Dear CCEP colleagues, partners and friends:
Welcome to the January edition of Engage!
Starting off the new year, there are already many exciting events on the way, from a symposium in San Francisco on voting in 2018, to a summit in New Orleans addressing issues in the American political system.
In addition, you will also learn about some of the latest research in the field and read the story of Rosemary Metrailer who helped build Sacramento's thriving LGBTQ community. Lastly, we will get you up-to-date on the latest civic engagement news happening in California and across the country from new election system funding for California, to the ending of the president's commission on voter fraud.
In partnership,
Mindy Romero, Ph.D.
CCEP Director
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Voting in 2018 and Beyond: Ensuring Access and Accountability of the Ballot in America
January 26th
The Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly at the UC Hastings College of Law will be hosting a symposium entitled
Voting in 2018 and Beyond: Ensuring Access and Accountability of the Ballot in America.
The event will discuss several issues related to the U.S. voting system such as political gerrymandering, President Trump's Voter Fraud Commission, systems that disenfranchise voters, and more.
CCEP director Mindy Romero will be a panelist at this event, and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and New America CA fellow and UC Berkeley law professor, Ann Ravel, will deliver the keynote address.
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Race Counts Forum
February 1st
The event will discuss research from the Race Counts launch report and will share the issues each California region faces in terms of racial equity.
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Unrig the System Summit
February 2-4th
The Unrig the System Summit will be held in New Orleans from February 2nd to 4th. This three-day event is designed to be fast-paced and fun, and brings together advocacy leaders, celebrities, academics, journalists, and more to work together to find solutions to issues in the American political system.
Issues that will be discussed include: gerrymandering, Citizen's United, voting reform, money in politics, ethics and transparency and more.
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Policy Meets Practice: Implementing California's New Election Laws
March 8th
The Future of California Elections (FoCE) will be hosting their annual conference on March 8th in Los Angeles.
This year's conference, "Policy Meets Practice: Implementing California's New Election Laws," will bring together election administrators, community organizers, and advocates to discuss strategies for modernizing elections and expanding voter turnout.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will be this year's keynote speaker.
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Closing | National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement
The NCLCE has informed and assisted policymakers and education leaders across the United States for nearly 20 years on the importance of making civic education and service learning issues, essential components in our education system.
Over recent years, NCLCE director Paul Baumann and project leader Jan Brennan, were very successful in helping produce effective research and publications for policymakers and education leaders, and in developing important partnerships with the Council of State Governments, school districts, and civic education organizations.
Before closing, the NCLCE released two final resources:
The second resource is a
State Civic Education Toolkit from the Council of State Governments. This toolkit is intended to help guide state education leaders when it comes to civic learning programs.
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New grant opportunity | Voter's Choice California
The Voter's Choice Act was passed by California lawmakers in 2016. Starting in 2018, participating counties will mail all registered voters a ballot, and voters will have the option to turn their ballots in either by mail, at a drop box location, or at the new Vote Centers.
VCC is a statewide coalition with local hubs in each county implementing the Voter's Choice Act. The VCC website also includes extensive information and resources about the Voter's Choice Act and information about joining the coalition.
Applications for this grant are due on January 16th.
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Public Service Graduate Fellowship | The Maddy Institute
The Wonderful Public Service Graduate Fellowship is giving students from California's San Joaquin Valley the opportunity to obtain an advanced degree that they can later apply towards making the Valley a better place.
The Maddy Institute announced that it will reward $56,000 Fellowships to California's San Joaquin Valley students who are accepted to the fellowship for the Fall of 2018.
The deadline to apply for the fellowship is Friday, February 23rd.
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New Civic Engagement Research
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Photo Credit: Carlo Giambarresi
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'Fake News': Wide Reach but Little Impact, Study Suggests
The study found that
Trump supporters visited the most fake news websites, and were three times more likely to do so than users who supported Hillary Clinton. However, the research found that while the reach of fake news was wide, it was shallow and highly concentrated among those with the most conservative online information preferences.
To read this study, conducted by researchers from Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Exeter,
visit the link here.
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How Are We Apart? Continuity and Change in the Structure of Ideological Disagreement in the American Public, 1980-2012
A study from New York University found that social scientists still disagree over whether the American public is polarized.
The paper examined how various aspects of ideological disagreement have changed over the past decades. For instance, despite popular belief, the report found that the public has actually become less polarized on moral issues.
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Civic Engagement Success Story
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The Story of Rosemary Metrailer, Sacramento LGBTQ activist
January 23rd, UC Davis Law School
In 1984, Rosemary Metrailer served as plaintiff's attorney for the national headline-making lawsuit against televangelist Jerry Falwell. Metrailer won this case and the $9,000 awarded by the court was used to found what would become the Sacramento LGBTQ Community Center. Later in 1988, Metrailer represented a group of women employees during a class action sex discrimination suit against McClellan Air Force Base and won.
Metrailer's career became renowned in legal circles as she was a very successful LGBTQ and civil rights attorney. Not only that, but Metrailer was also a pioneering advocate who helped build Sacramento's thriving LGBTQ community.
