The League of Women Voters has an undeniably strong reputation — when people have questions about elections or government, they turn to us. But while we enjoy solid name recognition, people often have trouble distinguishing between our separate geographic levels. The difference is significant, particularly during election season.
Leading up to an election, the volunteers you see in your community conducting voter registration and outreach are acting on behalf of local Leagues. These local Leagues work within either single jurisdictions or clusters of them; in total, there are 20 such local Leagues in the nine-county Bay Area. This includes LWV Berkeley-Albany-Emeryville, whose president, Adena Ishii, is featured (wearing the red jacket) on the cover of this edition of the Monitor registering Berkeley High School students to vote at a recent campus drive. Contact information for her League and the others is listed below; please reach out to them for your upcoming local voter service needs.
LWV Bay Area operates at a level in between these local Leagues and the state League (which helps produce Voter’s Edge California, a valuable election-time resource also featured below). Among our activities, the Bay Area League of course publishes the Monitor, and this election season we’re joining the action with this special edition. Cecily O’Connor kicks it off with an article on Regional Measure 3, a nine-county ballot initiative focused on bridge tolls. Aleta George and Leslie Stewart follow with articles on a pair of state propositions that have ramifications for the Bay Area, and Robin Meadows wraps the edition with a look at a Napa County measure that has captured people’s interest more broadly. As you read, please note that the League at the level of each measure in question has taken a position on it, but within these pages we’re looking at the measures impartially — these articles do not represent positions of support or opposition.
Finally, while not election related, LWV Bay Area would like to mention that we recently hosted our annual Bay Area League Day. For a change of pace this election season, please visit lwvbayarea.org/2018-league-day-regional-governance to see photos, videos, and documents from the event.
Contact your local League of Women Voters for voter services and other support this and every election season:
Alameda
www.lwvalameda.org
(510) 865-2439
Berkeley-Albany-Emeryville
www.lwvbae.org
(510) 843-8824
Benicia
www.lwvbenicia.org
Cupertino-Sunnyvale
www.lwvcs.org
Diablo Valley
www.lwvdv.org
(925) 283-2235
Eden Area
www.lwvea.org
(510) 826-6674
Fremont-Newark-Union City
www.lwvfnuc.org
(510) 794-5783
Los Altos-Mountain View Area
www.lwvlamv.org
(650) 429-8382
Marin County
www.marinlwv.org
(415) 507-0824
Napa County
www.napa.ca.lwvnet.org
(707) 257-7450
North & Central
San Mateo County
www.ncsmc.ca.lwvnet.org
(650) 342-5853
Oakland
www.lwvoakland.org
(510) 834-7640
Palo Alto
www.lwvpaloalto.org
(650) 903-0600
Piedmont
www.lwvpiedmont.org
(510) 655-0854
San Francisco
www.lwvsf.org
(415) 989-8683
San Jose/Santa Clara
www.lwvnet.org/ca/sjsc
(408) 271-7163
Sonoma County
www.lwvsonoma.org
(707) 546-5943
South San Mateo County
www.lwvssmc.org
(650) 325-5780
Southwest Santa Clara Valley
www.lwv-sw-santaclara-valley.org
(408) 598-1842
West Contra Costa County
www.lwvnet.org/lwv/ca/wccc
(510) 298-1255
LWV Bay Area
www.lwvbayarea.org
(510) 839-1608
The deadline to register to vote in California for the June 5 election is May 21. The Secretary of State provides online voter registration at www.registertovote.ca.gov and an official voter guide at voterguide.sos.ca.gov. Contact the SOS or your county’s elections office if you have questions.
California Secretary of State
(916) 653-6814
www.sos.ca.gov
Marin County Elections Department
(415) 473-6456
www.marincounty.org/depts/rv
Sonoma County Registrar of Voters
(707) 565-6800
www.vote.sonoma-county.org
Napa County Elections Division
(707) 253-4321
www.countyofnapa.org/elections
Solano County Registrar of Voters
(707) 784-6675
www.solanocounty.com/depts/rov
Contra Costa County Elections Division
(925) 335-7800
www.cocovote.us
Alameda County Registrar of Voters
(510) 272-6933
www.acgov.org/rov
Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters
(408) 299-8683
www.sccgov.org/sites/rov
San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division
(650) 312-5222
www.smcacre.org/elections
City & County of San Francisco Department of Elections
(415) 554-4375
www.sfgov.org/elections
Voter’s Edge California (www.votersedge.org/ca) is a nonpartisan online guide to federal, state, and local elections in California. It allows voters to view: their personalized ballot; detailed descriptions about candidates and ballot measures; and information about their polling locations. Voter’s Edge California is a joint project of the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and MapLight.
The League of Women Voters of California Education Fund’s Easy Voter Guide, a nonpartisan information source for new and busy voters, is available at easyvoterguide.org in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean.
