“We have the lowest voter turnout in history. We have an obligation, not an opportunity, to increase voter participation,” said Antonia Hernández, President and CEO, California Community Foundation in her opening remarks. The convening was called ”Advancing Civic Engagement in California” and is part of the California Futures speaker series presented by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Mark Baldassare, President and CEO, PPIC served as moderator as well as our host. Mark and I served together on the California Commission on Service and Volunteering. There is no one I know who has a better grasp on the inner workings of our state than Mark. He started the session wishing everyone “Happy Constitution Day” and then followed with this question posed to the two special Guest: “What do you think is the most important aspect of increasing voter participation? California Supreme Court Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye replied “ Ignite civic passion, curiosity and interest in our government. Countless people over the ages have fought for the right to vote, yet so many don’t.” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said “build that sense of responsibility and duty to vote in each and every election by modernizing and energizing the process of voting.”
The Chief Justice kept going back to a theme, schools and education. She talked of how civics is covered in the second semester of a student’s senior year in high school. “Think back, not the best time!” Three years ago the judiciary hosted a summit of civics education and out of it came the “Power of Democracy.” A K-12 program designed to integrate civics education into existing curriculum in diverse disciplines. It’s a “how to do civics education and is designed to be easily replicated.” It is now in the pilot phase in several school districts.
The Secretary talked of getting youth engaged in campaigns through volunteering. The polls show there is a lot of distrust in politicians by young people. “We can only do so much. Do they run a positive or negative campaign? Hopefully over the long term we will be able to reward good behavior.”
Much of the dialog was about increasing voter participation, not only registration, but for those who are registered, getting them to vote. While I agree with this need, I was particularly drawn to the Chief Justice’s comments around what I think of as the quality of the vote. “Who you vote for represents you,” she said. “It’s your values and who you are. We need to motivate voters to vote informed. Students graduating from high school, at 18, should feel equipped and empowered to vote. How do we get to a million new voters in the state? Start in the 1st grade!”