The Fight for Democracy Continues During a Pandemic

Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State

Karen Flynn, President of Common Cause

Mindy Romero, Founder and director of the California Civic Engagement Project

Christian Grose, Academic director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy

Jack Knott, Dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy presents Price Talks: Policy in a Pandemic, a virtual series examining policy challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic. USC Price faculty share their expert perspective on the critical policy issues that are important to us all in 30-minute lunchtime Zoom presentations open to the entire Price community. Topics will include examining the impact of the crisis on the economy, the homeless crisis, voter turn-out in this year’s election, local government services and our public health infrastructure.

These are unprecedented times, and the USC Price School is committed to providing relevant information on critical subjects that matter to us. We look forward to connecting with you soon!

Links mentioned in this talk:

Examining San Mateo Country's Adoption of the California Voter's Choice Act: 2018 Election Cycle
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b8c7ce15d5dbf599fb46ab/t/5d9cf553c3774d341e27bd5e/1570567598119/CCEP+San+Mateo+County+VCA+Research+Report+-+Final.pdf

CCEP Research
The California Voter Experience Study: A Statewide Survey of Voter Perspectives on Vote-By-Mail and Vote Centers
Disparities in California’s Vote-by-Mail Use Changing Demographic Composition: 2002-2012
The California Voter Experience Study: A Statewide Survey of Voter Perspectives on Vote-By-Mail and Vote Centers
Disparities in California’s Uncounted Vote-by-Mail Ballots: Youth, Language Preference and Military Status
Common Cause Census Data and Redistricting Fact Sheet
https://www.commoncause.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Census-Deadline-Factsheet-4.22.20.pdf

Christian R. Grose. 2011. Congress in Black and White. This book explains how legislative redistricting can be drawn to protect voting rights. https://www.amazon.com/Congress-Black-White-Representation-Washington/dp/0521177014

Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Daley. 2019. “Schwarzenegger: Too Many Voters Live Under Minority Rule.” Washington Post. This article summarizes the worst gerrymanders across the United States and talks about policy solutions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/09/schwarzenegger-too-many-voters-live-under-minority-rule-heres-why/

Christian R. Grose, Jordan Carr Peterson, Matthew Nelson, and Sara Sadhwani. 2019. “The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders in U.S. State Legislatures.” USC Schwarzenegger Institute Report. This research report identifies states with minority rule due to state legislative partisan redistricting and identifies the top 10 worst state legislative gerrymanders. http://schwarzeneggerinstitute.com/theworstpartisangerrymanders

National Conference of State Legislators, “Redistricting and Use of Census Data.” This describes variation in state laws regarding use of data to engage in redistricting. https://www.ncsl.org/research/redistricting/redistricting-and-use-of-census-data.aspx