In honor of Metrailer's work, UC Davis Lambda Student Union will be hosting a screening at the UC Davis School of Law, where Metrailer received her law degree in 1977, of the documentary film,
"The Story of Rosemary Metrailer." This documentary was produced by the Legends of Courage project in association with Sacramento's Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange.
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California Civic Engagement News
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6 New languages added to 2018 California ballot
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced on January 3rd that six new languages will be added to the 2018 ballot in accordance to election language assistance requirements.
"Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and voting rights include access to voting information in a voter's preferred language," said Secretary of State Alex Padilla in a California Secretary of State press release. "These new language requirements will better serve voters who prefer their ballot in a language other than English and will help local elections officials better serve their diverse communities."
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Governor Jerry Brown proposes $134.3 million on new voting systems
As part of California Governor Jerry Brown's new state budget, he is proposing spending $134.3 million to fund new, modernized and more secure, voting systems for all California counties.
It has been over 15 years since the state legislature has approved funding for updating California's voting system. This money would help counties fund up to 50% of the cost, with the counties having to foot the remainder of the bill.
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National Civic Engagement News
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Photo Credit: Corey Lowenstein | AP
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North Carolina is ordered to redraw its congressional map
On January 9th, federal judges found North Carolina's congressional map to be unconstitutional. The judges ruled that the map was drawn with the intent of giving Republicans a political advantage, and that it violated the 14th Amendment.
Lawmakers are now required to create a new map. The court will, however, institute its own map should the new map also be found unsatisfactory.
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Photo Credit: Carolyn Kaster | AP
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Trump disbands commission on voter fraud
On January 3rd, President Trump dissolved the
Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity which he charged with investigating voter fraud.
"The abrupt abandonment of the commission makes clear that it had become a thoroughly discredited body that could not find evidence of mass voter fraud," said Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, during an interview with The New York Times. "The commission itself was unable to justify its existence as a result."
According to the president, he closed the commission due to continuous legal battles at the expense of taxpayer money.
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CCEP Outreach in the Media
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Photo Credit: City of Los Angeles
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California's governor's race is likely to be decided in Los Angeles County
The California governor's race has already started, and some believe that in order to win, candidates must look towards one California county: Los Angeles County.
Latinos make up the majority of the LA County electorate at 47.5%. However, during the 2014 primary election, only 10% of Latino voters voted.
CCEP director, Mindy Romero is quoted in this article providing Latino voter turnout data.
So while some believe that harnessing the political power of LA County will be essential to win, it could be very difficult.
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League of Women Voters California | Advocacy Manager
The League of Women Voters (LWV) California is looking to fill an advocacy manager job opening. This position is responsible for implementing the LWV's policy strategies and legislative priorities.
The LWV's
ideal candidate would be someone who believes in the power of grassroots action, embraces the Leagues's vision, and values creating a more representative democracy.
Applications are due by January 12th, but the position will remain open until filled.
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Share Your Civic Engagement Research with the CCEP
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Are you working to promote inclusive civic engagement? Do you have a civic engagement success story to share? Share your story with CCEP and you could be featured in an upcoming issue of Engage! Please send your short write-up to Jennifer Puza at [email protected] for consideration. Thanks for reading and staying engaged!
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UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project
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Kim Alexander
President and Founder
California Voter Foundation
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Matt A. Barreto
Professor, Dept. of Political Science
Professor, Dept. of Chicana/o Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
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Jonathan Fox
Professor,
School of International Service
American University
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Luis R. Fraga
Arthur Foundation Endowed Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership
Professor of Political Science University of Notre Dame
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Lisa Garcia Bedolla
Chancellor's Professor of Education and Political Science
University of California, Berkeley
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Bruce Haynes
Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology University of California, Davis
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Jongho Lee
Professor
Dept. of Political Science
Western Illinois University
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Peter Levine
Associate Dean for Research and Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
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Matt Mahan
Cofounder and CEO
Brigade
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James Muldavin
Executive Director
California Center for Civic Participation and Youth Development
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Karthick Ramakrishnan
Professor of Public Policy
University of California, Riverside
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Ricardo Ramirez
Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
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Jason Reece
Assistant Professor of Land Use Planning and Law
The Ohio State University
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Cruz Reynoso
Professor of Law Emeritus
University of California, Davis
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Dan Schnur
Director
American Jewish Committee
Los Angeles Region
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Shakari Byerly
Partner and Lead Researcher
EVITARUS
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Samuel Molina
California State Director
Mi Familia Vota
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California Civic Engagement Project
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The California Civic Engagement Project (CCEP) is housed at the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and was established to inform the public dialogue on representative governance in California. The CCEP is engaging in pioneering research to identify disparities in civic participation across place and population. It is well positioned to inform and empower a wide range of policy and organizing efforts in California to reduce disparities in state and regional patterns of well-being and opportunity. Key audiences include public officials, advocacy groups, political researchers and communities themselves.
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UC Davis Center for Regional Change
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The UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC). The CRC is a catalyst for innovative, collaborative, and action-oriented research. It brings together faculty and students from different disciplines, and builds bridges between university, policy, advocacy, business, philanthropy and other sectors. The CRC's goal is to support the building of healthy, equitable, prosperous, and sustainable regions in California and beyond.
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