Certifying June’s Historic Primary

Last week, I proudly certified my first election as Secretary of State – and it was a great one. Over 8.5 million Californians cast ballots, the highest vote total for a consolidated primary election in state history. And I’m particularly proud that we engaged new voters in this election with over hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in the final months of the primary. Now, it’s on to November!

Modernizing Elections

Our election reform bill, the California Voter’s Choice Act, SB 450, was approved by the Assembly Elections Committee last month. SB 450 will increase voter turnout by expanding vote by mail and implementing in-person early voting. Bottom line, it empowers voters by creating more options of where, when, and how to vote.

National Association of Latino Elected Officials Conference (NALEO)

As the son of immigrants and the past President of NALEO, it’s always inspiring to join fellow Latino leaders at the annual conference. Last month, I attended the 33rd annual NALEO conference in Washington, D.C., to report on the important progress we’ve made in California to adopt automatic voter registration and our efforts to modernize elections. Protecting voting rights was also a key topic. While the trend in some states is to limit access to the polls, in California, we’re setting the counterexample by making voting easier and more accessible.

Partnering with Google to Preserve California History

In June I announced an innovative new technology partnership with Google, to digitize items from the California State Archives and make unique exhibits on California’s history available to a global audience online. Our first exhibits showcase the history of California State Parks and some of our state’s most important historic documents. Click here to view the exhibits via the Google Cultural Institute.