Ever since she was first elected to the State Legislature in 1992, Debra Bowen has been a pioneer in government reform, consumer protection and privacy rights, environmental conservation, and open government.
Learn more about why Debra Bowen should be California's next Secretary of State.
HomeLatest News County Hearing About Election Day Problems to be Held on July 31
County Hearing About Election Day Problems to be Held on July 31
Tehachapi News
Jul 19, 2006
Kern County voters who had problems on election day and want to share their stories with the newly-formed Senate Select Committee on the Integrity of Elections are encouraged to contact the committee about testifying at its first hearing at 1 p.m. on July 31 in the Kern County Board of Supervisors chambers, located at 1115 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield.
“During the June primary, we had polling places that didn’t open until several hours after they were supposed to, voting machines that didn’t work at all, and hundreds of voters around the state who were told to ‘come back later’ once the problems had been sorted out,” said Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), the chairwoman of the committee. “Ensuring the integrity of our electoral process isn’t solely about making sure electronic voting machines are secure and accurately recording people’s votes. It also involves taking care of some basic, fundamental issues that many people just take for granted. These are the types of logistical problems we need to begin addressing now to ensure they don’t repeat themselves in November.”
People who want to testify before the committee, or simply want to provide information to lawmakers, are encouraged to email the committee at
/. People can also send a letter to the committee in care of Senator Debra Bowen at the State Capitol, Room 4040, Sacramento, California, 95814.
The three-member select committee, which includes Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) and Senator Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), intends to hold hearings over the next two months to look at problems that arose during the June 2006 primary election and what can be done to prevent them from recurring in November.
“Clearly, the security issues involving electronic voting machines have garnered the bulk of the attention, but as we saw in Kern, San Joaquin, San Diego and a number of other counties, there are logistical issues we need to deal with as well,” continued Bowen. “Our electoral system is built on trust – we trust that poll workers will show up to work, we trust the equipment will work and we trust people’s votes will be counted accurately. We’ve done a lot to make it easier than ever for people to register and vote, but much of that work, not to mention people’s confidence in the integrity of the process as a whole, goes down the drain on election day when they show up at their polling place only to be turned away because the voting machines don’t work or the poll workers didn’t show up. I’m interested in solving those problems so we can begin to restore people’s confidence and trust in the electoral process.”
The public is invited to attend the hearing and a complete list of witnesses scheduled to appear before the committee will be made available in the coming days.
Latest News 
