Alex Padilla was sworn in as California Secretary of State on January 5, 2015. He is committed to modernizing the office, increasing voter registration and participation, and strengthening voting rights.

Padilla previously served in the California State Senate (2006-2014) where he chaired the Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications. As chair, he shepherded legislation to combat climate change and create a greener and more sustainable economy.  He pursued an ambitious agenda in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart grid, and broadband deployment.

Padilla's parents emigrated from Mexico and raised their family in the working class community of Pacoima, California.  His father worked as a short order cook and his mother cleaned houses.  Padilla attended local public schools and went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.  He recently completed a five-year term as a member of the MIT Corporation (Board of Trustees).  Padilla is often asked how he moved from engineering to public service. He explains that in many ways they are similar; the goal of each is solving problems.

After working for Hughes Aircraft in Southern California, Padilla participated in the Coro Fellows Program where he received leadership and public affairs training.  He would later work for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and then-Assemblymember Tony Cardenas.

When Ruben was just an infant, his parents separated, and in the process of their separation, Ruben was stripped of his Hispanic and Native American heritage. His father was the son of a full-blooded Yaqui whose parents are buried in the Guadalupe Cemetery.

Ruben and his mother had an incredibly challenging time for much of his childhood (as it is for many others who grow up without a father).  But with hard work, perseverance, and the counsel of his wife and others, Ruben has been able to make something of his life.

Ruben began his career as an EMT nearly 20 years ago, helping those who could not help themselves: seniors, homeless, substance abusers, mentally disabled, and survivors of domestic violence. He has serviced small towns and large communities; busy interstates and Native American reservations; border towns and metropolitan areas. Eventually, Ruben obtained his paramedic certificate and began work for the Gila River Indian Community which helped him to better understand some of what he had missed growing up. He later earned a bachelors, masters, and law degrees.

In particular, Ruben holds a Master’s Degree in Military History with a specialty in Counter-terrorism, which is particularly important for the position of Secretary of State. He also holds FEMA Incident Commander certificates and other extensive emergency response training.

When it comes to healthcare, Ruben has seen it all: from stabbing and gunshot victims, to seniors having heart attacks, to uninsured diabetics who couldn’t afford their medication and died as a result. Ruben understands healthcare policy and how it interacts with public safety, business, gender equality, technology, economic justice, and many other areas.

For a short time, Ruben worked as an instructor at a for-profit institution that taught EMS services. After witnessing the greedy corporate interests take advantage both the students and the staff, he quit and opened his own program.

Under his leadership, the company prospered as an EMT business by offering a better education at a lower price. Ruben Major is a successful business owner who has dedicated his career to saving lives—and teaching others to do the same.

After opening a branch of their company in San Diego, Ruben, his wife, Jenny and their three beautiful children moved to Oceanside where they continue to run their company and be active in the community.

I’m not taking corporate money and running to end private control of our election systems, to institute open source software, and to require 100% paper audits. I’ll increase candidate financial disclosure, fight voter suppression, and work to secure our voter registration rolls. I will lead a nationwide solution by decertifying voting machines vulnerable to hacking.

I grew up very poor, but worked hard to become a paramedic and business owner, and earned a law degree and BA & MA in History, obtained training in Counterterrorism, and am a FEMA Certified Incident Commander. These are important characteristics for all aspects of the Secretary of State office.

As the state's head vote counter, I will not endorse other politicians or candidates. As the state’s administrator in charge of business filings, I’ll work hard to ensure business growth and development in California, especially small business, which is the workhorse of American Democracy. As the keeper of State Archives, I’ll do everything possible to make California a center for historical research and scholarship. I’ll bring true integrity to the office.

Michael Feinstein is a former City Councilmember and Mayor of Santa Monica. He served on the City Council for two four-year terms between 1996 and 2004, and as Mayor from 2000-2002.

Born in Athens, Greece, Feinstein was adopted by American parents and brought back to the United States when he was four months old. Raised in St. Louis Park, MN (a suburb of Minneapolis), he graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1977, then majored in philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1982 from Carleton College in Northfield, MN.

In between his second and third years at Carleton, Feinstein took a year off and backpacked in 15 countries in Latin America, Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.  That started a patten continuing to this day, with Feinstein having traveled in over 45 countries, gaining knowledge and openness to possibilities as he’s learned about different cultures and places all over the world.

Feinstein also served as the first California sales representative for Rollerblades in the early to mid 1980s, having gone to high school in Minnesota with the inventor. That also gave him direct experience in starting a trend, which he applied years later when co-founding the Green Party of California in 1990.

As a primary U.S. Green international delegate, Feinstein has visited Green Parties in multiple, where he has been exposed to various proportional representation voting systems. This has given him a first-hand experience with such improved democracy options that most Americans have never had — and the confidence that they can be implemented here.

Experience – Governmental Advisory Commissions, Councils & Task Forces 

Regional
• Southern California Regional Comprehensive Plan Task Force, Southern California Association of Governments,
2004-2006
• Growth Visioning Subcommittee/Southern California Compass, Southern California Association of Governments, 2001-2004
• Energy & Environment Committee, Southern California Association of Governments, 1997-2004
• Westside Council of Governments, Santa Monica representative as Mayor, 2000-2002
• Integrated Policy Task Force, Southern California Association of Governments, 2009–2010
State
• Housing Committee, California League of Cities, 2001-2002
National
• U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2002
International
• ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), Santa Monica representative, Johannesburg, South Africa (UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002); Athens, Greece (ICLEI Global Congress, 2003)

Electoral Reform Experience – Initiatives/Propositions

2009 – Statewide Constitutional Reform: Member of Californians for a Constitutional Convention drafting committee convened by the Bay Area Council in San Francisco, that drafted two statewide initiatives regarding constitutional reform, to provide for a comprehensive public review of California elections, and to place suggested electoral reforms before the people.

