Every Vote Every Time: We are the Change

Over the last twelve months CAUSE had conversations with over 40,000 new and infrequent voters in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. In these conversations CAUSE phone bankers engaged voters in discussions about the California budget crisis, it's orgins and it's devastating impact on working families, seniors, students and communities color, through cuts in essential public services. In the process, voters were encourage to take a stand for budget reform by voting. Facilitated by our rapid-dial phone bank system, our phone bank operators and neighborhood door-knocking teams will continue year-round to engage voters in communities throughout the region in important conversations about reforming the California budget process to protect services and create jobs. Join CAUSE's Civic Engagment Project in our mission to to raise voter participation by providing the policy information people need to make informed voting choices to protect their communities. CAUSE and our many community and labor partners are now focusing moblizing volunteers to participate in phone banking and precinct walking around the City of Ventura council elections, and in preparation of the upcoming 2012 national, state and local elections. 

To get involved and help "Get Out the Vote" in the November 2011 and 2012 elections, click here .

CAUSE is working hard to talk to voters who are registered but who often don’t vote, or who registered very recently. In primary elections in our area, often only 30%-40% of the registered voters actually vote, and in general elections, sometimes only 50%-60% of the registered voters participate. The people who aren’t voting are mostly younger or poorer, with a full time job or full-time responsibilities. Many people don’t believe voting will make a difference in their lives, haven’t gotten the information they need to be confident about their voting choices, or just don’t have the time to participate. Unfortunately, that means that important choices about things like education funding, better transportation, better healthcare services, access to college, are made by older and wealthier people.

The result: this year, the Governor of the state of California is trying to cut millions of dollars out of the Ventura and Santa Barbara school systems, eliminate the CalWORKS program for unemployed job seekers, and eliminate in-home services for the elderly. These cuts disproportionately impact poor and working people, and California’s small businesses. The Governor has NOT proposed asking California’s wealthiest citizens and largest corporations to delay their own tax breaks, or to pay their fair share to support essential services.