A warrior for voting rights
Ensuring fair elections to protect our democracy is the self-professed goal of all the candidates for California secretary of state, whose office oversees the administration of elections, issues business and notary public licenses and manages the state archives and California Museum.
It’s safe to say, however, that their approaches are vastly different.
Incumbent Shirley Weber was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the vacancy created by Alex Padilla taking Kamala Harris’ Senate seat when she became vice president. Weber took office in January 2021 in the middle of a pandemic and right after the presidential election that fueled the myriad of conspiratorial theories about voting fraud, “stop the steal” claims that Donald Trump really won and, ultimately, the storming of the U.S. Capitol by insurrectionists.
Democratic-leaning California was less prone to these lies, but nonetheless, some of Weber’s opponents for a full term in the June 7 primary are running on a “stop the steal” agenda.
Private investigator Matthew Cinquanta, an independent, and Republican Rachel Hamm, an author and YouTube personality, vow to stop votes from being stolen by enacting a voter identification requirement, eliminating voting by mail, eliminating voting machines and allowing voting only on election day for most people. Even mainstream Republican candidate Rob Bernosky, who said he believes Biden won, supports the elimination of mail-in voting to avoid the chance of anything “nefarious” happening to ballots.
A business executive, former school board member and a San Benito County Republican Party leader, Bernosky, is the most qualified of Weber’s opponents. He’s a proponent of wider transparency by the Secretary of State’s Office and an election day holiday, both good ideas. However, his support for eliminating mail-in voting disqualifies him.
Green Party member Gary Benner, meanwhile, is thoughtful and has some interesting ideas, but despite his claims to the contrary, his candidacy appears mostly aimed at promoting his party’s proposal to expand the state Legislature to 240 members.
Weber, meanwhile, a former university professor and Assembly member from the San Diego area, has been a strong advocate for voting rights, expanding voter participation and election transparency. To combat misinformation, Weber’s office has set up the California Elections Rumor Control website.
One of Weber’s first major tasks was to certify and oversee the recall of Gov. Newsom. The wasteful election cost taxpayers $200 million and led to calls for reforming the recall process. Unlike her Republican opponents, Weber backs legislative efforts to raise the bar on the number of signatures needed for recall petitions and supports having the lieutenant governor succeed a recalled governor.
Weber’s steady hand during the Newsom recall and her experience as a legislator, educator and her backstory of having family members who were denied their right to vote in the Jim Crow South make her imminently qualified to be secretary of state.
Weber’s experience and deep commitment to free, fair and informed elections make her far and away the best candidate.