2002 – Local Electoral Systems: Co-wrote and signed the opposing ballot arguments as Mayor of Santa Monica (1, 2)  and appeared in the televised debate representing the ‘no’ position again local Proposition HH, a plan to split Santa Monica into single-seat, winner-take-all districts with a strong mayor.

1995 – Campaign Finance Reform: Served as part of the campaign finance reform initiative drafting group that led to two iniatitives being placed on the November 1996 general election ballot: Proposition 208 Campaign Contributions and Spending Limits. Restricts Lobbyists. Initiative Statute and Proposition 212 Campaign Contributions and Spending Limits. Repeals Gift and Honoraria Limits. Restricts Lobbyists. Initiative Statute.

Other Electoral Reform Experience

2012 – Wrote the Green Party’s national platform plank supporting the National Popular Vote Act, which was signed into law in California in 2011.

2008-2010 – Consultant for California Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation.

2006 – Devised ranked choice voting elections for the founding meeting of the Asia-Pacific Green Network. Kyoto, Japan. February 2006.

1996-2004 – Promoted democracy and responsive governmentwhile a member of the Santa Monica City Council, including many unique electoral reforms, including a two-day, weekend special election

2001 – Participated in the League of Women Voters Santa Monica “Study of Voting Systems Applicable to Santa Monica’s Non Partisan At Large, Multi-Seat, Multi-Candidate Governing Bodies”, the conclusion of which “The League of Women Voters of Santa Monica supports consideration of alternative voting systems for Santa Monica elections with a special emphasis on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) or Choice system (earlier names for RCV).

1999: Attended and spoke at the Los Angeles Charter Review process.

1997: Co-petitioner in NAACP vs. Jones, a lawsuit against exorbitant ballot pamphlet fees

1996-present: Activist Advisory Board, FairVote.

1994-1996: Studied the New Zealand Royal Commission on the Electoral System process (1986), followed by a national referendum (1993), by which New Zealand amended its constitutions to go to a multi-member system of proportional representation elections to elect its national parliament.

1990-1992: Wrote and published Sixteen Weeks with European Greens: Interviews, Impressions, Platforms and Personalities. 674 pages. R&E Miles, San Pedro, CA (1992). Covered alternative electoral and public financing systems in Europe.

1989 – 1995: Radio co-host, Green Perspectives, KPFK 90.7FM Pacifica radio, Los Angeles. Covered alternative electoral and public financing systems.

1989 – present: As a primary U.S. Green representative to Green Parties worldwide, travelled extensively internationally and met MPs, elections officers and others who have worked in different electoral and public financing systems.

C. T. Weber of Sacramento was elected as Peace and Freedom Party of California State Chair three times (1972-1974, 1996-1998, 2010-2012), organized its State Conventions in 1970, 1974, 1992 and the National Convention in 1971; and currently serves as its Legislative Committee Chair.

C. T. Weber was a long time union organizer, steward, and elected leader (including four two-year terms on the powerful California State Employees Association (CSEA), Board of Directors. As Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, District Labor Council 784 president, he served on the SEIU Local 1000 State Council and was a delegate to the Sacramento Central Labor Council. Currently, he continues to serve as a delegate to the Sacramento Central Labor Council representing California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA). He is also the Director of Public Relations for the Retired Public Employees Association (RPEA).

C. T. Weber has a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. He served three years on the Joint Legislative Committee for Revision of the California Elections Code, Advisory Committee and three years on the California Coastal Commission, Long Beach Advisory Committee. In addition, he has been active in the peace, electoral reform, and social, economic and environmental justice movements for over 50 years.

C. T. Weber co-founded several alternative institutions including the Long Beach Free Clinic, a soup kitchen and free store for the unemployed and a crash pad for the homeless. He is retired from the State of California where he worked as a Special Agent and a Government Analyst.

Because I am running for California Secretary of State, tthe chief elections official in the state, I will limit my views to voting and democratic ideas.

Do you ever feel like your vote just doesn’t count? Like no one in government is paying attention to you and your issues? Well, you’re not alone. For years polls have shown that large majorities of people want a third party. Yet it hasn’t happened.  Do you wondered why?

Well, our election systems give illusions of democracy but election laws, private money and mainstream corporate media prevents representation for many of us.

Most of our election are held in districts where only one person can win and which are gerrymandered to be one party districts. Very few districts are competitive. By contrast, most democratic republics elect several legislators from each district using some form of Proportional Representation (PR) where parties and independent candidates are elected in proportion to the number of votes received. Using the most popular form of PR, we could simply vote for the party or independent candidate of our choice. If a party’s candidates get most of the votes that party’s candidates get most of the seats, not all of them; and if a party or independent candidate gets 10% of the vote then that party or independent candidate gets 10% of the seats rather than none of them. That way the majority is protected and minorities get voice and representation. If fact, we can save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars by eliminating the primary and use PR to elect those running for legislative and representative seats in the general election.

Currently, our choices have been reduced to only two candidates on the general election ballot. This makes the smaller alternative parties less visible. Let’s have more choices on the general election ballot by replacing top two with proportional representation.

We must remove the negative influence of private money by having a clean money type of equal public funding. Encourage more candidates by eliminating filing fees or at least providing a reasonable alternative to them by drastically reducing the number of signatures in lieu of filing fees. The Voters Information Guide must provide us with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions. Provide future candidates statements without cost, as was done in the past. Eliminate the current fees of up to $6,250.

The integrity of our elections is being questioned. The voting systems are privately owned and the content is restricted. In addition, the systems are subject to hacking. To protect our security and encourage transparenty, we need to have publicly owned, open source paper ballot voting systems.