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ACTION NEEDED: Send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, with a copy sent to Michael C. Genest, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Finance. Send a letter to the Secretary of State, as well. Ask them to release the HAVA (Help America Vote Act) funds to publish the EASY VOTER GUIDE.
*Governor: Fax to 916-445-4633; e-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov *Michael C. Genest: Fax to 916-324-7311; e-mail: dofmail@dof.ca.gov *Secretary of State: Fax to 916-653-1458; e-mail: kshelley@ss.ca.gov
Situation:
The EASY VOTER GUIDE has been a well-respected publication since 1994. It has been distributed free for the past two elections, funded in part by HAVA (Help America Vote Act) money. It is produced by Common Knowledge in partnership with the California State Library and the Secretary of State's office, in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of California.
The EASY VOTER GUIDE is a 16-page booklet featuring statements and photos for all candidates for President and U.S. Senate plus concise summaries of the 16 statewide ballot measures. While the booklet is available online (www.easyvoter.org), the printed booklets help local groups do outreach to the communities that need it most.
Most people are aware that the HAVA funds managed by the Secretary of State's office were recently frozen. Some of those funds were released by the Department of Finance last week but the EASY VOTER GUIDE was not among them.
The EASY VOTER GUIDE has thus gotten caught up in the Secretary of State controversy and will not be published unless we, its users, demand that funds for it be released. Rather than weigh in on who should pay for it, we call on the Secretary of State's Office, Department of Finance, and the Governor's Office to work together quickly to identify funds for this publication.
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