California Digital Archives Wins Top National Recognition at the National Association of Secretaries of State Conference
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“The California Archives preserves countless documents, photos, artifacts and digital records that tell the Golden State’s story,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “Prior to launching our Digital Archives, you would have to travel to Sacramento and setup a tour to see our archival treasures. We changed that, creating online exhibits with Google Arts & Culture, so armchair tourists can view exhibits from their smartphones, tablets or computers. The entire Secretary of State staff, including our archivists, are beaming with pride that this public private partnership was recognized with the top award from secretaries of state nationwide.”
Since its launch, the California Digital Archives has published 13 exhibits on the Google Arts & Culture platform covering topics from California’s Missions to Japanese Internment during World War II.
“We were thrilled to partner with Secretary Padilla and the State Archives to bring archive collections onto the Google Arts & Culture platform, and have been even more happy to see the online collection grow,” said Mufaddal Ezzy, Google’s California State Manager for Government Relations. "With over 300 new assets and 13 new exhibits since launch, we're glad to support the State Archives' ongoing work exploring where we've come from and who we are."
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Certification of 2018 Statewide Direct Primary Shows That Civic Participation is on the Rise
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Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the results of the June 5, 2018 Statewide Direct Primary Election on July 13, 2018.
7,141,987 ballots were cast, the most ever for a California gubernatorial primary.
37.54% of registered voters cast a ballot. This was the highest turnout of registered voters in a gubernatorial primary election since 1998.
"Civic participation is on the rise in California. California saw the highest turnout of registered voters for a gubernatorial primary in 20 years. We need to carry this momentum to the November 6, 2018 General Election. Whether or not you cast a ballot in June — make sure your voter registration is up-to-date for November. It only takes minutes to register to vote or update your registration, just visit
RegisterToVote.ca.gov
”
Five California counties--Madera, Napa, Nevada, Sacramento, and San Mateo--implemented the new Voter's Choice Act model of conducting elections for the first time during the June 5, 2018 Statewide Direct Primary Election. In these counties, every registered voter was mailed a ballot, and voters had the option of returning their ballot by mail, at a ballot drop box, or any vote center open in their county.
All five counties exceeded the statewide turnout rate of 37.5%
Four of the five counties saw voter turnout that was higher than the county average during statewide gubernatorial primaries during the previous 20 years.
"The Voter's Choice Act proved to be a success in its very first election," Padilla said. "Voters took advantage of the flexibility that vote centers and ballot dropboxes gave them in when and where they could cast their ballots. I believe we will only continue to see increases in voter turnout as we continue to educate voters in these counties about their expanded early voting opportunities."
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Secretary of State Alex Padilla Appointed National Co-Chair of NALEO 2020 Census Commission
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“A fair and accurate 2020 Census requires that everyone in the United States is counted, including members of the Latino community. Red and blue states alike rely on the Census for their fair share of federal funding for education, health care, transportation and more, as well as the apportionment of congressional representation,” stated California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “With the inclusion of a citizenship question being litigated and the survey moving to a digital format while a significant digital divide still exists throughout the nation, we have a lot of work to do to ensure that all residents are informed, encouraged, and able to participate. I look forward to working with School Board Member Navarro, NALEO Educational Fund and national partners on a nonpartisan basis to achieve a fair and accurate national population count in 2020.”
NALEO Educational Fund established the National Latino Commission on Census 2020 to help promote a fair and accurate count of Latinos and all of America’s residents. The Commission will terminate 60 days after the date on which the Commission publishes its final report.
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READ: Secretary Padilla Discusses the Importance of Voting Rights in Independence Day OpEd
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Secretary of State Alex Padilla published an OpEd in the Southern California News Group
highlighting key struggles for the future of voting rights in the United States.
"Flags are mounted, grills are fired up and friends, family and neighbors are gathering to celebrate Independence Day across the country. We celebrate our history, our veterans and our most fundamental values of American democracy, including the right to vote. But this year, recent decisions by an ideologically split U.S. Supreme Court are putting Americans’ right to vote at risk by enabling racial and partisan gerrymandering and upholding voter suppression tactics. We are reminded that we cannot celebrate America without also defending the right to vote."
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bizfile California Success at One Year; Over 400,000 Entrepreneurs have Filed Documents Online
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In the year since Secretary of State Alex Padilla launched the bizfile California online portal hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs have taken advantage of online business filing and search services.
“When we launched bizfile California a year ago, our goal was to move customers online instead of having them waiting in line at our office or the post office,” Secretary of State Padilla said. “Tremendous adoption of our online business tools is saving customers thousands of pages of paperwork and countless hours waiting to file in-person or via the mail. Nearly 79% of all LLC Statements of Information have been filed online since the launch of our tool.”
“Bizfile California has become a powerful one-stop shop for online business filings and searches. In the year since bizfile California launched we have added tools too—businesses can now file their LLC formation documents online or even apply for a trademark. In the months and years ahead we will continue to add tools that make starting and maintaining a business in California a smoother, more efficient process,” Padilla added.
Tools available through bizfile California:
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California Budget Invests $134 Million in New Voting Systems, $3 Million to Strengthen Election Cybersecurity
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California Secretary of State Alex Padilla applauded Governor Jerry Brown and the Legislature for including historic investments in new voting systems and election cybersecurity in the
2018-2019 Budget
.
"Cyber threats, both foreign and domestic, have become the new norm in our elections," said Secretary of State Alex Padilla. "The California Budget addresses cyber threats by providing $134 million for counties to modernize aging voting equipment and $3 million to create the Office of Elections Cybersecurity and the Office of Enterprise Risk Management. These investments will improve the voter experience, strengthen existing security measures, and improve collaboration and coordination with county elections officials."
The $134 million
budget allocation
will allow the Secretary of State to support counties throughout California by providing funding to upgrade or replace voting equipment
including the purchase of ballot on demand technology, electronic poll books, and open source voting systems. The legislature’s funding will also support the Secretary of State’s Communications Department to develop immediate information-correction campaigns, better outreach to communities in rural and urban areas, and assist county elections officials and voters with up-to-date information about potential threats.
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California State Archives Releases Exhibit on the History of the California State Government's Role in the Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II
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The California State Archives released its latest online exhibit, “California State Government and Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II”. Funding for this project was provided by the
California State Library’s California Civil Liberties Public Education Program Grant
.
This program sponsors public education to promote remembrance, understanding, and awareness of the exclusion, forced removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans and residents of Japanese descent during World War II.
“World War II marks one of the darkest periods in our state’s history,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. “As the United States prepared for war, Japanese Americans were stripped of their fundamental rights and liberties as they endured mass incarceration for more than two years. Families faced loss of liberty and livelihood. Japanese Americans lost everything as they were forced to sell their homes, businesses, and other possessions for pennies on the dollar and live behind barbed wire for the duration of the war. This new exhibit tells the story of incarceration using a vast array of original state records and documents. Our nation continues to grapple with the injustice of internment and the defense of civil liberties for all.”
Actor George Takei shared this exhibit in a
post
on Facebook, saying "
I hope you all can find a moment to go through and learn a bit about this very dark yet very important moment in our nation’s history. Now, more than ever, it is critical for us to learn from the mistakes of our past."
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In addition to the exhibit, the State Archives has curated an online collection of documents related to internment. This is the State Archives’ first exhibit/collection hybrid completed through the
Omeka
platform. There are 483 items in this exhibit/collection, which includes records from the Department of Agriculture, State Personnel Board, Secretary of State, Department of Justice and Attorney General’s Office, Patrick Johnston Papers, and other ephemera collections.
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