Senator Leland Yee Announces Run For Secretary of State

Announcement Comes As Officials in Florida Acknowledge Voter Suppression Methods – This fall, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a measure into law, supported by Secretary of State Debrah Bowen and authored by Senator Leland Yee, to allow citizens to register to vote online and also, in the next election, register to vote the day of the election.

The result was 1.4 million new voters signing up to vote and California’s number of registered voters surging to record levels, passing for the first time the 18 million mark.

On Monday, Senator Leland Yee, “inspired by his latest law to allow Californians to register to vote online… used the internet to launch his run for Secretary of State.”

The senator will run for the office of Secretary of State, which will become vacated in 2014 when current Secretary of State Debra Bowen is termed out.

“After many discussions with my family, friends, and supporters, I am excited to announce my candidacy for Secretary of State,” said Senator Yee. “In this election cycle, we significantly increased access to our democracy through online voter registration. As Secretary of State, I want to expand on this success and explore the possibility of one day not just registering online, but in fact voting online. If we can safely pay our bills via the internet and board an airplane with a smart phone, we should be able to securely and easily vote electronically as well.”

“California’s record setting number of registered voters – 18,245,970 – for the November 6 election was significantly boosted by Yee’s law (SB 397) to allow citizens to register to via the internet or a mobile device,” the campaign announced Monday.

“Despite efforts by some to suppress the vote, we were able to dramatically increase our voter rolls,” said Senator Yee. “I am proud to see the success of online registration, especially the tremendous boost to young people and first time voters.”

Leland Yee is also considered the legislature’s strongest advocate for open government, dubbed “Senator Sunshine” by the public access organization Californians Aware for authoring dozens of transparency laws.

As California’s Chief Elections Officer, the Secretary of State is responsible for ensuring transparency of the political process, including campaign and lobbyist financial information.

This year, Senator Yee authored a law (SB 1001) to increase fees required of lobbyists in order to finance the maintenance and upgrade of the state’s database that tracks campaign contributions and lobbying activity known as Cal-Access.

“Through the years, we have made major reforms on government transparency and campaign financing, and I look forward to discussing these important issues with voters throughout California,” said Senator Yee.

The Senator’s legislative accomplishments include SB 8 (2010), the Higher Education Transparency Act which subjects University of California and California State University foundations and auxiliaries to the public records act; SB 1696 (2008) to ensure greater access to government contracts as well as audits and reviews of public agencies; SB 190 (2007), the Higher Education Governance Accountability Act, to require all executive compensation packages at the UC and CSU to be voted on in an open session; AB 1207 (2006) to protect LGBT candidates from unfair campaign practices; and AB 2581 (2006) to make California the first state to specifically prohibit censorship of college student press.

Senator Yee has also authored several bills dealing with campaign finance reform, election integrity, international business development, California’s diverse communities, and consumer protection – all integral responsibilities of the Secretary of State, who is responsible for maintaining business filings, assisting international businesses wanting to operate in the state, safeguarding the State Archives, protecting consumers from corporate fraud, and serving as trustee of the California Museum for History, Women & the Arts.

Leland Yee immigrated to San Francisco at the age of 3. His father, a veteran, served in the US Army and the Merchant Marine, and his mother was a local seamstress. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, then earned a Ph.D. in Child Psychology, and later served in various mental health and school settings. He and his wife, Maxine, have raised four children who all attended San Francisco public schools. Mr. Yee has served in the State Legislature, San Francisco Board of Supervisors and San Francisco Board of Education.

California’s Voter Inclusion Varies From Florida’s Suppression Methods

Senator Leland Yee likes to say, “While some states are suppressing the rights of voters, here in California we are proudly increasing participation.”

Never has that contrast been clearer than the news that emerged on Sunday morning as a former GOP leader acknowledged that voter suppression was the reason they pushed for a new election law rather than make an effort to curb voter fraud.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer told the Palm Beach Post that “he attended various meetings, beginning in 2009, at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.”

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Mr. Greer told the Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only. … ‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us,’ ” Mr. Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Mr. Greer said. “It’s all a marketing ploy.”

