February 2022
ENGAGE!
CID Newsletter
CID News
Examining the Black Voting Experience in California – New Report Coming Feb. 28
Understanding the voting experiences of Black Californians can be critical to improving election processes and realizing a representative voting electorate in the state.

Toward that end, the Center for Inclusive Democracy will be releasing a new report, “The Voting Experience of Black Californians: 2020 General Election and Beyond” at a webinar on Feb. 28, 2022 at 10 a.m. PT. The event is being held in partnership with the California Black Power Network (CBPN).

For the webinar, CID’s Mindy Romero will provide an overview of key findings from the report, then CBPN will lead a panel discussion on the implications of the report’s findings for the 2022 Midterm Elections and beyond.

Webinar panelists include:

·        James Woodson – Executive Director, California Black Power Network
 
·        Kristin Nimmers – Policy and Campaigns Manager, California Black
Power Network
 
·        Rahmo Abdi – Community Organizer, Partnership for the Advancement
of New Americans (PANA)
 
·        Sheryl Lane – Executive Director, Building Blocks for Kids (BBK)
 
·        Min. Quan Williams – Civic Engagement Lead Organizer, Congregations
Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE)
 
·        Mindy Romero – Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy at the USC
Price School of Public Policy

CID’s report features findings from a multi-method analysis of Black voter turnout and the overall voting experience for Black Californians during the 2020 General Election.
Democracy News
Election officials are on the frontlines of defending democracy. They didn't sign up for this.
Ten state chief election officials say in interviews they have had to refocus their positions to battle a constant flow of disinformation. This year, they say, will be no different, as the 2022 Midterm Elections get underway.
State election officials survived attacks. Will they survive the ballot box?
Secretaries of State became household names in the last election as they worked to keep voters safe during the pandemic and debunk election misinformation. The challenges they continue to face and decisions they must make highlight the outsized role these officials increasingly play in elections.
Returned ballots, worry in Texas starts 2022′s first primary

Texas has begun early voting in 2022’s first primary following a rushed rollout of tougher voting restrictions signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott last September. Harris County election officials announced just days before the first votes were cast in person that 40% of mail ballots received so far had already been sent back, mostly because they did not include required identification and signatures now mandated under Texas law.
Amateur fraud hunters bury election officials in public records requests
Fifteen months after President Joe Biden won the White House, state, county and city-level administrators in at least five states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Arizona and Virginia — report being inundated with time-consuming records requests and inquiries, most of them coming from amateur fraud hunters looking for proof of debunked conspiracy theories.
New Democracy Research

In December, California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) approved the final maps for the state’s new political districts. PPIC evaluates the new maps, comparing representation for racial and ethnic groups as well as partisan outcomes like seat share and competitiveness. 

As the 2022 state legislative sessions begin, lawmakers have already introduced more new restrictive voting legislation than at this time last year. They have also continued to introduce bills designed to undermine the electoral process.
CID Presentations
Equity in Voter Turnout after Pandemic Election Changes
PPIC researcher Eric McGhee and panelists, including CID director Mindy Romero, will discuss findings from a new PPIC report on the sometimes-contradictory impact of California’s shift to universal vote-by-mail for the 2020 general election.

Virtual Event
Thursday, March 3, 2022
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PT
CID in the Media
Below is a selection of recent CID media coverage:

ABC
CID’s Mindy Romero comments on the importance of having a U.S. Supreme Court that reflects the diversity of the country as a whole, as President Biden considers potential nominees to replace retiring Justice Stephen Bryer.

CNBC
California has approved a new congressional map with six more majority-Latino districts. CID’s study on Latino voter turnout in the state is cited in this article, which discusses how Latino voters could boost Democrats under California’s newly drawn congressional districts.

Voice of OC
What will Orange County, CA, cities’ representation look like with redistricting? The redistricting process can be a useful sounding board for understanding communities, their varying interests and shifts in the civic engagement landscape, commented CID’s Mindy Romero.
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Center for Inclusive Democracy
The Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID), formerly known as the California Civic Engagement Project (CCEP), is part of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and is based in Sacramento. CID conducts a range of national and multi-state research initiatives exploring voting behavior, civic engagement, electoral and economic research, the intersection of social justice and democracy, and more. Its research informs and empowers a wide range of policy and organizing efforts aimed at eliminating disparities in social and economic well-being. Now a cornerstone project nested within CID’s larger umbrella, the CCEP continues to produce groundbreaking resources and research for California.
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