UPDATE 06/28/22: YOUR CALLS HAVE HAD AN EFFECT! We’ve been informed that this bill is DEAD – that Assembly Elections Committee Chair Isaac Bryan just pulled it!
Action #1: Yes, we want to help disabled voters. No, we don’t have to destroy our election security to do it. Tell your assemblymember to VOTE “NO” on SB 1480- “Remote accessible vote by mail systems.”
Seriously, WTH? How did this dangerous internet voting bill pass the state Senate? Our senators were either swayed by impassioned disability rights speakers or not paying close attention to the details. Tell your assemblymembers to think this through – untrustworthy election results are bad for everyone.
Is your Assembly members are on the Elections Committee, which is meeting on Wednesday? If so, be sure to mention that you’re calling them both because they’re your assemblymember and because of their position on the elections committee: Isaac Bryan (chair), Kelly Seyarto (vice chair), Steve Bennett, Evan Low, Chad Mayes, Kevin Mullin, Blanca Rubio.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code]and I want Assemblymember [___] to vote “NO” on SB 1480!
Additional script if you want: This bill would allow internet voting, which cannot be made secure. There are better ways to serve the rights and dignity of our disabled community members without potentially destroying the credibility of our elections, such as improving remote accessible vote by Mail (RAVBM) and expanding the use of Mobile Voting Vehicles.
Contact:
- State Assemblymember Steve Bennet (CA-37): email, SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700
- State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (CA-44): email, SAC (916) 319-2044, CAM (805) 482-1904, OX (805) 483-4488
- Not your people? Which assemblymember is yours?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Action #2: Call Secretary of State Shirley Weber
Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office: (916) 657-2166 (or email)
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code]and I want Secretary of State Weber to actively reach out to the CA Assembly and ask them to vote NO on SB 1480! Backers of this bill expect her, as the Secretary of State, to certify a “remote accessible vote by mail system” that enables the voter to return a completed ballot electronically, despite there being no safe internet-based system. In fact, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence stated that foreign governments were actively trying to attack U.S. election systems and that “States should resist pushes for online voting.”
Deeper Dive
Ten years ago, tech-savvy California banned internet voting, understanding that it could not, by its very nature, ever be completely secure. SB-1480 proposes to allow voters with disabilities to fax in their votes, obscuring the issue that a “fax” now travels by internet, not by the phonelines of decades ago. This is therefore an internet voting bill, which would create dangerous, and currently unsolvable security vulnerabilities, and will remain insecure for the foreseeable future, all while public confidence in our elections is under attack.
This bill is such a profoundly bad idea, that even the The Dept. of Homeland Security, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have warned against this, stating that we should stick with the paper ballot system we have and utilize our existing Remote Accessible Vote by Mail (RAVBM) service – which delivers a blank ballot electronically to the voter so they may use their own assistive technology at home to mark their ballot, print it out and return the paper ballot to their elections office. We could also expand the use of Mobile Voting Vehicles, whereby election workers bring accessible voting devices to the residences and workplaces of voters with disabilities. (San Francisco and its neighboring counties have already invested a $1 million federal grant to provide this service to disable and underserved voters.)
Read the text of the bill (SB1480)
Learn more about the risks of internet voting
The information above is adapted from a letter sent by a coalition of election protection groups detailing the dangers of this bill. The letter includes citations for the information above. Read the coalition letter signed by the groups below.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 