California’s recent reports of poor election administration and voter registration rates just may be the dark before the dawn, wrote Daniel Zingale of The California Endowment, a group that advocates for expanding access to health care.
In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Zingale wrote that he was particularly disheartened by Pew Charitable Trusts’ recent report on election administration, which ranked California second-to-last.
“Our pathetic elections infrastructure fuels abysmal voter registration rates. California ranks 45th in the nation in voter registration…As a result, the state’s electorate does not reflect who we are or who we’re becoming…Unregistered Californians tend to be people of color, younger and less wealthy, and they are our fastest-growing populations.”
“If the voting population doesn’t represent the state, neither will the decisions coming out of Sacramento. It’s as simple as that,” he wrote.
Healthcare exchanges may help change that. “The healthcare exchanges, because they offer a public service, are required by the National Voter Registration Act to offer voter registration,” Zingale wrote. California’s health exchange is sending voter registration cards to four million Californians who have applied for benefits, thanks to a recent settlement agreement that Project Vote, ACLU, and Demos reached with the state.
“The voter registration mailing may be the largest such effort in recent history, according to elections experts,” wrote Mr. Zingale. “California, it’s hoped, will serve as a model for other state exchanges.”
Photo by Gary Stevens via Creative Commons license.