipulations designed to stymie people's ability to vote. That's what it is.

Eric:
That's right. And and for, you know, kind of an interesting slight transition, for a lot of folks who might say, oh, that's just the federal level. There's no way that anything like that could possibly happen within California. Yet here we are with Prop 39.

Dora:
Here we are, yup.

Eric:
Can you let folks know what Prop 39 is first? And as best you can in plain language, because a lot of this stuff, as you can imagine and as you know, can be really complicated.

Dora:
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the first thing that I want people to understand is that Prop 39 is not a response to a problem with California elections. It is the California version of this broader Trump inspired push for voter ID, proof of citizenship, new restrictions on voting, right? It is, at its very essence, a partisan power grab. So do not let anyone tell you that this is not a nonpartisan or a bipartisan measure. It is not. It uses fear about voting to justify making it harder for eligible people to cast a ballot that counts. So here's what it does. If you vote in person, you'd have to show government issued ID every time. If you, vote by mail, you'd have to put the last four digits. Match, put the matching last four digits of a government ID number on the outside of your return envelope. That's a gift to identity thieves. Write part of your driver's license. Our Social Security number would be sitting, which are the likely government ID numbers that would be used would be sitting on the outside of the envelope right next to your name, your address, and your signature. With no privacy flag required by this measure. Okay. That's just out there. I mean and elections officials would also have to use their best efforts to verify citizenship using government data that wasn't built for voter eligibility. That's full of flaws. That returns bad data all the time.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
So Prop 39 adds new barriers at registration, at the polling place and on the mail ballot itself, while also, you know, creating a completely unnecessary privacy and identity theft risk. And all of this gets layered on top of safeguards that California already uses to verify voters. And when when you register to vote in the state, California checks identifying information against DMV and Social Security records, okay? Yeah. When you vote in person, you are checked against the voter rolls. You have to state your name, state your address, right? They check you against the voter rolls. When you vote by mail, your signature is verified in California, gives voters a chance to cure, a signature problem. And lying in any of these, circumstances is a crime. Okay, so Prop 39 doesn't fill a security gap. It piles a new paperwork test on top of the safeguards that we've already got. For voters with disabilities the burdens especially serious. California research, found that 22% of voting age citizens with disabilities lacked a current driver's license, okay? Compared with 8% of people without disabilities, okay? And other proponents of this measure told that, well, we're going to give you a free ID card, but a free ID card is not really free if you still need transportation and and child care because these offices aren't open on the weekends, right? They're they're, you gotta, you gotta do it during the week. Time off of work.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
Documents, appointments or help correcting records. And that's not an infrequent problem, right?

Eric:
Right.

Dora:
So that's why this this lands like a modern poll tax. The cost isn't just the card, it's it's the cost. It's, you know, it's everything that you have to do to get through this, this barrier.

Eric:
Yeah. Yeah. And like, you know, like you were just pointing out whether it's disabled folks, low income folks often, you know, immigrant communities. Yeah. Black and brown folks going, going and getting an ID isn't just like, you know, getting in your car that you own and drive down the street and get in line and get your ID it's often so many other steps, whether it's getting off work, like you said, childcare.

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
Navigating public transportation, which is its own, you know, beast, and all the other things. I just I really appreciate that you lifted that up because so often, you know, at least on whether it's news networks or even even in some cases, very legitimate, you know, newspapers or otherwise, we'll just toss out what's the big deal you have to do. You have to get an ID for X, Y, Z things, just get an ID and then you can vote like everyone else. And I think it's really, really important that we pause and we talk about some of the barriers, even that are in place now for a lot of people when it comes to getting ID.

Dora:
Absolutely. That that's a very privileged thing to say. I've got an ID in my pocket, what's the problem, that doesn't hit me. What's the big deal? I mean, that's just very, you know, limited thinking that we really need to sort of penetrate here. Eric: Yeah.

Dora:
Yeah. And, you know, voting from home is sometimes what makes independent voting possible for people with disabilities, right? And so Prop 39 adds this, new manual step at the very end. And if you leave that field blank or you transport to transposed two digits, or you use a different number than the system expects, then in an otherwise valid ballot can be rejected. You know, Texas tried a similar rule here. And in the first statewide primary under it, roughly 1 in 8 ballots was rejected, okay? And more than 90% of those rejections were tied to the new ID number requirement. So, Prop 39, you know, would make voting harder and riskier, more expensive for Californians, honestly, because that's what it was designed to do.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
Right?

Eric:
Yeah. And I encourage folks, you know, based on this conversation, if folks aren't aware, please look up some of the folks who are behind Prop 39 who are trying to push for it. And I think exactly what Dora is bringing up here, you all will will find in any research that you do and we might even, you know, make sure that we lift up, you know, opportunities for folks to get more information.

Dora:
If you're looking to know the Prop 39 website, you'll see some of that. It absolutely is bankrolled by right-wing billionaires.

Eric:
Yeah, yeah.

Dora:
You know, that is something that people need to know.

