Election resources

Government sites

• The California Secretary of State has a terrific website, full of information.
• The Legislative Analyst's Office does fantastic work, deserves more credit.
• The Voter Information Guide you received in the mail is available online.
• CalAccess lets you see who has given how much to what political causes.
• Leginfo is hard to use, but it provides access to legislative information. Look here if you want to read our absurdly long State Constitution or other laws.
• The State of California has a site, in case you're looking for the DMV.

Nonpartisan organizations

• The League of Women Voters is one of my very favorite groups.
• Smart Voter, from LWV, is chock-full of info on elections in your area.
• The Easy Voter Guide is a great introduction for new and busy voters.
• The California Budget Project offers in-depth fiscal and policy analyses.
• The Public Policy Institute of California does economic and social research.
• The California Voter Foundation specializes in voting technology issues.

Newspaper editorial pages

• Los Angeles Times
• Orange County Register
• Sacramento Bee
• San Diego Union Tribune
• San Jose Mercury News
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Fresno Bee

California political columnists

• Peter Schrag, Sacramento Bee, is the king of state political columnists.
• George Skelton of the LA Times knows his stuff.
• Daniel Weintraub, Sac Bee, follows campaigns.
• Lionel Van Deerlin, SD Union Tribune, a former congressman.
• Brian Joseph, Orange County Register.
• Debra Saunders, SF Chronicle.

Fellow citizen-analysts

• Steve Friedl writes well from a libertarian viewpoint.
• Jeremy Oberstein of LAist is neutral and informative.
• Kevin Tracy, "trusted Republican and loyal Roman Catholic."
• Sherri Nichols comments on Washington state ballot measures.

Note: Some newspaper sites require registration. It's free and not much trouble, so do it.

 
 
 
Copyright © 1980-2008 Peter L. Stahl
Your comments are welcome at pete@peterates.com