August has been a busy month. As we begin Labor Day weekend, I wanted to give you a recap on what we’ve been up to this month, what we’ve achieved, and what we’re fighting for:
We brought our message on investing in secure elections to Netroots.
I was invited to speak at the Netroots Nation’s national conference, one of the largest progressive gatherings in the country. I spoke about election security, increasing access to voting, and voting rights on a panel that also featured my colleagues CT Secretary of State Denise Merrill and VT Secretary of State Jim Condos. You can watch video from the panel here.
One of the biggest takeaways was this: our election infrastructure is not just under threat, it’s old. As I said during the panel, “investing in our elections infrastructure only once every 15 years doesn’t cut it.”
California continues to lead the way in safeguarding our elections.
I was invited to attend and speak at this year’s DEFCON convention, an annual gathering of hackers from around the world who attempt to compromise various technologies with the goal of helping both private and sector organizations identify risks and vulnerabilities.
This was the second year in a row that featured a Voting Village. My main takeaways? (1) We need more funding to implement additional safeguards and (2) California is served well by our requirement for paper ballots. Read about my experience here.
Photo by Seth Rosenblatt/The Parallax
But while President Trump and Congress fail to act against this threat, I’m proud that California leaders are stepping up. Governor Brown and the legislature included in this year’s budget $134 million for voting system upgrades and replacement, plus additional funding for the creation of the Office of Election Cybersecurity within the Secretary of State.
I spoke at the DNC’s Summer Conference in Chicago on the importance of electing Democratic Secretaries of State.
Speaking at the DNC, I made the case for investing more in electing Secretaries of State who will fight to protect voting rights, expanded voter access, and safeguard our elections.
With Trump and the Republican Congress refusing to act urgently to address cyber threats to our elections, and with Republican Governors and legislatures continuing to restrict voting rights, electing more Democratic Secretaries of State has become critically important.
Thank you for taking the time to read about what I’ve been up to. With your support, we can continue to do what’s right on voting access and election integrity, for California and for our country.
Alex Padilla
California Secretary of State
P.S. I don’t know about your school district, but our kids are now back in school! Roman just started middle school, Alex just started kindergarten, and Diego just started pre-school. Angela and I are so proud of them.
PAID FOR BY ALEX PADILLA FOR SECRETARY OF STATE 2018