Alex Padilla for secretary of state
The negative influence of campaign contributions and voter apathy stand out in California’s political system. These are central issues for the next California secretary of state, a position that Alex Padilla is very well prepared for.
The Democratic state senator can combine his knowledge of technology and the analytical criteria of an engineer to make sure that Cal-Access finally fulfills its purpose, which is to be a database with information that is relevant to voters, like campaign contribution data.
From his seat as state lawmaker, Padilla introduced bills targeted at more strictly regulating the influence of money on writing legislature. Specifically, he supported bills that demand reporting all campaign contributions within five days of receipt, with the period decreasing to 24 hours during the last days of an election. He also proposed a measure to ban fundraising while the legislature is in session, in order to decrease the influence of lobbyists.
On the other hand, we think that Padilla has a very valuable idea: becoming familiar with the dynamics of voter registration in California’s 58 counties to get to know their concerns and experiences, which can be translated into the state level. This may help him accomplish his goal of expanding the number of voters by 1 million by the end of his term.
Technology will also be key in speeding up the processing of business registrations, another important function of the secretary of state.
This lawmaker has the knowledge, experience and commitment to expand voter participation, especially among Latinos, with more outreach and information for voters. Vote for Alex Padilla for secretary of state!
