The Real Reason Why Californians Don’t Vote

It’s Not Just Registration Problems and Bad Candidates. People Are Also Really Busy.

In the stages of grief, media coverage of California voters’ low turnout in the June primary jumped denial, and headed straight to anger and bargaining. “Something amazing happened in California on Tuesday: Hardly anyone came out to vote,” read a recent Washington Post piece. “I have three words to describe the primary elections held in California this week: What the what?” began an essay by Jessica Levinson in The Huffington Post.

Pundits have now moved on to bargaining, or, at least reasoning why so few Californians turned out to vote in …

by Pete Peterson | June 23, 2014

L.A. Political Operative Tracy Zeluff

Millions of Trees Sacrifice Themselves for My Guilty Pleasure

February 24, 2014

Tracy Zeluff is a longtime Los Angeles political and labor operative who is currently senior partner at GroundWorks Campaigns. Before participating in a panel exploring why Angelenos won’t vote, she …

I’m a Strong Supporter of L.A. Mayor What’s-His-Face

What Should We Make of the Political Apathy of Angelenos?

by Sarah Rothbard | December 6, 2013

So few Angelenos voted this year that Eric Garcetti was elected mayor with just 222,300 votes—the same number it took to get elected mayor in the 1930s, when L.A. was …

The Right Way to Reschedule L.A.’s Elections

Los Angeles Needs Higher Voter Turnout, But Some Reform Ideas Have Holes

by Howard Cohen | December 4, 2013

Until a change in the city charter 20 years ago, voters in some parts of Los Angeles were able to take stubs from their ballot, present them to local independent …

Women of L.A., City Hall Misses You

Pondering the Mysterious Shortage of Female Elected Officials in Los Angeles

by Sarah Rothbard | September 24, 2013

“I imagine that you’re all here for the same reason I am,” said Los Angeles News Group opinion editor Mariel Garza to an overflow crowd at MOCA Grand Avenue. “You’re …

See You at the Polls … Or Else

We Aussies Have Found Compulsory Voting Binds Our Country Together. It Would Work in America, Too.

by Ariel Bogle | September 6, 2013

In 2012, Barack Obama was re-elected with the votes of less than a third of the population of Americans who are eligible to vote. That’s right—because many who are eligible …

See You at the Polls … Or Else

We Aussies Have Found Compulsory Voting Binds Our Country Together. It Would Work in America, Too.

To Make California a True Democracy, Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote

If You Root for the Dodgers, Pay Taxes, and Battle Traffic, Are You Any Less Californian Than Me?

Are California Elections a Triumph of Democracy—or a Defeat?

The Golden State Keeps Making It Easier to Vote, and Harder to Understand What to Vote For

Vulnerable Voting Machines Are Putting America at Risk

How Antiquated Equipment Could Imperil Democracy Itself

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