Universal Voter Registration

For Immediate Release

Sacramento, CA -- Diana Li, President of the California Association of Student Councils, along with student leaders from around the state, asked that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign Assembly Bill 30, a bill to lower the voter registration age to 17, at a Capitol press conference yesterday. Following the press conference, Li and her fellow student leaders met with a legislative deputy to the Governor and presented a petition signed by students seeking support for the legislation. The Governor has until… more

“As you look at other states, this has been a thoroughly nonpartisan or bipartisan issue,” said Blair Bobier, deputy director of the New America Foundation ...

On October 11, 2009, AB 30 was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. AB 30, which will lower the voter registration age to 17, will do several good things for California: 

Media Contact Liz Wu (510) 295-9859 wu@newamerica.net Sacramento, CA - The California legislature approved AB 30 (Price & Swanson), a bill lowering the voter registration age to 17. If signed by the Governor, this legislation could dramatically improve California's alarmingly low voter participation rate for young voters. Almost half of the eligible voters between 18 and 24 years of age were not registered to vote in 2004 (the most recent year for which data is available).

Media Contact Liz Wu California Media Relations Manager 510-295-9859 wu@newamerica.net

Media Contact Liz Wu California Media Relations Manager 510-295-9859 wu@newamerica.net SACRAMENTO, CA - In the wake of Tuesday's record low voter turnout and the resounding defeat of five of six ballot measures proposed by the Legislature, the New America Foundation renewed its call for a fundamental overhaul of California's dysfunctional electoral system.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sacramento, CA--The New America Foundation applauded the advancement of two bills designed to increase the number of Californians who are registered to vote.  The bills, AB 30 (Price) and AB 106 (Price), were approved yesterday by the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting by a solid 5-1 vote. If passed, the bills would make great strides toward bringing California closer to 100 percent voter registration.

The history of voting in the United States has been an epic journey. In his magisterial history, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, political scientist Alex Keyssar shows that the struggle to extend the franchise to the poor, women, and slaves was hard-fought, with retreats as well as advances. Writes Keyssar, “Some Americans who had been enfranchised in 1800 were barred from the polls by mid-century. Change was neither linear nor uncontested.” He tracks the ebbs and flows across… more

THE PROBLEM

In California, nearly a third of eligible voters – about 6.7 million Californians – are not registered to vote.Of particular concern is that young people are more negatively impacted by our voter registation system than other demographic groups. In 2004, a presidential election year, just over half of eligible Californians between 18 and 24 years of age were registered to vote (and in nonpresidential elections that rate is even lower). This lack of civic participation is a threat to… more