Dear Action Alert supporter,

Voting is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of our democracy, yet millions of Americans have had their right to vote denied because of poor administrative policies.

Too many voter rolls are riddled with inaccuracies, and registrars simply don't have the tools to uphold current election law. Let's fix those rolls and make sure the law works for eligible voters, not against them.

Under the current California law, felons sentenced to state prison or on parole must be removed from voter rolls, even when they are eligible to vote. The result is many felons are eliminated from the voter rolls even though they can legally cast a ballot. This shouldn't happen.

AB 742 is legislation that would direct court clerks to send a list indicating which felons must be removed from the voting rolls rather than simply erasing all felons including those eligible, as is the procedure now.

Changing this outdated and cumbersome process is crucial to ensure that all eligible voters have the chance to shape our democracy, not just some. Help ensure that citizens are not unjustly left out of voter registries.

Please send a message to Gov. Schwarzenegger urging him to sign AB 742 (Saldana, D-San Diego), which would give election clerks the information they need to increase the accuracy of voter rolls and prevent the purging of eligible voters from the voter rolls.

Californians should not fear their names will be accidentally removed from voter rolls. Make every vote count.

Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 742 into law today.

Thanks for all that you do,

Your ACLU/SC Take Action Team

Subject: Fix California's Voting Rolls, Sign AB 742

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Voting is a fundamental right that should be protected for every eligible citizen. It should not be denied due to poor administrative procedures. I support AB 742, which would increase accuracy on the voter rolls and ensure that eligible citizens will be listed on the voter rolls that officials rely on at polling stations across the state.

This legislation is necessary to correct poor administrative procedures that have encouraged voting officials to remove felons off the voting rolls, whether or not they are qualified to vote.

Come election time, the result can be seen at polling stations across the state. All too often, those who are eligible to vote show up at polling stations, but get turned away by officials who rely on voting rolls from which felons have been removed even though they are eligible to vote.

This bill would not change who is eligible to vote. It would merely correct poor record keeping. But more importantly, it would secure one of our state's most fundamental principles: that everyone who is an eligible citizen should be given the opportunity to partake in our democracy.

I am urging you to sign this bill. Its voter administration procedure would save time for registrars who would no longer need to research who to purge from their voter removal list. While research indicates that numerous counties have already implemented this efficient administrative procedure, many election clerks have not. At no fault of their own, election clerks in Alpine, Colusa, Lake, Kings, Marin, Placer, Plumas, San Bernardino, Tuolumne, and Ventura counties, do not receive usable lists of who to purge from voter rolls. This bill would assist these and other counties to comply with current law.

More importantly this bill would safeguard against voter disenfranchisement. Please, protect everyone's rights in our great state.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]