Eric:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean it's it's interesting. I mean, we could talk about this forever too. But like, even if you want to try to be nonpartisan or even bipartisan in policy efforts or in understanding propositions, it's almost impossible because the way that these things have gone, and especially the way the money behind them or the way that they are being backed, it's it's inevitable to find really quickly, who is pushing for more access and who is pushing for slowing that access down.

Dora:
And yeah, we don't consider this a partisan, to to surface who is behind this, to surface the there that the proponents partisan intentions here.

Eric:
Yeah.

Dora:
And to push back on their assertion that it is bipartisan is that is not we are not being partisan by doing that. We got to tell people the truth. [Dora laughs]

Eric:
Right.

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
Right. No, that's exactly right. That's exactly right. So I really appreciate you mentioning that. So if, if folks are, you know, kind of checking this out and they've heard us talk for a little bit now about Prop 39, what's something that as like, you know, kind of a final thought on Prop 39, you really want folks to pay attention to, to check out, before they, fill out their ballot?

Dora:
I want them to vote No. [Eric and Dora laugh]

Eric:
Fair. Fair. And I know that, the league and a lot of really strong advocacy organizations, are involved in the "No on Prop 39" campaign. So I really I really appreciate, you know, you lining that up and I know it's an interesting thing because a good number of prominent Democrat leaders, including Senate Dems and others, are trying to figure out how to stop Prop 39 as well. So I'm glad that, you know.

Dora:
And in, and specifically for voters with disabilities, you know, it it creates a manual step, even for someone who uses assistive technology to mark the ballot independently. You know, for a voter who has difficulty seeing right handwriting, copying, transcribing numbers, that can mean needing help with the envelope and losing losing some of that privacy and independence. So, it really does hit home for folks with disabilities.

Eric:
That's right, that's right. Cool. Well, that was great. And I have two final questions for you there a little bit, hopefully, like, let your hair down, relax a little bit like fun. [Dora laughs] So the first question is, do you have any kind of, recommendation, whether it's a TV show, book, movie, music, like anything that you would recommend people check out or anything that you're really into right now that you're excited about.

Dora:
Like, I have time for that, Eric. [Dora and Eric laugh] But I'm, when I do the dishes, when I've fold my laundry.

Eric:
Yes.

Dora:
Yeah. I actually have been listening to a really great podcast. It's called Undistracted. Do you know it?

Eric:
I've heard of it. Yeah, I've heard of it.

Dora:
It's very cool. It's a it's a really sort of a smart mix of politics, of culture, race, current events. The woman who hosts it is Brittany Packnett Cunningham, and she brings in really interesting guests and a rotating group chat. She's super sharp and she's usually right on target. I mean, I, you know, I listen to it because I agree with her. It just but it's, it's it feels really conversational rather than like homework, you know, and she's really down to earth and she's really funny. And so even though it's sort of in line with some of the stuff that we do every day, it takes me out of that, I really enjoy it.

Eric:
I love that I know we will certainly put a link to, the podcast and whenever we post this and it's funny, I think, as folks check this out, they're going to recognize us kind of chuckling a little bit because right before we started the interview, Dory, you were saying this year, out of all the years that you've been doing [Dora laughing] this work has just been all over the place with policy, litigation, one thing after another from the state, from the feds.

Dora:
Whack a mole, whack a mole.

Eric:
Straight, whack a mole.

Dora:
Yeah.

Eric:
That's right.

Dora:
Right.

Eric:
And then cool. So the last question, is one that we ask all of our guests, what is your game plan for the rest of 2026? What what is something that you're really focused on? And it's funny, I, you know, I know that we're at the end of the legislative session, but is there anything to kind of, well fingers crossed, knock on wood.

Dora:
Yeah, we're going right in to the election. [Dora and Eric laugh]

Eric:
Yeah, yeah, but anything you want to lift up?

Dora:
Yeah. You know, my game plan is to protect voters all the way through November, right? That means defending vote by mail, watching what happens at polling places and vote centers, responding really quickly when voters run into barriers, making sure, you know, people know what's actually changing and what's not changing, means making the case against Prop 39 and making sure that Californians understand the barriers that we create. And and, you know, and by the way, check out vote with league because we've got positions on every measure. And we're, we're actually, we're proponents of, Props 4 and 5 as well.

Eric:
Fantastic.

Dora:
So take a look at that. You know, alongside all that, I'd say we keep doing the basic democratic work, holding people accountable, right? Helping people register, understand their ballot and believe that their vote is worth casting because building that value proposition so that people understand that they do have power and that they should not cede their power, and let the chaos and confusion that folks are throwing at the wall stop them from exercising that power.

Eric:
That's right, that's right. Well, that's a perfect way to to close this off Dora. We really appreciate not just you joining the podcast, but all the work that the league does. We genuinely really appreciate you.

Dora:
Well, we appreciate you too. It's great to have you guys as a partner and thank you.

Eric:
Absolutely.

Dora:
It's been great being on. Thanks very much.

Eric:
Thank you.

Dora:
All right. Bye bye Eric.

Eric:
Bye.