CLCV Member,

Expanding the electorate and making civic participation more accessible is key to changing what’s possible for environmental action.

Decades of public opinion research show that the communities most impacted by barriers to voting overwhelmingly support climate action. But too often, attacks on voting rights for communities of color, young people, and women go unopposed.

That's why this legislative cycle, we set out a strategy to expand the electorate and pass critical reforms to make voting more accessible -- and we succeeded!

Thousands of CLCV members -- including you -- raised your voices to support our package of election reform bills. Thanks to you, several of these bills passed the legislature and were signed into law by Governor Newsom.

The results speak for themselves:

• Senate Bill 72 (Umberg) – SIGNED INTO LAW: Starting in 2020, this law will increase voting access to the 5.5 million eligible (but unregistered) California voters by requiring every polling place to provide same-day voter registration on Election Day.
• Assembly Bill 59 (Kalra) – SIGNED INTO LAW: This new law will improve youth voter turnout by increasing the number of vote centers on college campuses and eliminating barriers that discourage college students from participating in elections by providing first-time voters with a convenient place to vote or drop-off their ballot or register to vote.
• Assembly Bill 849 (Bonta) – SIGNED INTO LAW: This new law will reform the local redistricting process, making local redistricting efforts fair and transparent by banning partisan gerrymandering. This new law confirms California’s commitment to a fair, representative, and inclusive democracy at all levels of government.
• Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 8 (Low) – PASSED THE ASSEMBLY: This constitutional amendment will set a national precedent by lowering the voting age in California to 17. With your help this year, this policy has advanced further through the legislature than it ever has before. Next year, the CA Senate will decide its future, and we’ll keep you updated on the next steps in our advocacy efforts. 

Now is the time to double down on expanding the electorate and the right to vote.

To tackle our 10-year climate challenge, protect our environment, and take back our government from the influence of corporate polluters like Big Oil, we must build the political power necessary to push our elected leaders to boldly tackle the climate crisis head on -- but it’s only possible if we make civic participation more accessible.

CLCV Member, we need you in this fight. Big Oil and other corporate polluters will spend everything they can to stop our progress.

Pitch in now to power our efforts to break down barriers to voting in California and across the nation to make bold climate action possible today.

We can meet this moment if we do this together.

Thank you for building our democracy,

Mike Young
Political & Organizing Director 
California League of Conservation Voters 

P.S. Read through our full list of legislative achievements here.