Jim Greer is not the most credible source, of course.  He is under indictment, having been accused of stealing $200,000 from the party through a phony campaign fundraising operation.

“Jim Greer has been accused of criminal acts against this organization and anything he says has to be considered in that light,” says Brian Burgess, a Florida GOP spokesperson.

However, Mr. Greer’s accusations are backed by former Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican who is on the outs with the party as well and backed President Obama, and two veteran GOP campaign consultants.

“Wayne Bertsch, who handles local and legislative races for Republicans, said he knew targeting Democrats was the goal,” the paper reported.

“In the races I was involved in in 2008, when we started seeing the increase of turnout and the turnout operations that the Democrats were doing in early voting, it certainly sent a chill down our spines. And in 2008, it didn’t have the impact that we were afraid of. It got close, but it wasn’t the impact that they had this election cycle,” Mr. Bertsch said.

The paper reported that an unnamed GOP consultant “also confirmed that influential consultants to the Republican Party of Florida were intent on beating back Democratic turnout in early voting after 2008.”

The exposé prompted a report in the New York Times by David Firestone, the paper’s editorial board project editor.

He writes, “It’s true that Mr. Greer is under indictment – charged with stealing money from the party – and Republican officials have dismissed his comments as motivated by bitterness. But other party officials and consultants, including former Gov. Charlie Crist, confirmed his observations in the Post article.”

On the other hand, he noted: “What they’re admitting has long been self-evident, since there is no connection between early voting and fraud. But their publicly admitting this illuminates how the Republican party reacted after President Obama’s election in 2008, in Florida and many other states. The cry of ‘voter fraud’ was used to justify a range of sins against democracy, from cutting back on early voting and registration drives to unnecessary photo ID cards.”

“Fraud was never a problem that required such restrictions, which were only intended to solve the Republican party’s larger problem of widespread rejection by minority groups. Now that these ‘anti-fraud’ measures failed to do their job in preventing Mr. Obama’s re-election in states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio (thanks, in part, to the courts), the party has a chance to make itself more appealing to a broader range of voters,” he writes.

He concluded: “The first place to start that effort would be in repealing these laws and making it clear that all voters are welcome in the party and in the voting booth.”

Opening Up the Voter Registration System

The best solution is, of course, to open up the process.  That is precisely what California’s laws do.

As the ACLU put it: “California leads the nation in promoting voter access.”

“California stands alone in the nation in dramatically increasing – rather than suppressing – opportunities for voter registration among low-income voters, students and persons with disabilities,” the ACLU wrote.

“Though most states still cannot offer online voter registration, I am thrilled to say the largest state in the nation is ready to roll. Today the Internet replaces the mailbox for thousands of Californians wanting to register to vote,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California’s chief elections officer, whom Senator Yee hopes to succeed.

“Senator Yee’s law will not only increase voter registration, it will increase the accuracy of the registration information, and reduce election costs,” said Mark Church, San Mateo County’s Chief Elections Officer. “Everyone wins.”

“With the launch of online voter registration, California voters can register with ease and use 21st century technology to get involved in our democracy,” said Kathay Feng, Executive Director for California Common Cause.

“Online voter registration improves democracy by improving access, increasing accuracy, and cutting costs,” said Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

“We want to thank Senator Leland Yee for authoring the legislation to establish online voter registration, and Secretary of State Debra Bowen for working to quickly implement online voter registration this fall,” said Daniela Uribe, CALPIRG New Voters’ Project. “Our democracy depends on an engaged citizenry. Online voter registration is a no-brainer – it will make it easier for Californians to participate in our elections, while saving our election officials time and money.”

“We are overjoyed with the opportunity that Online Voter Registration presents to students,” said Raymond Parenti-Kurttila, Vice President of External Affairs for San Francisco State University Associated Students. “This is an exciting development that takes civic engagement into the 21st century.”

“Today the internet replaces the mailbox for thousands of Californians wanting to register to vote,” said Debra Bowen, as stated above. “Online or on paper, California’s laws and procedures for processing voter registration applications are identical. The information provided in an online application still must be verified by a county elections official before an applicant can be added to the voter rolls.”

—David M. Greenwald reporting

Categories: